Abstract
This article considers the voices of migrant women engaging with Home Affairs to guarantee permanent residency (PR) in Australia after experiencing domestic violence. Data collected from longitudinal interviews with 20 participants were considered, with two participants’ stories analysed in detail. The research indicates how the legal immigration system is set up in a way that does not listen to women and disadvantages them. Particular issues pointed out include extended timelines, lack of concern for cultural differences and inconsistencies in the process, and how they affect women undermining the goal of the law, which is to protect migrants from sponsors’ violence.
Highlights
The history of women migrating to Australia has never been simple
Twenty adult migrant women accessing the domestic and family violence (DFV) provisions consented to participate in a longitudinal study consisting of two interviews one year apart
Participants average 36.7 years, with more than half living in Australia over three years, and 50 per cent of the women had separated over one year before the first interview
Summary
The history of women migrating to Australia has never been simple. Single women, in particular, were never the ideal migrants when Australia was expanding its population (Eubel 2010; Langfield 2002). When women on partner visa pathways to permanent residency (PR) experience domestic and family violence (DFV), they experience added barriers to leave the relationship, including, but not limited to, a fear of deportation and lack of independent rights in the new country, resulting in restricted access to public housing and welfare payments (Voolma 2018; Zadnik, Sabina and Cuevas 2016). Such limitations and uncertainties are common traits to migrant women’s experiences. Partner visa is one of the very few visa categories that accepts DFV as a genuine reason for breaching visa conditions (e.g., to remain in the relationship) and allow migrants a pathway to PR in Australia, by accessing the family violence (FV) provisions (Migration Regulations 1994 [Cth]: div. 1.5)
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