Subclass 461 Visaholders – What Happens if the Relationship Ends?

As explained more fully here, the subclass 461 visa is a long term temporary residency visa that is available to non-New Zealand family members of a New Zealand citizen, which allows the 461 visa holder to move to Australia to live and work.

Some will be concerned about what happens if the relationship with the New Zealand citizen comes to an end, and the 461 visa is to be renewed.

Fortunately, a 461 visa can be renewed in the following circumstances:

* You are still a member of the family unit of the New Zealand citizen you named in your application for your first subclass 461 visa, or

* You are in Australia and:
> you hold a subclass 461 visa, or you are not the holder of a substantive visa and the last substantive visa you held was a subclass 461 visa, and
> you are no longer a member of the family unit of a person in relation to whom you were granted a subclass 461 visa, and
> you have not become a member of the family unit of any other person

or

* You are outside Australia and:
> either you have been in Australia as the holder of a subclass 461 visa for at least two years in the past five years, or you have substantial business, cultural, employment or personal ties with Australia that are of benefit to Australia and you have not been absent from Australia for a continuous period of five years before applying for this visa unless there are compelling reasons for the absence, and
> you held a subclass 461 visa when you last left Australia, and
> you are no longer a member of the family unit of the person in relation to whom you were granted a subclass 461 visa, and
> you have not become a member of the family unit of another person.