After a relationship breakdown: does Australian visa condition 8516 still require you to keep meeting the criteria? (2026)
Yes. If your visa carries condition 8516, the obligation does not end when the relationship does. Under the official text of the Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 8, published by the Federal Register of Legislation and current as at September 2026, condition 8516 states that the holder must continue to be a person who would satisfy the primary or secondary criteria, as the case requires, for the grant of the visa. The wording is ongoing by design: it asks what is true now, not what was true on the day the visa was granted.
What does condition 8516 actually say?
The Schedule 8 text is short, and every part of it carries weight:
8516 The holder must continue to be a person who would satisfy the primary or secondary criteria, as the case requires, for the grant of the visa.
Three things follow from that sentence. First, "continue" makes it a running obligation rather than a one-off test passed at grant. Second, "would satisfy" directs the question at your present circumstances — you are measured against the same criteria that produced your visa, evaluated as things stand today. Third, "primary or secondary criteria, as the case requires" means the condition follows whichever route you were actually granted under; it is not limited to the main applicant's own criteria.
Does 8516 apply to your visa after a separation?
Not every visa class can be, or is, made subject to 8516. The note attached to the condition in Schedule 8 says that whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to this condition depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994. In other words, the condition's own text does not tell you which visas carry it — that is decided elsewhere in the Regulations, and it is applied to a visa individually.
So the reliable answer for any one person sits in the conditions recorded against their own visa, not in a general description of partner visas. Two people on visas that look similar on paper can hold different condition sets, and a condition that was imposed on one grant is not automatically imposed on the next.
Why a relationship breakdown puts this condition in play
For partner and prospective marriage visas, the relationship with the sponsoring partner is the substance of the grant criteria. That is why a separation is the situation in which 8516 tends to matter most: if the relationship was the basis on which the criteria were met, then its end raises the exact question the condition asks — whether the holder would still satisfy those criteria.
Suppose an applicant holds a visa granted on the basis of a partner relationship, that visa is subject to 8516, and the relationship ends. On a plain reading of the condition, the relevant question is not what the relationship looked like at the time of the grant, but whether the holder fits the description of a person who would satisfy the criteria today. The condition grants no waiting period of its own and contains no carve-outs of its own.
That last point matters for expectations. Condition 8516 is a single sentence about a continuing state of affairs. Anything that might relieve a holder of the obligation would come from the criteria themselves or from other provisions of the law, not from the text of 8516 reproduced in Schedule 8 — and those are questions to take to the official sources in their most recent published form.
What happens if you no longer meet the criteria?
The consequence of a condition breach is handled outside Schedule 8. The note to condition 8516 points to the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994 for whether a visa may be made subject to the condition, and to the Migration Act 1958 sections 41 and 116 to 119 as to cancellation for breaches of conditions. Those provisions are where the cancellation powers and the procedure around them are set out.
What that means in practice is that breaching 8516 is not a self-executing result. It places the holder within the scope of the cancellation provisions, and how those provisions are applied depends on the facts of the individual case and on the rest of the law — not on this one condition alone. Nothing here should be read as a prediction of any outcome.
This page describes how the condition is worded and how it fits with the cancellation provisions; it is general information, not advice about your circumstances, and it is not a substitute for the official legal text or, where your status is at stake, for advice from a qualified professional on your specific facts.
What to check before drawing a conclusion
Because 8516 turns on your current circumstances, the useful work is in three checks: which conditions were actually imposed on your visa, which criteria you were granted under (primary or secondary), and whether you would satisfy those criteria as things stand now. Working through those in order keeps the analysis tied to the text instead of to assumptions about how partner visa cases usually go.
Timing also cuts both ways. A condition breach is not cured by waiting, and equally, a change in circumstances does not by itself rewrite the condition. Where the law has been amended or policy has moved, the version to rely on is the one currently published by the official source.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is condition 8516 attached to every Australian visa?
No. The note to the condition in Schedule 8 says whether a visa of a particular class may be subject to 8516 depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994. It is imposed visa by visa, so the conditions recorded against your own grant are what count.
Does the obligation end when my relationship ends?
No. Condition 8516 requires the holder to continue to be a person who would satisfy the grant criteria, which directs the test at your present circumstances rather than at the situation when the visa was granted.
What exactly do I have to keep satisfying?
The primary or secondary criteria, as the case requires, for the grant of the visa. In practice that means whichever set of criteria your grant was actually based on, not a different or stricter set.
I was granted as a secondary applicant — does 8516 still apply to me?
The wording covers secondary criteria expressly, so a holder who was granted on secondary criteria is measured against those same criteria on an ongoing basis. Whether your particular visa carries the condition is still a separate question.
What happens if I breach condition 8516?
The note to the condition refers to the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994 for whether a visa may be made subject to the condition, and to the Migration Act 1958 sections 41 and 116 to 119 as to cancellation for breaches of conditions. The outcome in any individual case depends on those provisions and the facts, so no result can be assumed from the breach alone.
Does 8516 itself list exceptions for relationship breakdown?
No. The text of the condition contains no exceptions or grace periods; it is a single continuing requirement. Any relief would come from the criteria or other provisions of the law, and the current position should be confirmed against the latest official publications.
Is this article legal advice?
No. It explains how condition 8516 is worded in the Migration Regulations 1994 and where the cancellation provisions sit in the Migration Act 1958. Decisions about your visa should be based on the official sources in their most recent form and, where needed, on advice tailored to your circumstances.