Including a Partner in a 115 Application in 2026: Documents and Risks

In a Subclass 115 (Remaining Relative) application, adding a partner is not a paperwork afterthought — it is an eligibility decision. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs' official Remaining Relative visa (subclass 115) page, the visa cannot be granted if you or your partner have a near relative who usually lives outside Australia, or a near relative who lives in Australia on a temporary visa (including a bridging visa), or unlawfully. That single sentence is why an agent looks at a partner's family tree before looking at a partner's document folder.

This article provides general information about published rules and policy, not personalised advice for any individual case, and it should be checked against the official pages currently in force or with a registered migration agent or legal practitioner before you lodge.

Who counts as a partner in a 115 application?

Two categories, and both are treated as partners: a married spouse and a de facto partner. The official page asks for one of two things — your current marriage certificate, or enough documents to prove you have been in a de facto relationship with your partner for at least 12 months before you apply.

For a de facto relationship, Home Affairs lists these as examples of proof:

joint bank account statements
billing accounts in joint names
joint leases or mortgages
documents showing your partner has lived at the same address as you

Note what is not required by that list: a minimum number of documents, or any single "decisive" item. The test is whether the material, taken together, shows a de facto relationship of at least 12 months' standing at the date of application. A couple with a joint lease and two years of shared addresses is in a different evidential position from a couple with a joint account opened last month.

What documents does including a partner actually add?

For a partner listed on the application, the official page requires identity documents, character documents, and documents about other relationships if applicable — plus the marriage certificate or the 12-month de facto evidence above.

Three further consequences follow automatically from including someone:

Health. You and any family members who apply with you must meet the health requirement, and Home Affairs may also ask other family members to meet it.
Character. The same structure applies: applicants must meet the character requirement, and non-migrating family members may also be asked to meet it.
Assurance of support. The assurance covers you and any family members who come to Australia with you on this visa, so a larger migrating unit generally means a larger support obligation.

Character documents include police certificates, but the official instruction is explicit: do not arrange police certificates until you are asked.

Does your partner's family affect your eligibility?

Yes, on the face of the published test. The "no other near relatives" criterion is written as "you or your partner". Under regulation 1.15 of the Migration Regulations 1994 and the Department's PAM3 policy guidance, the remaining relative definition is applied by reference to the applicant's family unit, which is why a partner's overseas parents, siblings, step-parents or step-siblings can defeat an application that looked clean on the applicant's own side. Because this point turns on the regulations as well as the visa page, the legislative text as currently in force governs it.

The near relatives who cause problems are not only the ones overseas. A near relative living in Australia on a temporary visa — bridging visas included — or unlawfully, is also caught, unless they are an eligible New Zealand citizen.

This is the practical asymmetry an agent weighs first: the applicant's own relatives are usually already mapped, because they had to be mapped to find an eligible sponsor. The partner's relatives are frequently the unmapped half.

What if you leave your partner out?

Leaving a partner out does not make them irrelevant. Three things still bite:

They don't get a visa. A partner who is not on the application does not migrate with it; a later, separate application would be needed.
They may still be assessed. Clause 115.226A of the Migration Regulations 1994 provides that family members who are not applying must still satisfy public interest criteria 4001–4005 unless the Minister considers it unreasonable to require it. The Department's PAM3 policy guidance also describes a "one fails, all fail" structure: the main applicant cannot be granted the visa unless the family members who are applicants meet the relevant criteria.
Changes must be reported. After applying, you must tell the Department about changes to your marital or de facto status, among other things. Mistakes on a lodged application are notified on Form 1023.

So "excluding the partner" is not a way to remove risk from the file — it moves the risk from the document stage to the assessment stage.

Include or exclude: the trade-off in one view

	Partner included	Partner not included
Documents	Identity, character, other-relationship documents, plus marriage certificate or 12 months' de facto evidence	No partner document set at lodgement
Near-relative test	Applied to you and your partner, on the face of the visa page	Depends on how the remaining relative definition and family-unit rules apply to a non-migrating partner — verify against current legislation
Health and character	Partner must meet both	Non-migrating family members may still be asked to meet them
Assurance of support	Must cover the partner as a migrating family member	Covers only those who come to Australia on the visa
Later change	Marital or de facto changes must be notified; Form 1023 for incorrect answers	Same notification duty applies

Why timing matters more than document volume

Subclass 115 is assessed on continued eligibility. Clause 115.211 applies at time of application and clause 115.221 at time of decision — you must keep meeting the remaining relative requirement throughout. A marriage, a separation, a birth, or a relative moving countries during processing can change the answer.

Two features of this visa make that worse than usual. It is a paper application (Form 47OF, with Form 40 for the sponsor), and you must be outside Australia both when you apply and when the decision is made — there is no bridging visa route to wait it out in Australia on another visa that has ended. The Department also warns that if identity cannot be proven, it may refuse the application and may not grant visas to you or to family members listed on the application for 10 years.

The traps that decide most partner cases

From an agent's seat, the recurring ones are:

Undisclosed overseas near relatives on the partner's side — siblings in a third country, step-relations that were never counted as "near".
A de facto relationship asserted without 12 months of documentary history at the date of application, rather than by the date of decision.
Inconsistency across forms — names, addresses and relationship history that do not match what the Department already holds; public interest criterion 4020 (no false or misleading information) is the hook.
A sponsor who is not "settled" — the sponsor must be 18 or older and a settled Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen. Regulation 1.20K of the Migration Regulations 1994 also limits sponsorship: a person — or their spouse or de facto partner — who has previously successfully sponsored certain family visas (including Subclass 115) cannot sponsor in this family category again.
Assurance of support left late. Home Affairs asks for it when it asks; the amount and the assurer's eligibility are set through Services Australia.

One more mechanical point: the fee is not refunded if the application is refused, and the second instalment is only payable when invoiced after all other requirements are met.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to include my partner in my Subclass 115 application?

Including a partner is a choice, but it is a consequential one: a partner who is not included does not receive a visa from this application, and the regulations still allow non-migrating family members to be assessed against public interest criteria. Most applicants include the partner they intend to migrate with, then manage the eligibility risk beforehand.

What proves a de facto relationship for a 115 application?

The official page asks for enough documents to show a de facto relationship of at least 12 months before applying, and gives joint bank account statements, joint billing accounts, joint leases or mortgages, and proof of shared address as examples. A current marriage certificate is the alternative route and removes the 12-month question entirely.

Does my partner's sibling living overseas affect my application?

On the published eligibility test, yes: the visa cannot be granted if you or your partner have a near relative who usually lives outside Australia. The scope of "near relative" and how it applies to a partner who is not migrating is set by the regulation, so the current legislative text governs.

Can a partner be added to a 115 application after it is lodged?

Regulation 2.08A of the Migration Regulations 1994 allows a spouse or dependent child to be added by written request in certain circumstances, and the Department separately requires you to notify changes to your marital or de facto status after lodgement. Because additions change both the document set and the eligibility assessment, treat any post-lodgement change as substantive rather than administrative.

What happens if we separate while the application is being processed?

You must tell the Department about changes to your marital or de facto status, and continued eligibility is assessed up to the date of decision, so a separation can alter the outcome. The official page also points to family violence provisions, which is relevant where a relationship has broken down in that context.

Does including a partner change the assurance of support?

Yes. The assurance of support covers you and any family members who come to Australia with you on this visa, so a partner included in the application falls within it. Home Affairs tells you when it is required, and the arrangements are made through Services Australia.