If your relationship ends while your partner visa is on foot, two things follow: you have to tell the Department, and the permanent visa now depends on whether one of four exceptions in the migration law applies to you. Nothing happens to your visa the moment you separate, and there is time to get advice before you write anything.
Family Violence Provisions for Partner Visa Applicants
How the family violence provisions work for 820 and 801 applicants: what the Department must be satisfied of, the two ways a claim is made out, and the evidence.
Read the guide →
If Your Sponsor Dies During Processing
What happens to an 820 or 801 partner visa application if the sponsoring partner dies: the clause that applies, what must be established, and the evidence.
Read the guide →
The Child-of-the-Relationship Provision
How clause 801.221(6) lets a partner visa be granted after the relationship ends where there is a child, custody or access, and a maintenance obligation.
Read the guide →If you are not safe right now, call 000. Support services exist and the Department's family violence pages list them.
Do you have to tell the Department the relationship has ended?
Yes. Section 104 of the Migration Act 1958 requires a person to inform an officer, in writing and as soon as practicable, when circumstances change so that an answer given on their application form is no longer correct in the new circumstances. Your relationship is one of the answers on the permanent subclass 801 application, and that application has not been decided, so the duty is live.
There are two forms. The Department provides a Notification of Relationship Cessation form in ImmiAccount, which is the form it points partner visa holders to when a relationship ends. Form 1022 Notification of changes in circumstances is the general form for other changes, such as a new address or a change in the family unit. Your sponsor has their own obligations and may notify separately; do not assume that because one of you has written, the Department has what it needs from the other.
Two practical points. First, keep a copy of what you send and the date you sent it. Second, the date the relationship ended is a fact the Department will work from later, so give it accurately rather than approximately.
What happens to the temporary 820 visa?
The subclass 820 visa itself keeps running. Under the Migration Regulations 1994 it is a temporary visa that permits you to stay until you are notified that your subclass 801 application has been decided, or until that application is withdrawn. Separation does not cancel it and does not, by itself, make you unlawful.
What changes is the permanent stage. For the subclass 801 permanent visa, the ordinary criterion is that you continue to be the spouse or de facto partner of the sponsoring partner and continue to be sponsored by them. If that is no longer true and no exception applies, the 801 will be refused — and the 820 ceases when you are notified of that refusal. That is why the relationship ending matters to the temporary visa even though it does not end it directly.
Important
You cannot change your sponsor. The Department of Home Affairs says the person who sponsors you when you apply must be the same person who sponsors you for two years after the temporary visa is granted. A new relationship does not carry the existing application across; it would mean a new application.
When can the permanent visa still be granted?
The Migration Regulations 1994 allow the permanent visa to be granted in four situations even though the relationship with the sponsor has ended.
Family violence
If you, or a dependent child of you or your sponsor, experienced family violence committed by the sponsoring partner, the permanent visa can still be granted. The Department must be satisfied that the relationship was genuine and ongoing before it ended and that family violence took place in the relationship. There is a defined way of making the claim out, and a defined body of evidence. This is set out on family violence provisions.
The death of your sponsor
If your sponsor has died, the permanent visa can still be granted if you satisfy the Department that you would have continued to be the spouse or de facto partner of your sponsor had they not died. The same provision exists at the temporary stage, for a sponsor who dies before the 820 is decided. See if your sponsor dies.
A child of the relationship
The regulations also allow the permanent visa where you have custody or joint custody of, or access to, a child, or a residence or contact order under the Family Law Act 1975, and the sponsoring partner has been granted joint custody or access, has such an order, or has a child maintenance obligation or other formal maintenance obligation. This is narrower than "we have a child together" — it turns on custody, access, a court order or another formal maintenance obligation, not on parentage alone. See the child of the relationship provision.
If you held a Prospective Marriage (subclass 300) visa
The regulations contain separate provisions for people who hold, or have held, a subclass 300 visa. They allow an 820 and 801 application where the sponsoring partner has died, or where the relationship has ceased and either family violence was committed by the sponsoring partner or the child provisions apply. The Department confirms that subclass 300 holders and former holders may still be eligible if the relationship ends or the partner dies before they apply. See moving from a subclass 300 visa.
What the Department does after you tell it
Nothing usually happens immediately. When the Department is considering refusing an application on the basis of information that is adverse to the applicant, it generally writes first and gives a period to respond. That letter is the opportunity to put your case — that one of the four situations applies, or that the relationship had not in fact ended on the date assumed, or that the evidence about the earlier period should be reassessed.
The period in those letters is short and is set out in the letter itself. Responding late is treated the same as not responding: the decision can be made on the material as it stands.
Watch out
Do not apply for another visa without advice first. The Department of Home Affairs is explicit that to be granted the permanent Partner visa you must hold the temporary 820 (or a subclass 445 visa), and that if you are granted any other visa you will no longer be eligible for the permanent Partner visa. A visitor or student visa taken out as a safety net can end the permanent application you are trying to keep.
The same warning applies to New Zealand passport holders who travel: on re-entry, tell the border officer you hold a temporary Partner visa and do not want a Special Category (subclass 444) visa, because a subclass 444 grant overrides the temporary Partner visa and ends eligibility for the permanent one.
What happens if the application is refused?
If the permanent visa is refused, the 820 ceases when you are notified. Whether you then hold anything depends on your circumstances: many people are granted a bridging visa associated with a review application, and a Bridging visa A granted with a substantive application generally allows you to remain for 35 days after the refusal decision. That is a short window, and it is the reason review deadlines are missed.
There is usually a right of review at the Administrative Review Tribunal, and the time limit is strict. The refusal letter states the deadline. See why 820 visas are refused and appealing at the ART.
Why advice before you write matters here
This is the point in a partner visa where the deadlines and the wording do the most work. A notification that understates what happened can make a later family violence claim harder to run; one that gets a date wrong can be treated as inconsistency; and a missed review deadline cannot be extended. Applications and claims prepared by an Australian migration lawyer are more likely to succeed, because the exceptions above are technical, evidence-heavy and time-limited, and most people meet them for the first time in the worst week of their year.
What to do next: if family violence is part of what happened, read family violence provisions before you write to the Department. If you have already been refused, go to appealing at the ART and check the date on your letter today.
Unregistered agents
An unregistered agent who gives immigration assistance is acting illegally (Migration Act 1958 s 280). They carry no professional indemnity insurance, so if their mistake costs you a refusal, your fees or your pathway, there is no insurer to claim against. A practising Australian lawyer must hold that insurance.
Common questions
Do I have to tell Home Affairs if my relationship ends?
Yes. Section 104 of the Migration Act 1958 requires a person to tell the Department in writing, as soon as practicable, when circumstances change so that an answer on their application form is no longer correct. Because the permanent Partner visa application has not been decided, the relationship is still a live answer on that application. The Department provides a Notification of Relationship Cessation form in ImmiAccount, and Form 1022 is used for other changes in circumstances.
Does my 820 visa end automatically when I separate?
No. The subclass 820 visa stays in effect until the permanent subclass 801 application is decided or withdrawn. What changes is the likely outcome of the 801, because being the spouse or de facto partner of the sponsor is normally a criterion for the permanent visa. The 820 ceases when you are notified of a decision on the 801.
Can I still get permanent residence after separating?
In four situations, yes. The permanent visa can still be granted if you or a dependent child experienced family violence committed by the sponsor, if the sponsor has died, if you have custody, access or a court order in relation to a child of the sponsor and there is a formal maintenance obligation, or, for people who held a Prospective Marriage subclass 300 visa, under provisions written specifically for them. Each has its own evidence requirements.
What if my sponsor withdraws their sponsorship?
Withdrawal of sponsorship does not by itself end your temporary visa, but it removes a criterion the permanent visa normally depends on. The Department will usually write to you before making a decision and give you a period to respond. Deadlines in those letters are short, so get advice quickly.
Should I write to the Department before getting advice?
The wording you use is important, because the Department reads your notification as evidence about when and how the relationship ended and about what you are claiming. Speaking to an immigration lawyer before you write, rather than after, is the point at which advice makes the most difference.