Do I need a lawyer or a migration agent?

Many visa applications are lodged directly. A registered migration agent or immigration lawyer helps with complex or refused matters.

What is a Section 48 bar?

It limits the visas you can apply for while unlawfully in Australia after a refusal or cancellation. A professional can map your options.

Can I appeal a refused visa?

Often yes — the Administrative Appeals Tribunal reviews many decisions, but strict time limits apply.

Reporting violence by a visa holder to Border Watch and police in 2026

When to call police first and when a Border Watch report fits if a visa holder is violent, plus what happens next.

If a visa holder is violent towards you, the Department of Home Affairs directs allegations of criminal conduct to the police first, and treats Border Watch (the Australian Border Force's reporting service) as the channel for reporting domestic and family violence committed by a visa holder. That order comes from the Department's Information for Partner visa sponsors page, as at the October 2026 version of its official pages. What follows is general information only, not advice about your individual situation, and the official pages should be treated as the authoritative source.

Should you call the police or report to Border Watch first?

Police first, where the behaviour is criminal. The Department's guidance states plainly that allegations of criminal conduct should be reported to the police in the first instance, and that domestic and family violence committed by a visa holder can be reported to Border Watch.

The two are not alternatives to each other. A police report deals with the offending; a Border Watch report puts the information in front of the agency that administers the person's visa.

Situation	What the Department's guidance points to
Someone is injured, or a life is threatened	Emergency services on 000
Violence or other criminal conduct that is not an emergency	Police, in the first instance
Domestic or family violence committed by a visa holder	A report to Border Watch
You are not eligible for the family violence provisions	Help is still available, regardless of visa status

When is it an emergency?

Call the police on 000 when you or someone else is injured and needs urgent medical attention, or when your life or a family member's life is threatened. The Department's page puts this in the same breath as the reporting guidance: you do not have to stay in a relationship where you fear for your own or your family's safety.

For non-urgent police assistance, the state and territory police numbers listed on the Department's Where to get help page use 131 444.

What does a Border Watch report do?

The Department's page does not set out what happens after a Border Watch report is made, so it is worth being realistic about it: the guidance places the report alongside the police route rather than instead of it, and says nothing about outcomes, timeframes, or what you will be told afterwards.

What the guidance does make clear is that a report of violence by a visa holder belongs with the police first if it involves criminal conduct. Treat a Border Watch report as an additional step, not a substitute for police involvement, and not as something that will resolve an immediate safety risk.

What comes out of a police report?

A police report can become evidence later on. Under the Department's Family violence evidence page, evidence is either judicial (from a court) or non-judicial, and all of it must be in writing, in English, and in the format and level of detail requested.

Police evidence is one of the listed non-judicial categories, and includes a report, a record of assault or family violence, a risk assessment, a witness statement, and a statutory declaration. To count, it must identify the alleged victim, identify the alleged perpetrator or give enough information for that identity to be reasonably inferred, and detail the incidents of family violence.

If the matter goes to court, other documents become available: a record that the court has convicted the person of a family violence offence, or recorded a finding of guilt, is judicial evidence. A court injunction under the Family Law Act 1975, or a court order made under a state or territory law, also counts.

Does a report change the visa application?

It depends on who is making the claim. The family violence provisions are a route for a visa applicant, not a penalty imposed on the visa holder by your report. For a Partner visa applicant or holder, the alleged perpetrator must be the former sponsor of the application; for a secondary applicant, the alleged perpetrator must be the primary applicant.

Where a relationship has ended, the Department must tell the visa applicant and give them a chance to respond before deciding the application, and there may still be grounds to grant a permanent Partner visa. If you withdraw sponsorship, privacy law prevents the Department from giving you details about the application or the applicant, including the outcome and whether the applicant is in Australia.

What if you are the sponsor, and the violence is against you?

Sponsors are not excluded from help. The Department's sponsor page states that support services are available if you are impacted by domestic and family violence, and its Where to get help page states that you have a right to feel safe and that support is available regardless of your visa status.

The family violence provisions themselves are written for applicants, and for Family visas they do not apply to violence perpetrated by an Australian sponsor. That gap does not leave you without options: the pages point to counselling, housing, financial, medical and legal support, and to the police where conduct is criminal. Sponsorship withdrawal is done through the Partner processing enquiry form, and the privacy consequences described above follow from it.

How are family violence claims assessed?

The Department assesses a claim in stages, and gives more time to gather documents where delays are outside the person's control.

The applicant tells the Department the relationship has ended.
The Department assesses whether the relationship was genuine and ongoing.
Only then does it assess the family violence evidence.

If the Department is not satisfied that family violence occurred, it refers the person to an independent expert, who interviews them and gives an opinion. The Department must accept that opinion. If the expert determines that family violence did not occur, the applicant is given the opportunity to comment. If the claim is accepted, the Department may ask for further information, which can include a health exam or character documents such as an Australian or overseas police certificate.

Non-judicial evidence is either a joint undertaking made before the court, or a minimum of two pieces of evidence plus a completed Commonwealth statutory declaration, and only one document is accepted from each category — so a hospital report from a nurse and a statutory declaration from a medical practitioner together would count as one, not two.

Keeping yourself safe while you report

The Department's Where to get help page recommends using private browsing mode where possible and clearing your browsing history otherwise. It also warns that a helpline number will still appear on your phone bill, which means anyone who can see the bill can see that you called. Most helplines are free from a landline, payphone and most mobile phones. The eSafety Commissioner publishes an online safety checklist for people affected by domestic and family violence.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I have to go to the police before reporting to Border Watch?

For allegations of criminal conduct, the Department's guidance says to report to the police in the first instance. Reporting to Border Watch is available for domestic and family violence committed by a visa holder, and the guidance presents it as an additional channel rather than a replacement for police.

Should I call 000 or 131 444?

Call 000 where you or someone else is injured and needs urgent medical attention, or where your life or a family member's life is threatened. The state and territory police numbers listed by the Department for non-urgent matters use 131 444.

Can a sponsor report the visa holder they sponsored?

Yes. The guidance about reporting to Border Watch appears on the Department's page for Partner visa sponsors, alongside guidance that sponsors can access support services and do not have to stay in a relationship where they fear for their safety.

Will I be told what happens to the visa application after I withdraw sponsorship?

No. Privacy law prevents the Department from giving a former sponsor details about the application or the applicant, including the outcome and whether the applicant is in Australia.

Does a police report count as evidence of family violence?

It can. A police report, record of assault or family violence, risk assessment, witness statement or statutory declaration are all listed as non-judicial evidence, provided they identify the victim, identify or allow inference of the perpetrator, and detail the incidents.

Is there help if I am not eligible for the family violence provisions?

Yes. The Department's pages state that you have a right to a safe environment in Australia regardless of your visa status, and list national and state and territory support services covering counselling, housing, finances, food, medical needs and legal matters.