What is a genuine intention to visit Australia temporarily? To be granted an Australian visitor visa (subclass 600), a visitor visa applicant must ‘genuinely intend’ to stay temporarily in Australia? In determining whether this intention exists the decision-maker must take into consideration the following three matters:
- Does the applicant have a history of Australian visa compliance?
- Whether the applicant intends to comply with the conditions of their visitor visa?
- Any other relevant matters?
What is previous visa compliance?
In determining whether a visitor visa applicant has a history of Australian visa compliance, the decision-maker will examine whether the applicant has previously visited Australia, and if so, did they comply with the conditions of their last visa, including departing Australia before their visa expired. If they did not comply with the conditions of their last visa, were their circumstances that were beyond the control that caused them to not comply with the conditions of their last visa. What is a genuine intention to visit Australia temporarily?
At Thai Visa Express we recently represented a client from Thailand who had overstayed their student visa by just one week. In a detailed submission in support of our client’s current visitor visa application we successfully submitted that our client had substantially complied with the conditions of their previous visa, which resulted in our client satisfying the decision-maker that they had a positive history of Australian visa compliance.
What is the intention to comply with an Australian visitor visa?
In determining whether an Australian visitor visa applicant has an intention to comply with their visitor visa, the decision-maker will consider the following:
- Is there any evidence to suggest that the visitor visa applicant may work in Australia contrary to the conditions of a visitor visa?
- If the applicant has applied for a long period of stay in Australia, what will they be doing whilst in Australia, and how will they be supporting their visit without working in Australia?
- Is there any evidence that the visitor applicant intends to study for more than 3 months in Australia?
What are any other relevant matters?
Some of the relevant matters that the decision-maker may into consideration in determining whether a visitor visa applicant genuinely intends to visit Australia temporarily include the following:
Personal circumstances of the applicant
What personal circumstances of the applicant exist that might encourage them to return home to their country at the end of their proposed visit to Australia. This might include the following: family ties in their own country, any significant assets or property that they have in their own country, and whether the country they are from represents a high risk of non-compliance with Australia’s immigration laws.
The credibility of the applicant
Has the applicant provided any false or misleading information in support of their visitor visa application?
Purpose and period of stay in Australia by the applicant
Whether the applicant’s proposed visit and period of stay to Australia are consistent with visiting Australia for tourism purposes.
Previous immigration/travel history
Of relevance will also be previous visa compliance with countries that may have economic or personal circumstances existing for an applicant to remain in that country