This is the one place the two regulations differ in substance: 1.15A asks whether the persons represent themselves to other people as being married to each other, while 1.09A asks whether they represent themselves as being in a de facto relationship with each other.
What is the Department working out from social evidence?
Whether the relationship exists in front of other people, or only between the two of you and the Department.
The three items the regulation lists are:
- whether the persons represent themselves to other people as being married (or, for de facto couples, as being in a de facto relationship)
- the opinion of the persons' friends and acquaintances about the nature of the relationship
- any basis on which the persons plan and undertake joint social activities
Read together, they ask for corroboration from outside the couple. Financial and household records can be arranged by two people between themselves; social evidence involves other people who did not have to say anything. That is why it carries weight, and why a file strong on paperwork and silent on people looks unbalanced. The framework for all four matters is on relationship evidence.
How you represent yourselves to other people
This item is answered by records held by organisations that have been told you are a couple.
The useful sources are ordinary ones. An employer's records naming your partner as your emergency contact or next of kin. A health fund with a couples or family policy. A superannuation fund with a spouse or partner nomination. A club, gym, union, faith community or sporting body where you are members as a couple. A university listing your partner as your contact. Correspondence from any agency addressed to both of you.
Government records belong here too. A marriage certificate, a state or territory relationship registration certificate, or details recorded with Services Australia or in a tax return declaring a spouse or de facto partner, all show the relationship stated to a body that takes the statement seriously.
Key facts
A declaration made to another organisation is stronger than a declaration made to the Department, because it was made before the visa was at stake and for a different purpose. Look for the ones you have already made without thinking about them — the insurance form, the emergency contact field, the beneficiary nomination.
The opinion of friends and acquaintances
This item is almost a description of what a supporting statement does, which is why written statements from other people sit at the centre of this matter.
The Department publishes Form 888 Supporting statement for this purpose. A useful statement is written in that person's own words, says how and when they met each of you, and describes specific things they have seen, with dates — the trip you all took, the Christmas at their house, the surgery one of you nursed the other through. A statement saying the relationship is genuine and nothing more adds a page and no information.
Two points of care. First, the Department says Form 888 is not a Commonwealth statutory declaration, and that neither the current form nor any previous version satisfies that requirement. That matters because an applicant who does not hold a substantive visa must include, at lodgement, at least two statutory declarations made within the last six weeks by an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen confirming the relationship, together with evidence of each declarant's status — and the Department warns the application may be deemed invalid without them. Second, statements that share sentences with each other read as drafted by one hand. The detail is covered on Form 888 statutory declarations.
Planning and undertaking joint social activities
This item is about shared life outside the house, and the regulation asks for the basis on which you plan and undertake it, not merely proof you went somewhere.
Joint travel is the clearest evidence: bookings in both names, boarding passes, itineraries, hotel reservations, travel insurance covering both of you, and passport stamps matching the dates. Beyond travel: invitations addressed to both of you, wedding and engagement records, tickets bought together, a shared membership or class, and correspondence with each other's families. Time spent with each other's parents and siblings is particularly useful, because it shows the relationship absorbed into two families rather than performed for a form.
Photographs, and how to present them
Photographs are the most over-supplied and under-prepared evidence in a partner visa file.
What makes them work is captioning and spread. Each image should carry the date, the place and the names of everyone in it, and the set should cover the whole period rather than one event photographed forty times. Include images with other people in them, because this matter is about how the relationship is seen from outside. Combine them into a few captioned PDFs arranged chronologically, not dozens of separate uploads.
Which documents evidence which item?
| Document | Item it speaks to | What it shows |
|---|---|---|
| Form 888 supporting statements | Opinion of friends and acquaintances | First-hand observation, with dates |
| Statutory declarations from citizens or residents | Opinion of others; validity at lodgement | Required at lodgement for some applicants |
| Employer or study records naming a partner | Representing yourselves to others | A declaration made for a different purpose |
| Health fund or insurance couples policy | Representing yourselves to others | A third party treating you as a couple |
| Superannuation or beneficiary nomination | Representing yourselves; commitment | A formal statement about your partner |
| Marriage or relationship registration certificate | Representing yourselves to others | A state or territory record of the relationship |
| Club, faith community or union membership | Representing yourselves; joint activities | Being known as a couple in a community |
| Joint travel bookings and boarding passes | Joint social activities | Planned time away taken together |
| Invitations and cards addressed to both | Representing yourselves to others | How other people address you |
| Captioned photographs across each year | All three items | The relationship in the company of others |
None of these is a required document, apart from the statutory declarations that apply at lodgement to applicants without a substantive visa. Everything else is commonly provided, and what a genuine couple has will differ. The general list is on 820 visa document checklist.
Common gaps, and how honest people fill them
The usual gaps are real, not suspicious, and each has a normal answer.
Private people with small circles. Two or three detailed statements from people who genuinely know you beat ten thin ones. Depth substitutes for breadth.
Families who do not know. Where the relationship has not been disclosed because of safety, family opposition, or the law or attitudes in another country, say so plainly and lean on the people and organisations that do know. This is common for couples covered on same-sex couples, and an explanation is better than a silence the decision maker has to interpret.
A relationship conducted mostly online or across borders. Contact records, visits and the plans made around them carry this matter in the early years, and the pattern usually changes once you are living together. It overlaps with commitment evidence.
Nothing before last year. Go back through email, photo libraries, booking confirmations and old statements. Material from the first year of a relationship is often the most persuasive in the file, because nobody was creating evidence then.
An application prepared with an immigration lawyer is more likely to succeed on this matter, because the supporting statements are the part applicants most often leave to the last week — and a set of near-identical declarations, or a declarant who does not meet the requirement that applies at lodgement, causes more trouble here than anywhere else in the file.
What to do next
Ask the people who will write for you now rather than later, and give each of them the dates and events they actually witnessed. Read Form 888 statutory declarations before anyone signs anything, caption the photographs, and check that your account of your social life matches the relationship statement and the address history in nature of the household evidence.
Common questions
What is social evidence for a partner visa?
It is the material showing that the relationship exists in front of other people rather than only between the two of you. Regulation 1.15A for married couples and regulation 1.09A for de facto couples list three items — whether you represent yourselves to others as married or as being in a de facto relationship, the opinion of your friends and acquaintances about the relationship, and the basis on which you plan and undertake joint social activities.
How many photographs should we provide?
There is no published number. A modest set spread across the whole period, each captioned with the date, the place and who is in it, is worth far more than hundreds of uncaptioned images from one holiday. Include photographs with other people in them, because the social matter is about how the relationship is seen by others.
Does a Form 888 cover the social aspects?
It covers one of the three items directly, because the regulation asks about the opinion of the couple's friends and acquaintances. It does not cover the other two on its own. You still need material showing how you represent yourselves to organisations and how you undertake joint social activities. Note that the Department says a Form 888 is not a Commonwealth statutory declaration.
Our families do not know about the relationship. What can we do?
Say so and explain why in the personal statements, rather than leaving the file silent. There are real reasons a relationship is not disclosed to everyone, including safety, family disapproval and the law or culture of another country. The evidence then has to come from the people who do know, and from organisations that recognise you as a couple.
Can social media posts be used as evidence?
They are commonly provided and they can help, especially where posts are dated and show you with other people over a long period. They carry less weight than material from independent sources, because anyone can post anything. Export them as dated documents with names and context rather than as a folder of screenshots.
Sources
Keep reading
Financial Evidence for the 820
The five financial items in regulation 1.15A, the documents that evidence each, how to present them, and what to do when you keep your money separate.
Read the guide →
Nature of the Household Evidence
The three household items in regulation 1.15A, how to evidence a shared address over time, and what to do when only one name is on the lease.
Read the guide →
Commitment Evidence: Showing a Shared Future
The four commitment items in regulation 1.15A, the documents that show a shared future, and how to evidence companionship and time apart.
Read the guide →