Living separately and then travelling counting as de facto?

My boyfriend and I currently live separately and have been in a relationship for two years (it'll be three by the time we head back to Australia). He's an Australian citizen and I have a second working holiday visa to use and we are planning to go back to Perth in December. We are looking at a partner visa but I have a few queries about the de facto relationship and proving you've been in a de facto relationship for twelve months. I've posted on here and had some great advice but just wanted to start a new thread to clarify a few things.

If we start setting up joint bank accounts, car insurance, travel insurance and everything together in the UK before we go and have three months travelling in Southeast Asia before we get to Australia, will this count towards the de facto even though we won't be living together until we get to Perth? I'm just worried about applying for the de facto right at the end of the 12 month working holiday visa and having no time to spare in case something goes wrong, so I would like to ideally build up the de facto a little bit before we get there.

When we are travelling I will make sure all of our spending money is in one account and that we pay for everything together, flight bookings are joint etc so that we have a paper trail of us actually being together. Will this and a few months in the UK living separately count towards the de facto? Any advice will be much appreciated. Thank you.

If you're travelling together then you'll be making bookings in hostels etc together, taking photos together, and using your joint bank account to pay for things - you can certainly use all that as evidence that you're a couple.

If you don't have any evidence today is the day you start collecting. Check that you can actually apply onshore, i had to apply offshore and had to fly back to the UK for 2 months, but that was for a 457 dependant visa. It may be different.

Documents we used for our visa...

Plane Tickets, Travel bookings and receipts.

Pictures of us both dated with location usually many on the holidays mentioned.

Undated pictures with both of us.

Car Insurance with both our names.

Cards from families and wedding invitations.

Stat Dec form 888 from people who know us both and are residents in Australia.

Joint Statement on our relationship (4 Pages).

Utility and Internet Bills with both our names.

Joint Bank Account Statements (with constant flow of money from both accounts)

We recorded our trips on a gopro and uploaded to youtube and further submitted that for evidence.

Statements from both Parents confirming the relationship.

If you have not lived together before, it is unlikely that travel together would be consistent with the definition of a de facto relationship.

If you have not lived together before, it is unlikely that travel together would be consistent with the definition of a de facto relationship.

Thank you for your reply. I'm not solely relying on travel for the de facto, I'm just wanting to build up a few months and wondered if the travel would count towards it. We will be living together in Perth and will have the majority of my working holiday visa to be living together, I just wanted to build up a little bit before the WHV took place so that I had a bit of time to play with rather than just relying on the time spent living together on my working holiday. Other people have suggested that the travelling together might contribute towards it. So you don't think it will? It's good for me to be aware of these things so I know what I can do about it. Thank you.

Yes travel would contribute but would only contribute as a minority for evidence, you could just be two friends going travelling together. Joint bank statements and utility bills with the same address with is really want you need for solid evidence if you have no lease in your name.

Thank you for your reply. I'm not solely relying on travel for the de facto, I'm just wanting to build up a few months and wondered if the travel would count towards it. We will be living together in Perth and will have the majority of my working holiday visa to be living together, I just wanted to build up a little bit before the WHV took place so that I had a bit of time to play with rather than just relying on the time spent living together on my working holiday. Other people have suggested that the travelling together might contribute towards it. So you don't think it will? It's good for me to be aware of these things so I know what I can do about it. Thank you.

As Chillers has stated, travelling together can help but in itself is unlikely to be convincing.

My point is, if you have not previously lived together, it will be difficult to argue that the date you became a de facto couple (as per the Regulatory definition) was during your travels.

If not having previously lived together I don't see anyway how you could expect a De Facto visa. Travelling together is but that. You will need a history together and evidence of being in a couple. Been there and done that.

If we start setting up joint bank accounts, car insurance, travel insurance and everything together in the UK before we go

If I was you, I'd add "and start living together" to that list. As Raul suggested, it may be incredibly difficult to prove that a de facto relationship began while you were travelling, so I would make sure it began before you started your travels.