Australia offers plenty of visas, most of which are issued temporarily. If a person wishes to remain longer in Australia than is allowed by the particular visas they are the holders of, there are some options for their visa extension.
Keep on reading and find out more about how you can extend your current visa for Australia!
Can I renew my Australian visa online?
In most cases, to extend your current visa for Australia, it will be necessary to apply for a new one. Familiarize yourself with visa conditions which may differ depending on the visa type.
Before finding out the options for staying longer in Australia, check the following details:
-when your visa expires
-whether there are some conditions preventing your further stay in the country
You can use the Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) tool to check your visa conditions.
If you are a holder of an Electronic Travel Authority, you should check your ETA expiration and conditions. If there are some conditions preventing your further stay in Australia, you will need to leave the country before your visa expiry date. Applying for another Australian visa to return to Australia is possible, but you cannot remain within the territory of Australia.
Condition 8503
The 8503 condition (also called the No Further Stay condition) prevents the visa holder from being eligible for another substantive visa other than a protection visa while remaining in Australia.
Nevertheless, this condition can be waived for compelling or compassionate reasons that are beyond the visa holder’s control, including:
-being not able to travel due to a medical condition
-death or serious illness of a close family member
-natural disaster in the home country
-civil unrest or war in the home country
Please note that the decision to process your waiver request may take some time. When awaiting the final decision, you will not be given a bridging visa. That is why you should leave sufficient time for a waiver application before your current visa expiry date.
Apply to stay longer in Australia before your visa expires
In order to prolong your stay in Australia, it will be necessary to apply for another visa. The type of visa that you will need to obtain depends on your eligibility as well as the purpose of your planned stay in the country.
When applying for a new visa before the visa you currently hold expires, you will be granted abridging visa A (BVA). The BVA enables lawful stay in Australia if:
-your current visa is no longer valid
-you have not been granted a final decision on your new visa application
Important! You cannot leave Australia when holding the BVA if you plan to return to the country. Leaving Australia will make your BVA automatically expire, and you will not be able to re-enter. Should you need to leave and re-enter Australia, you can obtain a bridging visa B (BVB) after being granted the BVA.
Visitor Visa Subclass 600 Extension
If you are a holder of the visitor visa subclass 600 and your visa will expire soon, you can extend it for 3, 6, or 12 months.
The extension is possible only if you wish to remain in Australia for tourism-related purposes.
To apply for the Visitor Visa extension, you must meet certain eligibility requirements, including:
-being a holder of a valid passport from one of the eligible countries
-being in good health condition
-being a holder of a valid visa
-having no visa conditions preventing you from an extended stay in Australia
-staying in Australia no longer than 12 months within the last 18 months
Moreover, you will need to gather the following documents to request the Visitor Visa extension:
-a valid passport (with blank pages) that will not expire for at least 3 months from the date of the electronic visa expiry date
-completed new visa application form
-evidence of having sufficient funds to cover the entire stay in Australia
Staying in Australia with an expired visa
There are very limited options for applying for a new visa if the last visa you held has already expired. Do remember that staying in Australia without a valid visa is illegal, and you may be fined, deported, or banned from entering Australia in the future. You can also have problems with obtaining visa approval for up to 3 next years from the moment the situation occurs.
