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Q.When do I need a visa for Australia?
A.The main purpose of a visa is to give visa holders legal permission to
remain in Australia either temporarily or permanently. Your visa may
also include permission to travel to and enter Australia.
If
you are a citizen of New Zealand or a permanent resident of Norfolk
Island who meets certain requirements you need no visa to travel to
Australia but require a visa to remain in Australia. However, if a
citizen of another country you must obtain a Visa before
travelling to Australia. Certain nationalities can obtain an Electronic
Travel Authority (ETA) if they intend to stay in Australia for less than
3 months, for tourism or for business.
If you are transiting through Australia for less than 72-hours, on your
way to another destination via the next available flight, you will
require a transit visa. Transit visas are free of charge. If you choose
to have a short break in Australia for tourism purposes, you should
apply for a Visitor Visa, not a transit visa. Please note that airlines
may refuse to allow travellers to board their aircraft without valid
visas / ETAs and passports.
If you intend to stay for more than 3-months or are not eligible
for an ETA, a Visa application must be lodged with the Australian
Embassy/Consulate-General, together with the required fee.
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Q.How do I become an Australian Citizen?
A.You may become a citizen of Australia in one of three
possible ways. These are:
-
by birth: In Australia people automatically become
an Australian citizen if they are born here and one or both of their
parents is an Australian citizen or permanent resident of Australia.
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by descent: If you are the child of an Australian
citizen but you are born overseas you will generally be granted
Australian citizenship. There are a number of rules that might apply
to people in this category. These are indicated in the Australian
Citizenship Act, 1948.
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by grant: If you are a non-citizen of Australia you
can apply to become an Australian citizen. You must meet several
requirements. Generally, you
 are an
Australian permanent resident;
are over 16
years of age;
have lived
in Australia as a permanent resident for a total of two years in the
previous five, including a total of 12-months in the 2-years
immediately preceding the date of application;
are of good
character;
have
a knowledge of basic English;
have an
adequate knowledge of your responsibilities and privileges as a
citizen; and
are likely
to reside in, or to maintain a close and continuing association
with, Australia if granted citizenship.
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Q.
How do I apply for a visa to Australia?
Generally, an application is not valid unless it is for a visa of
a specified class, any fees prescribed for the application have been
paid and it is made on the approved form.
Some people are exempt from completing an approved form because
they are deemed by the Migration Regulations to be an applicant for a
visa. They include:
a child born between the
time an application is made and the time it is decided. The birth of
the child is a change of circumstance, which must be notified on an
approved form.
in limited circumstances
non-citizens in Australia who make an invalid application for a
substantive visa are taken to have applied for a Bridging D visa.
non-citizens who were in
Australia on 1 September 1994 and had unresolved applications for an
entry permit on that date are taken to be applicants for a transitional
visa.
The Migration Regulations also provide for an Australian person or
business, who is approved by the Department of Immigration or a State or
Territory Government, to nominate a non-citizen outside Australia who
wishes to come to Australia for short-term business purposes. The
nominated person may be granted a Temporary Business Entry visa.
You should be aware that if you are in Australia and do not hold
a substantive visa and a decision is made to refuse to grant you a visa
then restrictions do apply to your future right to make further
applications for the grant of a visa. You will only be entitled to apply
for a prescribed class of visa.
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Q.
How long does it take to process an application?
Processing times vary depending on the type of visa, country
where lodged and quality of application made.
Delays can possibly result from, and include
poor documentation and
presentation;
misunderstanding of
visa requirements;
the need for an
interview;
health issues
complications
regarding the criminal or security status of the applicant or
dependants
applicant has
difficulty obtaining satisfactory supporting documents
requests by the Visa
Office for additional supporting information
applicant has
difficulty obtaining satisfactory supporting documents; and/or
Visa Office workload
demands, staffing limits, application backlogs and identified
priorities.
Click Here for Your On-Line Australian Immigration Assessment
to discover how we can achieve your desired outcome in the most timely
and cost-effective way. There is no cost no obligation for this
service. |
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Q.
What are my chances of success?
Sunrise will not proceed with any matter unless we believe that there is
a genuine and realistic chance of it succeeding.
For those whom we represent Sunrise commits its best efforts
resulting over the years in many great results on behalf of clients.
However, because each case involves many different factors, results will
always be different from case-to-case. For that reason, the result that
Sunrise achieves in one case is no guarantee that we will obtain the
same or similar result in any future case. Every case therefore is
dependent upon its special facts. |
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Q.
What happens when my Australian permanent visa is granted?
The visa will permit you unlimited travel and entry to
Australia for 5-years from date of grant and indefinite stay on your
arrival provided entry is made before the expiry date. Where you travel
overseas and return to Australia after the specified date you will need
to obtain a 5-year Resident Return Visa (RRV) to renew your permanent
residence.
To
renew your permanent residency you must have been lawfully present in
Australia for a period of, or periods that total, not less than 2-years
(704-days) in the period of 5-years immediately before the application
for the RRV and, during that time, you were the holder of a permanent
visa. Limited exceptions to the 2-year rule apply.
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Q.
What will my Australian visa permit me to do?
The visa permits the holder to travel to and enter
Australia, and/or to remain in Australia. Holders of permanent visas are
permitted to remain in Australia indefinitely. Holders of temporary
visas are permitted to remain for the specified period. The period
varies depending on the class of visa.
Your visa may be granted subject to certain
conditions which will govern what you are entitled to do as the holder
of the visa and may also require you to do certain things for your visa
to remain in effect (eg. travel to Australia within a certain time). |
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Q.
Will I receive evidence of my visa if my application is successful?
The most common way in which evidence of the grant
of the visa is given is by placing a visa label in your
passport. In some cases no evidence of the grant of the visa is required
to be given. |
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Q. Will my visa cease when I leave Australia?
Your
visa may cease when you leave Australia. If you intend to return to
Australia you should confirm before you leave Australia whether your
visa will permit you to return, and the time limit for returning to
Australia that applies in your case.
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Q. Am
I required to provide information and documents to the Department when I
arrive in Australia or leave Australia?
Subject to limited exceptions every non-citizen who arrives in Australia
must pass through immigration clearance. In most cases you will need to
produce a completed passenger card and provide evidence of your
status. You would normally do this by producing the passport, which
contains evidence of your visa.
A
non-citizen who reaches Australia without a visa will be required to
leave Australia immediately unless he or she is eligible to apply for a
limited number of classes of visa that can be applied for on arrival. |
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Q.
What happens to my visa if my passport is lost or stolen?
If you lose a passport this does not affect the visa
granted to you. Your passport contains evidence of the grant of the visa
rather than the visa itself. The visa is the permission that is given to
you to travel to, enter and/or remain in Australia.
You should obtain a new passport from the country that issued it and
present the new passport at an Australian Visa office for re-evidencing
of the visa. There is a fee for re-evidencing some visas.
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Q.
How do I know if I am a "lawful non-citizen"?
Lawful non-citizens hold a visa in effect, which gives permission to
remain in Australia. If you are unsure of your status you can
contact us in confidence. In most cases your status will be
clear from the visa evidence affixed in your passport.
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Q.
Do I need to advise the Department of Immigration (DIMA) if I change my
address?
You must tell the Department of Immigration where you
intend to live while your application is being processed. If you will be
changing your address for more than 14-days you must tell the Department
your new address and how long you intend to be there. A form is
available for this purpose.
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Q.
What do I do if my circumstances change?
You have an obligation to notify the Department of
Immigration in writing if any of the information that is included in
or with your application form (or provided later in support of your
application) changes.
This obligation applies whether you are in Australia or overseas. If
your application was made in Australia your obligation applies only to
changes in circumstances before the visa is granted. If your
application was made outside Australia the obligation to advise of
changes of circumstances continues after the grant of the visa.
The information that you provide to the Department will be used when
considering whether to grant or refuse to grant you a visa. If you fail
to notify the Department of a change in your circumstances any visa that
is granted to you may be cancelled before or after you have arrived in
Australia. |
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Q.
Can I remain in Australia permanently on a Bridging Visa?
The grant of a bridging visa will not permit you to remain
in Australia permanently. It will maintain your lawful status in certain
situations, for example during the processing of your application for a
substantive visa.
If you wish to remain permanently you will need to apply
for and be granted a substantive visa, which allows you to remain
permanently. |
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Q.
Can I apply for permission to work while in Australia?
If you held a substantive visa at the time of application
for another substantive visa, the bridging visa granted to you will
normally continue the permission to work conditions of the visa you
held. If the visa you held did not permit work (i.e. Tourist/Visitor
visa) you will not be entitled under the bridging visa to engage in
work. If you do not have permission to work or if you only have a
restricted permission to work, you may be able to apply for another
bridging visa with permission to work. |
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Q.
Can I apply for more than one visa at a time?
Nothing prevents you from applying for more than one visa
at a time. You will need to comply, in respect of each application, with
all the requirements for the making of applications. This will usually
involve you paying a separate fee for each application.
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Q.
Can I hold more than one visa at a time?
You cannot hold more than one substantive visa at the same
time. If a new substantive visa is granted any existing substantive visa
that you hold will cease. If you do not hold a substantive visa but
hold more than one bridging visa only the most beneficial bridging visa
will be in effect.
It is possible to hold more than one visa at a time
provided that only one of those visas is in effect. If you hold a
substantive visa and a bridging visa at the same time the bridging visa
will not be in effect while your substantive visa is in effect. |
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Q.
What is the Australian Migration Program?
The migration program is the mechanism by which the
Australian Government determines how many applicants it will allow to
settle permanently in Australia in any given year and is sub-divided
into two programs: the Migration Program and the Humanitarian Program.
The Migration program is further divided into family,
skilled and special eligibility migration. The Humanitarian Program also
has further categories such as refugees, special humanitarian migrants
and special assistance.
The largest component of the migration program is the
family reunion stream, where preference is given to a spouse, child,
adoption, parent and preferential family, and a residual class - the
Skilled - Australian - sponsored class - the numbers in which may be
controlled by the operation of a 'pool' of potential applicants who may
be processed to meet the targets set for the migration program in any
particular year.
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