Partner visa family violence provisions: keeping your visa after the relationship ends

MARN 1576536

What the provisions do

A partner visa is granted in two stages, temporary then permanent, and the permanent stage normally requires the relationship to be continuing. The family violence provisions in the Migration Regulations remove that requirement where the relationship ended because of family violence committed by the sponsor: the applicant can still be granted the permanent visa in their own right. They are a legal entitlement, decided on evidence, not a discretionary kindness, and they apply whether or not the sponsor cooperates, withdraws sponsorship, or objects.

Who they cover

• Applicants for the onshore partner visa (820/801), whether the temporary 820 has been granted or the application is still being decided.
• Applicants for the offshore partner visa (309/100), including, since 1 July 2024, applicants who are outside Australia when the permanent visa is granted.
• Holders of a Prospective Marriage visa (300) who married the sponsor and then applied for the partner visa, where the violence occurred after the marriage or the partner application.
• A member of the applicant's family unit, such as a child, who suffered the violence, counts: the applicant does not have to be the person directly harmed.

The provisions do not cover a relationship that ended for other reasons, a relationship that was never genuine, or a person whose visa is not a partner visa at all. A 482 dependant, a student dependant or a visitor whose relationship ended because of violence has other routes, which are different and are worth asking about.

What must be shown

• The relationship was genuine and continuing up to the point it ended. The ordinary partner evidence, the shared home, finances, social recognition and commitment, covers this, and it is why the file you already lodged still matters.
• The relationship has ended. The Department is told, in writing, and the date matters for what follows.
• Family violence was committed by the sponsor against you or a member of your family unit. The Regulations define it as conduct, actual or threatened, towards the person, their property, a family member or an animal, that causes the person to reasonably fear for, or be apprehensive about, their wellbeing or safety. It includes physical and sexual violence, threats, coercion, financial control and emotional abuse, and it is assessed on the whole pattern, not on a single incident.

Evidence

There are two routes, and either is enough on its own.

Judicial evidence. A court injunction under the Family Law Act against the sponsor, a court order under a state or territory family violence law made after a hearing, or a conviction or finding of guilt for an offence of violence against you. Where this exists the Department accepts that family violence occurred.

Non-judicial evidence. A statutory declaration by you, on the Department's form, setting out the violence, who committed it and its effect, together with evidence from at least two of the prescribed categories of professional, each on the Department's form: a medical practitioner or registered nurse; a police officer, including a police report or record; a registered psychologist, social worker or family consultant; a child welfare or child protection authority; a family violence crisis or counselling service; a school principal or counsellor, where a child is involved. The two pieces of evidence must come from different categories. Each professional sets out what they observed or were told and, where relevant, their opinion. The most common gap is a person who went to no one at the time; a doctor, a counsellor or a crisis service seen now, with an honest history, is still evidence.

The independent expert

Where non-judicial evidence is lodged and the Department is not satisfied that family violence occurred, it must refer the matter to an independent expert, a specialist contracted for the purpose, who interviews you and gives an opinion. The Department is bound by that opinion. The referral is not a sign the claim is doubted so much as the mechanism the Regulations provide; preparing for the interview, with the chronology and the documents in order, is part of the work.

The 2024 change

Before 1 July 2024, an offshore partner applicant whose relationship ended because of family violence could use the provisions only if they were in Australia when the permanent visa was granted, which left people stranded abroad. The amendment removed that requirement, and also expanded the circumstances in which a relationship that has ceased, including where the sponsor has died, can still lead to the grant. Applications decided from that date onward have the benefit of it.

What to do first

• Be safe. Use the services at the top of this page; a crisis service can also help with accommodation and a safety plan that accounts for your visa.
• Keep what you have: messages, photographs, medical records, police event numbers, the names of anyone you told.
• See a doctor or counsellor and tell them what happened. Their record is evidence in a prescribed category.
• Do not withdraw your partner application, and do not leave Australia, before advice. Either can close the route.
• Get advice before the Department is told the relationship has ended, so the family violence claim is lodged with the notification rather than after a refusal has started.

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General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. Family violence provisions in Division 1.5 of the Migration Regulations 1994, as amended from 1 July 2024, as in force at the date above. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.