What Happens to Your Partner Visa After Relationship Breakdown? Here’s the Details
Applying for a Partner Visa in Australia is intricate, particularly when your relationship unexpectedly ends. The Department will grant the Partner Visa if your relationship is continuing and genuine. However, if your relationship breaks down for various reasons, it will undoubtedly impact your Partner Visa. The extent of this impact is determined by the specific subclass of Partner Visa you hold.
In this article, we will discuss in detail what happens to your Partner Visa after your relationship breakdown and available options to remain in the country.
Effects on Your Partner Visa After Your Relationship Breakdown
The effect depends on what Partner Visa you hold when your relationship breakdown:
1. Temporary Partner Visa (subclass 820 or 309)
There’s a possibility that your Temporary Partner Visa will be refused after your relationship breakdown. You are required to inform the Department regarding the cessation of your relationship. Upon receiving the updates, the Department will ask you to explain the circumstances and reasons why your relationship ended, together with supporting evidence.
If the Department finds the circumstances and evidence satisfactory, you may still be eligible to submit your permanent Partner Visa application. But if things happen otherwise, the Department may cancel your Partner Visa, requiring you to seek other visa options or prepare to leave the country.
2. Permanent Partner Visa (subclass 801 or 100)
The Permanent Partner Visa allows you to live in the country indefinitely. Suppose your relationship ended when you held the permanent Partner Visa, your stay permit will remain. Your relationship status will not affect your permanent Partner Visa. You are not required to inform the Department when your relationship ends.
Read more: What To Do After Partner Visa Refused and Relationship Breakdown
Notifying the Department of Home Affairs that Your Relationship Ends
It’s crucial to remember that to be eligible and granted a Partner Visa, your relationship must be genuine and continuing. If circumstances change, such as your relationship breaking down, you must notify the Department of Home Affairs.
You can notify the Department of Home Affairs about changes in your relationship through two methods: directly submitting the ‘Notification of Relationship Cessation’ form available on the ‘update details’ tab in your ImmiAccount, or by submitting a completed Form 1022-Change in Circumstances by email.
You must notify the Department immediately after your relationship breakdown. If the Department finds that your relationship has broken down and you haven’t informed them, they may cancel your Partner Visa without giving you a chance to explain your circumstances. This could lead to serious consequences, including potential deportation.
Once the Department receives the notification, they will send you a letter allowing you to provide further explanation and evidence within 28 days.
Read more: How to Response to s57 Request on Partner Visa Australia
Options to Remain in Australia
Depending on your circumstances, you may still be eligible for the Partner Visa even after your relationship breakdown. Common reasons or situations that the Department will consider are:
- You’re a victim of domestic abuse
- You and your partner share child custody rights
- Your sponsor passed away
If one of these conditions applies to you, the Department will ask you to provide an explanation and evidence. Usually, the Department will give you 28 days to provide further evidence and explanation.
Domestic and family violence
The Australian Government takes domestic and family violence cases very seriously. They will make your safety their first priority. So, if you’re in danger, don’t hesitate to call the Police on 000 or 1800RESPECT for free counselling services. It is important to note that your partner cannot cancel your visa. So, if they threaten you, don’t believe it.
If you are safe and under no immediate potential harm, but have been the victim of domestic violence, you must still notify the Department of Home Affairs. The Department will ask for further evidence and an explanation of this situation.
Be note that domestic and family violence does not have to be physical. It includes any behaviour that risks your or your family’s safety. Below are some examples of domestic and family violence:
- Physical abuse, including:
- Hitting, punching, pulling by the hair, choking, pinching, pushing, stabbing, or restraining you in any way
- Using weapons to frighten you
- Causing damage to property
- Not letting you sleep, eat, or take your medication
- Sexual abuse, including:
- Forcing you to have intercourse when you don’t consent (either with your partner or other people)
- Making you engage in sexual practices or acts you are not comfortable with (either with your partner or other people)
- Making you wear clothes you’re not comfortable in
- Making you watch sexual acts you don’t want to, including on digital devices
- Emotional or verbal abuse, including:
- Threatening your life, or that of your family or pets
- Calling you abusive or insulting names, or culturally offensive names
- Harassing or threatening you
- Saying things to frighten you
- Undermining you as a parent in front of the children
- Threatening you concerning your immigration status or deportation
- Coercive control, which is a behaviour that seeks to isolate, manipulate and control your day-to-day life
- Social abuse, including:
- Insulting you in public or front of community members
- Not letting you attend community events
- Not letting you use community organisations, programs, and/or services
- Putting you down in front of others
- Lying to others about you
- Isolating you from your community and family
- Isolating you from those people who support you
- Financial abuse, including:
- Controlling the money so you are dependent on them
- Forcing you to sign loans or contracts
- Questioning you about purchases you make or where you spend your money
- Only giving you money for purchases, they require receipts or any proof of items purchased
- Using joint finances for personal use against your wishes or without your knowledge
- Incurring debts that you are also responsible for
- Incurring fines in your name
When assessing domestic or family violence, the Department will consider judicial evidence and non-judicial evidence:
- Judicial evidence is a document from a court of law, including:
- final court injunction under the Family Law Act 1975 against your partner,
- final court order against your partner made under a State or Territory law,
- final record that the court has convicted your partner of a family violence offence against you or your dependant(s)
- final record that the court has recorded a finding of guilt against your partner of family violence offences against you or your dependant(s), or
- an application for court order.
- Non-judicial evidence commonly requires a minimum of two pieces of evidence from different categories, including:
- medical evidence, such as hospital reports,
- police evidence, such as a witness statement,
- child welfare officer professional letter,
- family violence support service provider’s professional letter,
- social worker professional letter,
- psychologist professional letter,
- family consultant or relationship counsellor’s professional letter, or
- an education professional’s letter.
Read more: Partner Visa Relationship Breakdown – What Happens Next?
Shared custody rights of an Australian child/children
If you and your partner have a child or children together and share custody rights after the relationship ends, you may still be eligible for the Partner Visa.
In this situation, you must be responsible for at least one child under 18. You must also provide evidence that you are the biological parent, including a birth certificate or any family court orders concerning the child. If the Department is satisfied with the evidence, you may be granted the Partner Visa.
Your sponsor passed away
If your sponsoring partner passed away, you must notify the Department immediately. You may still be eligible for the Partner Visa, but you must provide evidence of your partner’s death, such as a death certificate. Additionally, you must demonstrate that your relationship would have continued if your partner were still alive.
Other visa options to consider
Suppose your Partner Visa is cancelled after your relationship breakdown, but you still wish to remain in the country, so you may consider applying for other visas.
A deep assessment is required to find the best visa options because the options would depend on your circumstances and background. So, it is strongly advised to seek legal assistance to choose the best pathway for your situation.
If you have no suitable options, you must arrange to depart Australia.
Are you looking for assistance with your Partner Visa application?
ONEderland Consulting has great experience handling complex cases, like relationship breakdown during the Partner Visa application process. We have a 98% success rate in handling our clients’ complex situations. Book an appointment with our Registered Migration Agent now to secure your future with your loved one in Australia:
We are here to help!
We understand that facing the relationship breakdown is already frustrating, and now you have to fight for your Partner Visa application.
But reassured. You can trust ONEderland Consulting to handle your case. We have a 98% success rate and are one of Australia’s most highly recommended migration agents. Read our 4.9* score customer reviews.
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Take the first step and contact us. Our team members are honest, professional and accountable. Contact us by email at visa@onederland.com.au or by phone at 1300 827 159. Alternatively, you can book your consultation online, and our 100% Money-Back Guarantee Program backs it.
