# 457 Secondary Visa & Divorce



## AussieBelle (Aug 29, 2012)

Hello, I'm in a little bit of a sticky situation and have been told that Alan Collett can help. I would please appreciate any assistance you can offer.

I am a US Citizen, but was living in England for 8 years before my British husband got a job in Australia. We (my husband, daughter and I) immigrated to Australia 18 months ago. My husband is the primary applicant for the 457 visa and my daughter (British Citizen) and I are secondary applicants. 

My husbands job is going very well and in Feb 2013 he will be looking to get Permanent Residency because we want to 'root' ourselves here in Australia. However, after almost 10 years of marriage, my husband and I decided that its time to separate/divorce. We haven't 'legally' separated, but we aren't wearing our rings and have been slowly telling people about the situation. We are very good friends and everything is amicable. 

My questions are: 

1. Do I need to wait to get PR to file for separation? 
2. If I were to file now, what would happen to our visa status? Would me and my daughter be kicked out of the country? 
3. What is the process for filing for separation under a 457 visa?

Thank you very much in advance for any assistance you can offer. 

Kind regards


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## johnat21 (Jan 19, 2010)

Hi AussieBelle, I'm sorry to hear of the situation you're in, it's very distressing for all involved, especially children! A similar situation arose for a friend who's husband left her after 30 years of marriage while here on a 457! What happened there was after the immigration department were informed of their situation, the husband, who was the secondary on the visa, was given 4 weeks to find a sponsor of his own to fulfill the visa criteria otherwise he too would have had to go back to the UK. 
As for the actual divorce, he did a DIY one on the Internet for $250 that he did behind his wife's back! Nice guy huh?


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2012)

Are you living in the same house? If so you might be ok for now. But to apply for PR as dependents of his application would be visa fraud. You are stating you are in an ongoing , exclusive and committed relationship in your application. If you are not and claim you are you will be committing visa fraud.
By following the letter of the law you should have informed DIAC and would have been given 28 days to leave the country already. 
You need a registered migration agent asap.


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## needhelp1222 (Apr 13, 2015)

*needhelp*

Hello, I need someone to help me in travelling to Australia, my marriage stayed for a about three weeks my husband left me in Pakistan, I am willing to go to Australia, as i have been granted partner visa that expires in 2019, however my husband has sent the first divorce papers,


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