One of our Facebook follower sent this question:
“I arrived in Australia on a 3 month tourist visa from the Philippines. Before my visa expires, we lodged an application for a further 9 months extension which was approved by the Department of Immigration. This extension will expire on 5th of July 2016. We were supposed to be filing an application for Partner visa before my tourist visa expires but we don’t have enough money to pay for the visa fee and we need at least 6 months to save up for it.
Can I apply for further tourist visa extension so that we can have enough time to raise the needed money for the visa fee?”
ANSWER:
If you will apply for further extension, the Department will probably give you just one month extension. This is due to the amount of time spent in Australia recently. The visitor visa program is designed to allow genuine tourists to travel to Australia for various tourist activities. It does not allow for clients to live in Australia. This may be unintended or deliberate.
The Migration legislation prevents applicants from spending more than 12 consecutive months in Australia unless exceptional circumstances exist. Tourist visa holders are generally allowed to stay in Australia for 12 months in a period of 18 months. It means that if you already spent full twelve months in Australia, then you will have to stay outside Australia for 6 months before you can come back.
There are exemptions to this rule. They can give further extension if there are exceptional circumstances involved. Exceptional circumstances may include, but are not limited to, circumstances such as death or serious illness. Exceptional circumstances are also considered to be a change or changes to the applicant’s circumstances that could not have been anticipated at the time the visa was granted, and that were beyond the applicant’s control.
Please note that each case is considered on its merits and each person’s individual circumstances are taken into account when a decision is made. Saving up money for your next application is not really an exceptional reason.
Hope this helps.
If you have Australian Immigration related questions, you can join our Facebook group or like our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/bridgesimmigration/?fref=ts
You can also send us your questions by joining Pinoys in Australia Visa Forum for more information and updates as well.