8503 Waiver
’No Further Stay’ (8503) Waiver
A ‘No Further Stay’ condition is a condition that prevents the visa holder from applying for many temporary and permanent visas while they are in Australia. ‘No Further Stay’ conditions include 8503, 8534 and 8535.
If one of these conditions has been imposed on your visa, you cannot apply for another visa (except a protection visa or a temporary visa of a specified kind, while you are in Australia).
When you depart Australia a ‘No Further Stay’ condition will not prevent you from applying for other visas.
‘No Further Stay’ conditions can be imposed on a range of temporary visas.
Condition 8503 is a mandatory condition on the following visas:
- Visitor visa (subclass 600) (Sponsored Family stream)
- Visitor visa (subclass 600) (Approved Destination stream)
- Visitor visa (subclass 600) (Tourist stream) if sponsorship has been imposed on it
- Training and Research visa (subclass 402) for the professional development stream only
- Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) if you have previously held two subclass 462 visas.
If the visa is subject to condition 8503, you cannot apply for a further visa in Australia, other than a Protection visa (subclass 866).
Condition 8534 is a discretionary condition on Student visa (subclass 500) and applied to the student visa holder and the student’s family members. This will be decided by the case officer assessing your application.
If your visa is subject to condition 8534, you cannot apply for a further visa in Australia other than:
- a Protection visa
- a Student Guardian visa (subclass 590)
- a Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485).
Condition 8535 is a mandatory condition of the Student visa (subclass 500) for Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade or Department of Defence sponsored students.
If your visa is subject to condition 8535 then you cannot apply for a further visa in Australia, other than:
- a Protection visa
- a Student visa that is supported by the sponsoring government agency.
Application forms for relevant visitor and temporary residence visas contain information about condition 8503 and include an acknowledgement that you understand and accept that:
- the condition might be imposed on your visa
- if imposed, you cannot apply for further visas (see above) while you are in Australia – this includes not being able to send an application from Australia to an Australian Embassy, High Commission, Consulate or other Australian visa office overseas (or to a processing centre in Australia that deals with ‘offshore’ applications, such as Parent visas).
When you submit your visa application form, you are acknowledging that this condition might be imposed on your visa. This is also the case if another person, such as a migration agent, lodged the form on your behalf.
There is no basis to waive the condition if you tell us that you did not know it was imposed on your visa or that you did not read the application form.
Your visa grant letter will provide you with the details of the conditions imposed on your visa.
You can also view this information through Visa Entitlement Verification Online(VEVO) which is a free online service.
If you hold one of the following visas, you must read the information below:
- Visitor visa (subclass 600) – sponsored family stream and tourist stream (for applicants who have a sponsorship imposed)
- Professional Development visa (subclass 470)
- Training and Research visa (subclass 402)
If you request a waiver of a ‘No Further Stay’ condition and this results in your staying in Australia after your visa expires, you will have breached another condition on your visa -namely condition 8531 ‘Must leave before visa expiry’. This means that penalties will be imposed on your sponsor even if the ‘No Further Stay’ condition is waived and you are granted another visa.
Note: In addition, any security bond lodged in support of that visitor visa or professional development visa application might be forfeited.
See: Visitor visa (subclass 600) - Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462)
If your work and holiday visa contains a ‘No Further Stay’ condition, you cannot request that it be waived and you must leave Australia before your visa expires.
You cannot request a ‘No Further Stay’ condition be left off your visa at the time you apply for the visa. If you are in Australia holding a visa with ‘No Further Stay’ condition imposed on it and your circumstances change, there is provision to waive the condition in limited circumstances.
The circumstances in which the minister might waive a ‘No Further Stay’ condition are:
- since the person was granted the visa that was subject to the condition, compelling and compassionate circumstances have developed:
- over which the person had no control
- that resulted in a major change to the person’s circumstances
- if the minister has previously refused to waive the condition, the minister is satisfied that the circumstances mentioned in paragraph (a) are substantially different from those considered previously
- if the person asks the minister to waive the condition, the request is in writing.
If you do request a waiver of a ‘No Further Stay’ condition, the departmental officer who considers your request must be satisfied that all the above requirements apply in your case, namely that:
- the circumstances that have developed since you were granted the visa are both compassionate and compelling
- you had no control over these circumstances
- these circumstances have resulted in a major change to your personal circumstances.
Waiver is not automatic. Each request is decided by assessing your particular circumstances against the above legal requirements.
The following circumstances are not considered ‘beyond the control’ of the visa holder for the purposes of the waiver provisions:
- marriage to (or commencing a de facto partner relationship with) an Australian citizen or permanent resident
- pregnancy (women who become pregnant while in Australia would generally need to have evidence they are unable to leave Australia).
- failure to complete a course due to failing a subject.
Generally, it takes up to 28 days to receive an outcome on a waiver request. It might take longer if you are invited to provide further information or undergo a medical examination.
The decision not to waive condition 8503, 8534 or 8535 cannot be reviewed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal or by another Department office. The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection does not have any power to intervene if condition 8503, 8534 or 8535 is not waived.
If your circumstances change significantly after you have had a waiver request refused, you can lodge a second request. You must explain how the new circumstances are substantially different from those considered in your previous waiver request.
Requests for waiver of ‘No Further Stay’ conditions cannot be decided ‘on the spot’ as they require careful consideration against legal criteria. It might not be possible for the Department to make a decision on your request before your visa expires. Lodging a request for waiver of a ‘No Further Stay’ condition does not automatically mean that you will be lawfully in Australia until the request is decided. If your visa expires before the Department can decide your request, you will become unlawful. This has serious consequences.
If you cannot depart Australia before your visa expires, contact us immediately for assistance.
It is your responsibility to ensure you have a valid visa for the whole of your stay in Australia.
If your visa has already expired and we have not made a decision on your waiver request, you need to visit one of our offices as soon as possible and ask to speak to the Community Status Resolution Service (CSRS) to discuss your immigration status. If you are located by us, you could be detained and removed from Australia.
When a ‘No Further Stay’ condition is waived, you can apply for another visa without having to depart Australia. There is no guarantee that you will be granted another visa as this depends on whether you satisfy the legal requirements for that visa. In addition, if another visa is granted to you it might also contain a ‘No Further Stay’ condition.
If the ‘No Further Stay’ condition is not waived, you will not be able to apply for another substantive visa while you are in Australia.
Appeals
If you have recently been refused an Australian visa, and disagree with the decision, there are some steps you can take. Information below may help you to generally better understand your options.
- Visa refusal appeal assessment form
Visa Cancellations
Not all decisions are reviewable by the AAT. For example,
you cannot apply to have a decision reviewed by the AAT if the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection personally decides to refuse or cancel your visa under section 501 of the Migration Act 1958.
- Visa cancellations
- Notice of Intention to Consider Cancellation (NOICC)
