Details like sexuality, partnership status, and religion, have caused headaches for many Australian visa applicants.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection is using information from Facebook and social media accounts to verify claims made in a visa application.

A few months ago, the Federal Circuit Court of Australia ruled that information on Facebook and social media does have an evidentiary value.
This happened after a guy from Bangladesh applied for a protection visa, saying to the Department that he converted to Christianity before he left Bangladesh, and he risks to his safety on return to his home country, but, according to his Facebook profile, he was a Muslim.

In other cases, partner visas have been refused because there was no evidence on applicant’s Facebook profile, about the relationship with the Australian partner.
Or, again, homosexual couples that didn’t show of their relationship on Facebook because they were concerned about homophobia.

It is important for visa applicants to be aware that any information which you choose to make public on your Facebook page can be viewed by Immigration officials and used when making an assessment regarding the credibility of claims contained in your visa application.