Australia is a popular hub for students, professionals and tourists. While many tourists, students, or professionals come to Australia for a certain period, they may end up wanting to stay in the country for longer. In such circumstances, you are required to extend your respective visas for a longer stay.
Extending your visa is a common way to extend your stay in Australia and continue to enjoy the country's beautiful environment. No matter what you are travelling for, work, study, or holiday, extending your visa can provide you with ample time to explore the country’s beautiful cities, beaches, and more.
In this blog, we will discuss about who can apply for a visa extension in Australia and its process. This blog aims to help you better understand your visa extension options so you can plan your stay accordingly.
The process for extending a visa in Australia will depend on the type of visa you hold – student visa, tourist visa, work visa, more. To put it simple, you will have to meet eligibility requirements and carefully follow the process of applying for visa extension. Understand the requirements and process for your visa extension before actually applying for one.
We have help you with how you can extend your visa in Australia in the following points –
After receiving an Australia visa, you will find that there are number of conditions attached to your visa type. These conditions are included in your visas to tell you what you can and cannot do while you are a holder of that visa. Look at this example; imagine yourself holding a tourist visa (subclass 600). You cannot work and can only stay for three months. Additionally, there is a “no further stay condition” (8503) imposed on this visa i.e., you cannot apply for any other visa than protection visa. This is why it is important to know your visa conditions beforehand.
If condition 8503 applies on your visa, you have to put a request to waive the condition that limits your longer stay in the country.
Following are circumstances in which condition 8503 can be waived of:
The “no further stay” condition will not be waived in the following cases:
Let us think of strong reasons due to which you are in position for a waiver for your 8503 visa condition. In such case, you will have to submit a waiver request to the Department of Foreign Affairs. Complete a waiver form online so you can apply for the waiver request. If you are unable to complete an online form, then you may download the pdf version, print it, and fill it in. The following documents will be required for both forms:
After submitting request for waiving the “no further stay” condition, you have to wait a while till the Department processes your request. If you get the grant to waive of, you can apply for a new visa. However, if the situation is otherwise, you cannot apply for a new visa, and if your visa expires after your waiver request denies, you will have to leave and fly back to your home country ASAP.
After the condition, “no further stay” is waived, you can apply for a new visa to continue staying in Australia. Applying a new visa is required after your existing visa expires because it is legally not allowed to use the expired visa for stay. So, you can apply for the same visa that you had or apply for another visa.
Following are the eligibility criteria for who can extend Australian visa:
Validity: Ensure that your current visa is still valid or is expired in the last 28 days to be able to apply for a visa extension.
Genuine intention: Your intention to stay longer in the country must be genuine.
Comply with visa conditions: Ensure that you have abide by all rules and regulations mentioned in your visa.
Health and character: ensure you meet health and character requirements set by the Australian government.
Sufficient funds: Ensure you have sufficient funds to support yourself during your extended stay in the country.
No previous visa cancellations or refusals: Ensure that you never had visa cancellation or visa refusal to be able to apply for a visa extension.
The processing times for visa extensions in Australia depends on the type of visa and the complexity of your profile. Usually, it takes about two to four weeks for the Department of Home and Affairs to process a visa extension application.
If you are applying for visa extension in Australia, consider the following points:
Visa extension is a tricky process and you must do it with the guidance and support of a professional migration agent. Asia Pacific Group has a decade over experience in this field and assures you the best immigration experience. So, if you are in need of visa extension in Australia, contact our experts today to know more about the process.
