travelling while on Bridging visa A

[Guest Sannie!]

Dear friends can someone guide me on this case before i could ring up diac and ask them anyting silly..;-)

 

I am on a 475 visa which expires only on may 2013 and last thursday i applied for my 887, following that Now i ve received an acknlowedgement as well!! my vague understangin is that now i am on a bridign visa A, so if i wanted to travel back home for a short stay what should i do? my understanding is if i leave australia my BVA will cease but I still have my 475 (substansive?) visa valid until next may 2013 , just wondering how does it work? will I be allowed inside australai when i get back? do i need to re apply for 887 and go through the while process again? I hvaent even got a Case officer until now.

[Guest lebour]

If your 475 visa is still valid you are not on a Bridging visa - you only go on a brigding visa when your current visa expires - until a decision is made on the visa you applied for.

 

If you are on BVA and wish to leave Australia you need to apply and be granted BVB before you can travel so you can re-enter Australia.

 

But from the information you have posted it is unlikely you are on BVA as your current visa is still valid.

[Gollywobbler]

Hi Sannie!

 

I agree with lebour. I suspect that what has happened is that the DIAC office have confirmed that a Bridging Visa A will come into effect automatically as soon as your existing sc 475 visa expires if, at that time, DIAC have not finished processing your application for a sc 887 visa.

 

How far away are you from your nearest DIAC office? Would it be possible for you to take all the documents in your posession and to go to see someone in your nearest DIAC office rather than trying to do the whole thing over the phone? The addresses of the various DIAC offices are in the link below:

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/australia/

 

For as long as your sc 475 visa remains valid, there is no reason why you shouldn't continue to use the sc 475 if you want to leave Australia but to return to Oz at a later date. Just make sure that you return to Australia before your current sc 475 visa expires, OK?

 

I believe that you will need to be in Australia on the day when your sc 887 visa is granted.

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/after-you-lodge.htm

 

I am fairly sure that the sc 887 is an onshore visa which cannot be granted unless the applicant is physically in Australia at the time of the grant. The staff in your nearest DIAC office will be able to advise you accurately about this if you go to see them, however.

 

Applications for sc 887 visas are usually processed quite quickly - within a couple of months, I believe. Again, the staff in the nearest DIAC office should be able to check this for you and confirm.

 

Surely your best bet will simply be to remain in Australia until your sc 887 visa has been granted and your Permanent Residency has been confirmed? Is there any compelling reason why you should not remain in Australia until that has happened?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Sannie!]

First of all I would like to thank both of you..

 

Gill, I so badly wanted to go for some personal reasons not sure if it is a valuable reason to convince immigration though.. ;-) besides I've already booked my tickets even before applying for 887 which are non refundable :-(, so I am planning to take this little risk and make it worth my spending.. My travel is only for as short as 10 days that shouldn't put me behind also if I am lucky- god willing!! I may get my Pr even before that , I have like another one Month to go for departure date.. But the drama here is I haven't got my federal police clearance yet?!? I called twice to check the status - Their reply was considering the date I applied for it I should be getting soon!! Just don't know when?!?: hoping everything ends well..

[Guest lebour]

If you havent got your Police Check yet - no decision will be made on your application until it is received and your current visa will continue to be valid for travel. You should keep DIAC updated if you leave Australia so that they wait until you are back onshore to grant - or wait until you are back before you give your Police Check.

[Guest Sannie!]

Received a mail from my CO yesterday asking for afp clearance, luckily I received that one today and first thing I scanned and sent it afternoon and with in next two hours received a call from an unblocked number enquiring for something I filled in stupidly on form 80 and within another 10 mins received another call saying my visa has been GRANTED !!!!

[Gollywobbler]

Hi Sannie!

 

Well done! Now you will be able to forget about visas and stick with your original travel plans without any hassle.

 

I'm so pleased to read that everything has turned out OK for you.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest lebour]

Well done!!! Panic over - next step citizenship!!