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NB - A new definition of ‘family violence’ is applicable to visa applications lodged after 15 October 2007':
 Immigration Advice and Rights Centre Fact Sheet Family Violence
DOMESTIC VIOLENCE
If you or a member of your family unit have suffered domestic violence
from your sponsoring spouse or de facto partner and the relationship
breaks down before you have obtained your permanent resident visa,
you still may be able to get a permanent residence visa.
You must prove
WHAT IS DOMESTIC VIOLENCE?
Violence against
- the victim or his or her property that causes
- the alleged victim, or
- a member of the victim's family,
to fear for, or to be apprehensive about, the victim's personal well-being
or safety. Domestic violence in Immigration law involves a wide range
of behavior including physical violence, sexual violence, emotional
abuse, economic deprivation and threats of violence occurring in a
family context.
HOW DO I PROVE THAT DOMESTIC VIOLENCE OCCURRED?
Two of the ways that domestic violence in Immigration law can
be proven are through:
- A final Domestic Violence Protection Order made by a court.
OR
- A combination of three statutory declarations.
One from you containing details about your relationship and the
domestic violence. Two other declarations must be provided from
certain
health professionals or domestic violence workers called "competent
persons". A police record of assault is an alternative for
one of the declarations from a competent person.
You must also provide a statutory declaration setting out why
you believe your relationship was genuine and continuing until the
time of separation. You must provide evidence you were in a genuine
and continuing relationship until the time of separation.
Please use DIMA's
form 1040 Statutory Declaration for your statutory declaration
and those of your "competent
persons". The form is available from the DIMA website form
by clicking on the link, or from DIMA
domestic violence contact officers.
The downloadable forms are in PDF. You will need the Adobe Reader,
version 4 or later,
on your computer. For help with using PDF files, click
here.
Evidence of a Genuine and Continuing Relationship
You must provide evidence you were in a genuine and continuing
relationship until the time of separation.
Listed below are some suggestions.
- documentary evidence of shared accommodation, such as joint
mortgage documents, or joint
rental agreements and receipts;
- evidence of joint income and financial assets and obligations,
such as joint bank accounts, investments, loans, joint utility
bills, official declaration of the relationship (eg for insurance
purposes) etc;
- evidence that your relationship has been declared to any relevant
Government bodies such
as the Department of Social Security (Centrelink), the Australian
Taxation Office, Austudy, etc;
- copies of wills, superannuation and/or life insurance policies
showing both names at the same
address and indicating the beneficiaries;
- evidence of joint participation in cultural, social, sporting,
or other activities eg photographs
(with notation describing the date and event);
- evidence of dated correspondence to you and your spouse jointly
or individually at your
common address(es) over period of your relationship;
- statutory declarations by relatives or friends about your relationship;
- full birth certificates (showing details of parents) of any
children of the relationship;
- any other relevant items.
If you can't produce any of these things you may need to get people
who knew both you and your partner to swear statutory declarations
stating why they believe your relationship was genuine until you separated.
You can use DIMA’s
form 888 for these declarations.
If you are a woman from a Non-English speaking background in Queensland,
and you are experiencing Domestic Violence, you can contact the
Immigrant Women
Support Service (IWSS) on 07 3846 3490
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