# BS801 Marriage breakup before citizenship



## mx6mat (Mar 10, 2013)

Hi, 

I have a friend in a marriage which is bordering on abusive and she lives in fear of what he is going to do to her. She has settled in Australia for 4 years now and has a lot of friends and wants to stay. 

She has just submitted here citizenship application which Im not sure how long it takes. 

Im concerned about her and want to see her leave as soon as possible for here safety and health and be able to move on with her life.

Will leaving her husband affect here permanent visa and her citizenship application.

thanks for help


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## MarkNortham (Dec 19, 2012)

Hi mx6mat -

As MrMessy said, once a person becomes a permanent resident (for instance, with a subclass 801 permanent resident spouse visa), the relationship has no bearing on their options going forward and their citizenship application wouldn't be affected at all by whether the relationship remained intact or not.

If the person is on the 2-year provisions spouse visa (onshore would be subclass 820), if there has been domestic violence (which doesn't have to be actual violence, can be threatening behaviour, etc) and it's documented, the victim has a good chance of moving onto being granted the subclass 801 permanent partner visa without the support of the sponsoring partner.

The citizenship application typically takes a few weeks to get the interview and citizenship test set, then once she passes that and presents all documentation, another few months (can be up to 5-6 in some cases) to wait for a citizenship ceremony. Once she attends the ceremony, she's a citizen. But again, there's no impact on the citizenship application if the relationship is over.

I realise this can be a rather private matter to discuss - please feel free to email me (or have your friend email me) directly at [email protected] and I'd be glad to answer any questions about the process.

Best,

Mark Northam


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## mx6mat (Mar 10, 2013)

Thank you for your clear response. I was hoping this would be the case.

Unfortunately there is not an documented evidence, ie diary entries and the like, but i know of a couple of incidence where other people have been aware of her distress.

So by your response there is no risk of her just moving out.

- does she need to let immigration know ?
- he cant go and talk to immigration and effect her permanent residency status.

thanks again.


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## MarkNortham (Dec 19, 2012)

Hi -

Assuming she is now a permanent resident and holds a subclass 801 permanent partner visa, she does not need to let immigration (DIAC) know anything about her relationship, and there is little that the ex can do to affect her PR status short of claiming the entire marriage was a sham, in which case he would be inviting as much trouble for himself as he would for her. Even in that case, she would be given the opportunity to lodge a defense against that.

GIven all the circumstances as you've reported them, I recommend she apply for citizenship as soon as possible.

Please advise if I can be of any further assistance -

Best,

Mark Northam


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