[FlyingSideburns]

Hello all,

I am to enter Australia on Saturday, 23rd February 2019 and am planning to stay for a month, leaving around the 20th of March 2019 as I want to come to apply for my 485 Visa to work and stay in Australia.

I currently hold a valid student 500 visa which expires on the 15th of March. What can I do to perhaps help extend my trip by that 5 days? I was looking into the possibility of canceling my student visa and applying for a 601 ETA Visa straight away so that I will be allowed to stay. But two big questions arise from this method.

1. Will I be able to smoothly apply for my 485 Visa WHILE I am on a 601 Tourist Visa? Is it 'substantive' enough as per the 485 requirements? As such, is having a 500 Student Visa a NECCESSITY in my application for my 485 substantive enough?

2. Seeing that a cancellation takes a couple of weeks to a month to process, if I apply for an ETA now and am for example granted it tomorrow, can I enter Australia despite the visa cancellation request being processed?

Thanks!

 

[paulhand]

Hello all,

I am to enter Australia on Saturday, 23rd February 2019 and am planning to stay for a month, leaving around the 20th of March 2019 as I want to come to apply for my 485 Visa to work and stay in Australia.

I currently hold a valid student 500 visa which expires on the 15th of March. What can I do to perhaps help extend my trip by that 5 days? I was looking into the possibility of canceling my student visa and applying for a 601 ETA Visa straight away so that I will be allowed to stay. But two big questions arise from this method.

1. Will I be able to smoothly apply for my 485 Visa WHILE I am on a 601 Tourist Visa? Is it 'substantive' enough as per the 485 requirements? As such, is having a 500 Student Visa a NECCESSITY in my application for my 485 substantive enough?

2. Seeing that a cancellation takes a couple of weeks to a month to process, if I apply for an ETA now and am for example granted it tomorrow, can I enter Australia despite the visa cancellation request being processed?

Thanks!

I think you are over-complicating this.

If you apply for the 485 visa before your student visa expires, you will get a bridging visa (BVA) that will allow you to stay in Australia whilst your application is decided. You will need to apply for a BVB (and have it granted before you leave) to make sure you can return when your 485 is ready to be granted as you need to be onshore for that.

 

[FlyingSideburns]

I think you are over-complicating this.

If you apply for the 485 visa before your student visa expires, you will get a bridging visa (BVA) that will allow you to stay in Australia whilst your application is decided. You will need to apply for a BVB (and have it granted before you leave) to make sure you can return when your 485 is ready to be granted as you need to be onshore for that.

Hi Paul,

I assume this has to be done onshore!

Howevever, if I decide to come only AFTER the expiration of my student visa, would applying for an ETA allow me to still be eligible to apply for the 485 per say?

Thanks for your prompt response, I'm really at my wits end.

 

[paulhand]

Hi Paul,

I assume this has to be done onshore!

Howevever, if I decide to come only AFTER the expiration of my student visa, would applying for an ETA allow me to still be eligible to apply for the 485 per say?

Thanks for your prompt response, I'm really at my wits end.

Yes, you must onshore at application and decision times.

If you want to run scenario analyses I would suggest a consultation with a registered migration agent to go through your options.

 

[forumlurker]

Hi Paul,

I assume this has to be done onshore!

Howevever, if I decide to come only AFTER the expiration of my student visa, would applying for an ETA allow me to still be eligible to apply for the 485 per say?

Thanks for your prompt response, I'm really at my wits end.

I'm confused, aren't you arriving in Australia on 23 Feb? You said your visa expires 15 Mar, so I'm not sure what you mean by "if I decide to come only AFTER the expiration of my student visa, would applying for an ETA allow me to still be eligible to apply for the 485 per say"?

 

[FlyingSideburns]

I'm confused, aren't you arriving in Australia on 23 Feb? You said your visa expires 15 Mar, so I'm not sure what you mean by "if I decide to come only AFTER the expiration of my student visa, would applying for an ETA allow me to still be eligible to apply for the 485 per say"?

Sorry for the confusion, I am looking to confirm and purchase a ticket to fly to Australia on the 23rd of February by tomorrow, it's not set in stone yet but I hope I can gather enough credible information to make a decision on what I should do before I actually proceed with it.

Sorry for the miscommunication! It's 2am and I've been scouring the forums for all advice available haha.

 

[forumlurker]

Sorry for the confusion, I am looking to confirm and purchase a ticket to fly to Australia on the 23rd of February by tomorrow, it's not set in stone yet but I hope I can gather enough credible information to make a decision on what I should do before I actually proceed with it.

Sorry for the miscommunication! It's 2am and I've been scouring the forums for all advice available haha.

So meaning to say you're only arriving in Australia after your student visa expires? If it's like that, just get an ETA when you're ready to travel.

Or are you asking just in case you want to travel before your student visa expires 15 March?

 

[FlyingSideburns]

So meaning to say you're only arriving in Australia after your student visa expires? If it's like that, just get an ETA when you're ready to travel.

Or are you asking just in case you want to travel before your student visa expires 15 March?

As I have commitments in my home country as well, my situation is such that I cannot stay any more than a month at a time. With this in perspective, there's really three ways I can think about to solve my issue now (which I am unsure is doable or not, thus the need for some expert advice. Sorry if the queries sound dumb)

1. Apply for an ETA immediately and stay on my Student Visa which expires 15th March. I'm hoping then that the ETA might be able to over ride the ceased student visa, allowing me to stay the duration allowed by the ETA.

2. Cancel my Student Visa and while that is processing, apply for an ETA and come to Australia anyway and go about my business.

3. Apply for a 485 PSW Visa immediately upon arrival in Australia and obtain a bridging visa 'A' for further stay. Before I need to depart Australia, apply for a bridging visa 'B' to leave.

But the first two methods open up another question for me. Seeing that I am interested in applying for the 485 PSW Visa, I am unsure if, as per the requirements of the 485 PSW Visa on the immi site, the 601 ETA Visa is a substantive enough visa to allow me to apply for my 485 Visa without any issues.

Thanks for your help!

 

[paulhand]

There is no such thing as “substantive enough”, a visa is either substantive or it is not. An ETA is a substantive visa.

 

[paulhand]

As I said: you really should get some bespoke advice. Based on what you are posting, you run the risk of making things far more complex/risky than they need to be.

 

[forumlurker]

As Paul said, I think you're complicating this.

The below two links mention how the ETA works when your student visa is still active.

https://www.australiaforum.com/visa...isa-still-effect-2.html#/topics/155922?page=2

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/vis...listing/electronic-travel-authority-601#About

Any other substantive visa
If you hold any other substantive visa and an ETA when you arrive in Australia, you will enter Australia on your other substantive visa, not your ETA. Your ETA will come into effect when the other visa ceases.

However, the 3-month ETA stay period still begins when you enter Australia.

Check your other substantive visa is valid for more than 3 months if you want to stay in Australia longer than the 3-month ETA stay period.