No Further Stay Waiver or No Further Application – some visas will have condition 8503 or 8534 or 8535 preventing you from making or granted another substantive visa application (other than a protection visa or a temporary visa of a specified kind) while you are in Australia.
Some visas are subject to mandatory (by operation of law) No Further Stay condition and others may be imposed.
No Further Stay conditions 8534 and 8535 are only applicable to Student visas (high risk students taking short courses).
If condition 8503 or 8534 or 8535 is imposed on your visa, you cannot make another visa application in Australia even if your current visa has already expired.
Mandatory No Further Stay
If you applied for a FA 600 Approved Destination Status (ADS) stream visas and FA 600 Sponsored Family stream (click here to learn more) visas, Sch 2 cl 6 impose a mandatory condition 8503 on the visa.
Discretionary No Further Stay
Discretionary No Further Stay condition is only impose where the applicant appears to satisfy the criteria for the visa grant, but residual concern exist. For e.g., applicants in the parent migration queue.
You may request the Minister to waive the No Further Stay in order for you to make a valid visa application while you remain in Australia. However, the waiver is only allowed in certain prescribed circumstances.
Applications made before the No Further Stay condition came into effect
If you applied, for e.g., a TSS 482 then a Visitor FA 600 visa from outside Australia. If you are granted the FA 600 visa and you travelled to Australia on the FA 600 visa, the Department may still grant you the TSS 482 while you are in Australia because the TSS 482 application was lodged before the FA 600 visa was granted. But while you are in Australia and before the TSS 482 visa is granted, you cannot make any further substantive visa applications in Australia unless the No Further Stay condition is waived as your next visa application will be affected by the 8503 condition.
If you are in Australia holding a FA 600 with condition 8503 imposed. You also make an application for a TSS 482 outside Australia before making the FA 600 visa application. You were then granted the TSS 482 while you are in Australia, you will still be affected by the No Further Stay condition.
When No Further Stay ceased to have effect
A No Further Stay condition remains even if the visa has ceased while the holder remains in Australia.
No Further Stay condition will only cease if it has been waived or you depart Australia. You should note that even if the No Further Stay condition was incorrectly imposed on your visa, under current law there is no provision to waive or remove it.
Automatic No Further Stay waiver
If you have a No Further Stay condition on your current visa, the Department will automatically waive the condition for you if you apply for:
- a GSM (Subclass 189, 190, 485, 491 and 887) visa; or
- a subclass 132 (Business Talent) visa; or
- a subclass 186 (ENS) visa; or
- a subclass 187 (RSMS) visa; or
- a subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment (Provisional)) visa; or
- a subclass 482 (TSS) visa; or
- a subclass 494 (Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional)) visa; or
- holding a safe haven enterprise (Class XE) (subclass 790) visa; or
- is an unlawful non-citizen who has held a safe haven enterprise visa
Family Sponsored FA 600
If you are sponsored by your family for a FA 600 visa and 8503 is imposed, you should be mindful that this visa also contains Condition 8531 (must not remain in Australia after the period of stay permitted). So, even if the Department waived your No Further Stay condition, 8531 remains in effect as this condition cannot be waived. If you apply for another visa and your visa ceased, you will be penalised by the forfeiture of the security bond (if 1 was lodged) and your sponsor will become ineligible to sponsor another relative for 5 years.
Requesting a No Further Stay waiver
If you request for a waiver is successful, the Department may still impose condition 8503 on the new visa or guarantee your next visa will not have 8503 condition.
Reg. 2.05(4) waiver request
To make a No Further Stay waiver request you must explain that:
- Circumstances have developed since the visa was granted that resulted in a major change in your circumstances. And that change in circumstances must have been beyond your control and must be compelling and compassionate in nature (reg. 2.05(4)(a)).
If you have, for e.g., an existing medical condition before your visa was granted, you may not use this as your reason to request for a waiver unless your medical condition has deteriorated or escalated to such an extent that it can be said that the circumstances have developed (major change) since you were granted the visa.
In addition, the circumstances that have developed since your visa was granted must be both compelling and compassionate.
Compelling and compassionate circumstances must be circumstances that:
- are sufficiently forceful and convincing for the condition to be waived
- are not unreasonable (that no reasonable decision-maker could conclude that it is not compelling) and
- give rise to feelings of sympathy for the suffering or misfortune of others.
Successful 8503 waiver
Examples of what are compelling and compassionate
- Unfitness to travel
- Death or serious illness within close family
- Natural disaster in home country
- War or severe civil unrest in home country
- Closure or inability of education provider
- Government support
Change of circumstances must be beyond your control
Lastly, the change of your circumstances must also be beyond your control
Examples of circumstances not beyond your control
- In a relationship or marriage
- Partner is pregnant unless there are complications associated with the pregnancy or childbirth – unfit to travel.
- Failing to complete your course
The waiver decisions cannot be revisited and is not AAT reviewable. Any new waiver request must satisfy the additional requirement that the circumstances presented in the new request are substantially different from the last.
You may use the Department form for your No Further Stay waiver request or a written request.
You should provide supporting docs with your application. You should also be aware that you will not be granted a bridging visa for making a waiver request. However, if your current visa has ceased, you may apply for a BVE or you might be detained for being an unlawful non-citizen.
No limit on number of waiver requests
You can lodge as many waiver requests as you like but you must provide substantially different circumstances to those previously presented. All the reg. 2.05(4) must be satisfied for the waiver to be approved.
Australian migration law is complex and difficult to understand, contact our immigration lawyer for a consultation (fee applies) to help understand the issues related to No Further Stay condition. Click here if you are affected by COVID-19 pandemic.
041 222 4020 or WeChat: AUD visa
This article is not intended to be or taken as migration legal advice. The author of this article disclaims any liability for any action or omission on the information provided or not provided in this article. You should always consult an immigration lawyer or a registered migration agent to form an informed opinion on your immigration matter.
