Family Violence? Protect Your Visa Rights After Abuse

Look, if your partner has ever threatened to "have you deported" or told you that you will "lose your visa" if you leave, I need you to understand something right now: they are lying.

Australian law protects you. Your visa status is not a weapon they get to use against you.

I have worked with clients who stayed in dangerous situations for years because they believed their abuser's threats. They thought leaving meant losing everything: their visa, their chance at permanent residency, their future in Australia. That is not how it works.

The Family Violence Provisions Exist Specifically for This Situation

The Family Violence Provisions are built into Australian migration law under Division 1.5 of the Migration Regulations 1994. Their purpose is simple: if your relationship ended because of abuse, you should not be punished for that in your immigration outcome.

These provisions allow you to continue your visa application and still achieve permanent residency, even though your relationship with your sponsor has ended. The law recognises that victims of family violence should not have to choose between their safety and their visa.

Who Can Access These Provisions?

The Family Violence Provisions generally apply to:

• Applicants or holders of Partner visas (Subclasses 820, 801, 309, 100)

• Applicants who previously held a Prospective Marriage visa (Subclass 300) while in Australia

• Secondary applicants on certain Skilled, Business, and Family visas where the perpetrator was the primary visa holder

What Counts as "Family Violence" Under Migration Law?

Here is something important: the legal definition of family violence is deliberately broad. It is not limited to physical assault.

Regulation 1.23(2)(b) defines relevant family violence as conduct that causes you to "reasonably fear for, or to be reasonably apprehensive about" your own wellbeing or safety. That includes:

Psychological and Emotional Abuse

Constant surveillance. "Loyalty tests". Gaslighting. Repeated degrading comments designed to undermine your confidence. If it impairs your psychological health, it counts.

Coercive Control

Behaviour that controls you or makes you fearful. I have seen cases where victims were forced to write "rules" they had to follow just to be allowed back into their own home. That is coercive control.

Migration-Related Abuse

Threats to cancel your visa. Demands that you "pack your bags" or "make preparations to leave". Using your visa status as a tool of intimidation. This is one of the most common forms I see.

Financial Abuse

Withholding money. Denying you financial autonomy. Exploiting you financially while you cover joint expenses. One client's partner was displaying large gambling balances while she paid the mortgage, rent, and bills alone.

Sexual Abuse

Sexual assault. Repeated pressure for sexual acts despite clear objections. Insisting on unprotected intercourse while concealing health issues.

What You Need to Prove

To access the Family Violence Provisions, you need to establish two things.

1. Your Relationship Was Genuine Before It Broke Down

You must show the relationship was real and ongoing before the abuse caused it to end. This means evidence of:

• Financial aspects of the relationship

• The nature of your household

• Social recognition of the relationship

• Mutual commitment

2. Documentary Evidence of the Violence

This can be either judicial or non-judicial evidence.

Judicial evidence includes court orders (like an Intervention Order or Family Violence Order) or a court conviction for a violence offence against you. If you have this, the Department of Home Affairs must accept that family violence occurred.

Non-judicial evidence is what most of my clients rely on. You need a statutory declaration (Form 1410i) setting out what happened, plus at least two documents from different categories of professionals:

• Medical evidence: A report from a registered doctor detailing injuries or treatment consistent with family violence

• Psychologist evidence: A report stating your claims are consistent with having experienced family violence

• Family violence service evidence: A letter from a refuge or crisis centre confirming your account is consistent with abuse

What Should You Do Now?

If you are in this situation, do not wait. Do not assume your abuser is right about your visa. Do not let fear keep you trapped.

The law is on your side. But these claims require careful preparation and proper evidence. Getting it wrong can cost you your visa outcome.

Book a confidential consultation with our team. We will assess your situation, explain exactly what evidence you need, and help you understand your options. Everything you tell us is protected by legal privilege.

Your safety matters more than your relationship. And your visa does not have to be a casualty of leaving.