Relationship breakdown on a temporary visa: what happens to the dependant, and the routes that remain

MARN 1576536

Which position you are in

Three positions cover almost everyone. A secondary applicant, the partner included on another person's temporary visa, a 482, 494, 485, 407, 408 or student visa, who holds that visa only as a member of the primary holder's family unit. An applicant for, or holder of, the temporary stage of a partner visa, the 820 or 309, whose permanent stage depends on the relationship continuing. And a holder of the permanent stage, the 801 or 100, whose visa is their own. The grant notice says which; the consequences are different enough that the first step is reading it.

A dependant on a temporary visa

A secondary visa holder's visa continues in effect until it expires or is cancelled; separation does not end it by itself. But the criterion on which it was granted, membership of the primary holder's family unit, is no longer met, and section 116 allows the Department to cancel a visa where the circumstances that permitted the grant no longer exist. When the Department learns of the separation, from the primary holder's notification, the sponsor's report, a new address, or a later application, it considers cancellation, gives notice, and allows a response. The response can ask for time, but it cannot restore the relationship. The practical consequence is that a dependant has a window, running from the separation to the cancellation, in which to lodge a visa in their own right, and the window is longer if the plan is made before the Department is told. A dependant who works holds the work rights of the visa until it ends, and those rights are what a sponsored or skilled application in their own right is built on.

A partner visa at the temporary stage

An applicant for an 820 whose relationship ends before the 820 is granted, or an 820 holder whose relationship ends before the 801 is granted, does not meet the criterion that the relationship is genuine and continuing at the time of decision, and the application is refused unless one of the exceptions below applies. The sponsor may withdraw sponsorship, which does not withdraw the application but leaves it without a sponsor. The applicant holds a bridging visa while the application runs, and after a refusal the bridging visa continues for the review period and then ends; a refusal also brings the section 48 bar on most onshore applications, which is why an applicant in this position who has another route often withdraws before refusal rather than after. The withdrawal guide explains the difference.

A permanent partner visa

A permanent partner visa, once granted, is held in the holder's own right. The relationship ending afterwards, by separation, divorce or death, does not affect the visa, the sponsor cannot withdraw it, and the holder proceeds to citizenship on the ordinary residence requirement. The one consequence is on the holder's future sponsorships: a person who came to Australia as a sponsored partner cannot sponsor a new partner for five years from their own application without compelling circumstances, and the sponsor requirements guide covers the limit.

The exceptions

• Family violence. A partner visa applicant whose relationship ended because of family violence committed by the sponsor can still be granted the permanent visa; the family violence guide sets out the evidence and the help available now.
• A child of the relationship. Where the applicant and the sponsor have a child together and the applicant has shared parental responsibility, access or a maintenance obligation, the permanent partner visa can be granted despite the relationship ending.
• The sponsor's death. Where the sponsor has died and the relationship would have continued, and the applicant has developed ties to Australia, the permanent visa can be granted.

The exceptions are for partner visa applicants. A dependant on another person's temporary visa has no equivalent; their routes are in their own right.

Notification

The primary holder of a visa must notify changes in circumstances that affect it, and a sponsor must report changes to a sponsored worker's situation. A dependant notifies changes to their own address and details under condition 8578. The end of the relationship is a change the Department expects to learn of, and concealing it in an answer to a direct question, or in a later application, is a false-information problem that outlasts the visa. What the law does not require is that the dependant notify on the day; the notification and the plan for the next visa are made together, so that the next application is lodged before or with the notification rather than after a cancellation notice. Updating your details covers the mechanics.

Routes in your own right

• Employer sponsorship. A dependant who has been working holds experience in Australia; an employer who wants to keep them can nominate for a 482 or 494, and the dependant applies in their own right, from inside Australia while the current visa is in effect.
• A points-tested visa. Where the occupation, assessment and points support a 189, 190 or 491, an expression of interest and, on invitation, an application; the invitation may arrive after the current visa ends, in which case the bridging position has to be planned.
• A student visa. Since 2 October 2026 usually applied for from outside Australia; a route for a dependant who leaves and returns.
• A new partner. A genuine relationship with an Australian citizen or permanent resident supports a new partner application, subject to Schedule 3 where the dependant no longer holds a substantive visa and to the new sponsor's eligibility.
• Leaving in time. Where no onshore route is realistic, departing before the visa is cancelled or expires keeps the record clean and the exclusion periods off it, and the next application is made from outside Australia on its own merits.

Each route has a timeline, and the timeline runs against the current visa and against any cancellation notice. My visa is expiring soon sets out the sequencing.

Children

A child of the relationship who is an Australian citizen, because a parent was a citizen or permanent resident at the birth, is the basis of the child-of-the-relationship exception for a partner visa applicant and a strong factor in any later discretionary decision. A child who holds a visa as a dependant with the departing parent is in the same position as that parent and is included in whatever application the parent makes. Where parents separate across a border, Australian family law and the Hague Convention govern where the child lives, and a visa plan that ignores a parenting order fails; family law advice runs alongside the migration advice, not after it.

The order to do things in

1. Read the grant notice: secondary applicant, partner visa temporary stage, or permanent.
2. If an exception applies, gather its evidence now.
3. If not, decide the route in your own right and the date it can be lodged.
4. Decide the notification: what, when, by whom, consistent with the route.
5. Keep working, keep the records, and keep the current visa's conditions, because the next application is read against them.
6. If leaving is the plan, leave before cancellation or expiry, on a date that keeps the exclusion periods off the file.

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General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. Section 116 of the Migration Act 1958, the family unit and partner visa criteria in Schedule 2 and Division 1.5 of the Migration Regulations 1994, 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.