462 to 820 dilemma

Hi everyone,

First post and some information that I would like clarified, helped with and generally cleared up to anyone that has been in the same circumstance or can speak on with authority.

I’ve done some searches on the forum for answers and some do exist, but the time stamps on people with the same questions as I could possibly be outdated and I would love to hear fresh opinions on the subject. Apologies in advance if it does come across as a rehash of an old subject.

To the nitty gritty!

I (Australian citizen) married my long time partner (USA citizen) in July 2017. We are close to being together for 4 years. We married in Australia while she was here on an ETA visa (2 ETA back to back with 1 week in Japan in between to reset the 3 month ETA), after which time she returned to the USA (September 2017) to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas with her family. No overstay, we abided by ETA rules.

Our plan for this year was for her to return to Australia on the 462 visa to spend the year working and holidaying, being with me and establishing lives together beyond what we have already done in the past.

Sometime during this year, further plans to apply for an 820 visa to convert her into a partner visa while she is in Australia is the plan, but I’ve hit some crossroads in said plans and here stems my questions.

1. I’ve spoken to a migration agent in Melbourne and they basically told me that a no further stay is automatically applied to any 462. I’m confused by this, as there is much information on this website alone that contradicts this. Any help here would be great.

2. I’ve also been told that as she will put married on her 462 application and that she is married to an Australian citizen that it would doubly automatically flag the visa to apply a no further stay. More contradictions to what I’ve read.

3. Is doing it this way (462 to 820) considered risky or riding the fine line in terms of what the government deems bad for visa progression? If she comes here on the 462 and we have in our minds the intention of converting to 820 sometime around July, does that increase the chance of denial of 820 as she would be entering the country with intention to stay?

I ask all this based on answers given by afore mentioned migration agent. It’s just all very confusing, contradictory and complex. I do have further agents to speak to with appointments made to ask pretty much the same questions, but with so many couples on this forum, there surely has to be information that could be helpful.

Finally, the reason behind not just applying for an 820 now and then getting her to come to Aus on a 462 while decision is pending is that we simply don’t have the funds for an upfront $7000 bill and ~$3500 migration agent. I’ve recently started a small business and have invested heavily into it and expected returns are projected for June-July, hence being short right this moment. It was a decision we made together as it would be the foundation of our future job wise.

Any help, opinions, assistance given is greatly appreciated. If I left any pertinent information out, don’t hesitate to ask.

Thanks everyone!

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Further background information:

We’ve both been to each others respective countries 3 times a piece, me visiting/living with her in USA 5 months in total and she coming here to Aus for a total of 9 months thus far to live and be with me

We’ve joint travelled together to Japan last year for a week for honeymoon

I’ve spent 1 Thanksgiving there, 1 birthday (me), 1 birthday (her), 4th of July, 1 Easter in USA

She has spent 1 Christmas, 1 New Year, 1 birthday (her), 1 birthday (me), 1 Easter in Aus