Will my friend loose her PR/Visa if she divorces her abusive husband who lives in Australia?

Question

My friend is from France and she met her husband while he was studying there. They fell in love, got married and moved to Australia where they have been living for the past 4 years. She recently got her PR to stay in Australia and is in the middle of completing her doctrine however in recent months her husband has become abusive/violent. After trying to reconcile things she has hit a dead end. She is now looking into divorce but doesn't want to forfeit her PR after putting in the hard yards and also wants to complete her education. I've tried to look up the Australian Immigration website but it doesn't have a section regarding the rights of those who have come into the country under a spousal visa who now want to divorce. I want her out of this abusive relationship ASAP but not before we know her rights as we don't want her husband having anymore power of her.

Answer 1

She has permanent residence. Meaning permanent (she's not under the conditions of temporary stay anymore I'm guessing she has the Spouse permanent visa (subclass 801) ). The only way she could loose this would be if her husband could prove that she married him to stay in Australia (may be slightly harder if they lived overseas for awhile). Tell her to file a police report and document the abuse (keep a diary of dates and what was done) and then leave. She'll be fine.

http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/partners...

Answer 2

My cousin works for the best immigration office in the country and I don't think they will because they always give citizenship to women who are abused by their husband so if anything the government or anyone is on her side !!!=]