Interdependency Visa: Recognising Same Sex Relationships
Same sex relationships are recognised by the Australian government and are also given
certain rights under the Interdependency Visa or Subclass 826 and 310. This visa for Australia is for same-sex partners who have a mutual commitment to a shared life together. Their de facto or common law relationship must be genuine and continuing, as such they must live together.
Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents or eligible New Zealand residents may sponsor their partners for an Interdependency visa. This would allow the visa holder to enter and stay in Australia on the basis of their interdependent relationship with their partner.
Similar to other Australian partner visas, the Interdependency visa allows the holder to work in Australia or study in the country but without access to government funding for tertiary study. The visa holder may also enrol in Australias medical benefits programs such as Medicare.
There will be some changes for the interdependency visa starting July 1, 2009. They are as follows:
1.Same-sex and opposite-sex partners will be recognised as being de facto partners.
2.Only opposite-sex married partners will be recognised as spouse. The legal marriage must be valid in Australia for this to apply.
3.A broader range of parent-child relationships will be recognized. Children borne of artifical conception procedures and surrogacy agreements are recognised per Family Law Act of 1975.
4.An expanded range of visas will be available for same-sex de facto partners and their depended children. They can be recognised as being family members for migration purposes. This makes de facto partners eligible for visas applicable to spouses such as student and business Australian visa.
This partner visa maybe granted on a temporary basis with a waiting period of two years from the date of application as well as on a permanent basis. The waiting period allows time for review of the relationship and to see if it will really last while a decision is being made on the permanent visa. The interdependency visa is a great step towards immigration to Australia.
There are some legal eligibility requirements for the Interdependency visa. The applicant must be at least 18 years old at the time of application. He or she must not be in a prohibited degree of relationship between a person and his ancestor or descent. This includes parent-child, grandparent-grandchild, brother-sister or similar arrangements. It applies to both natural and adoptive relationships.