The Eight Essential Steps to Extend Your Australian Visitor Visa in 2024
To extend your Visitor Visa, you must ensure that your Visitor Visa is still valid. The involved process and requirements is like submitting a fresh Visitor Visa application. It means when you extend your Visitor Visa, you must show your genuine intention to stay temporarily in Australia, your financial capability to support yourself during the extended stay, new travel itinerary and list of activities you will do during the extended stay, and others.
I’d recommend you to be ready to extend your Visitor Visa no later than three weeks before your current tourist visa expires.
Does it sound complicated? Relax, because I have listed the 8 simple steps below to extend your Visitor Visa in 2024.
- Decide how long you want to stay in Australia.
- See how long you have left on your current tourist visa.
- Look at the suitable visa options for you.
- Check if your current tourist visa has a ‘no further stay’ condition.
- Choose the visa that best suits your situation.
- Gather your supporting documentation.
- Apply for your new visa and have your health checked.
- Wait for your new visa to be approved.
The steps you need to take to extend your Australian visitor visa (subclass 600)
You have to follow 8 steps to extend your Visitor Visa, which includes deciding your extension period, ensuring your visa validity, exploring the suitable visa options, choosing the best visa, checking your current Visitor Visa condition, gathering all supporting documents, applying for the new visa, and waiting for the visa decision.
All steps to extend your Visitor Visa are explained in details below:
Step One: Decide how long you want to stay in Australia
This is very crucial, so count carefully on this. Consider the reason to extend your stay, is it for a further holiday with your family or is it because of a situation that is out of your control?
You can extend your Visitor Visa between 3 months to 12 months. Please note that a successful extension for a Tourist Visa application will rely on the reason and the requested extension period.
If you’re not sure, give us a call and discuss it with our professional team!
Step Two: See how long you have left on your current tourist visa
I always suggest my clients extend their Visitor Visa while it still has more than 6 weeks before expires. If your Visitor Visa is expiring less than 6 weeks, it’s best to start the preparation now.
It considers that the process to extend your Tourist Visa requires many additional documents. So, ensure the validity period left allows you to extend your Tourist Visa in peace.
Step Three: Look at the suitable visa options for you
This is strongly recommended if you face changes in your circumstances. For example, after visiting your partner, you find it more comfortable to live with your partner rather than being in a long-distance relationship. In this case, if you extend your Visitor Visa by lodging different visa subclasses, it might be better. You can find the answer here.
Also, check your previous Visitor Visa conditions. If there’s a condition which allows you to stay in Australia only for 12 months in an 18 months period, then extending your Visitor Visa is also not a good option.
You can always check your visa condition and validity period on VEVO
Step Four: Check if your current visitor visa has a ‘no further stay’ condition
Checking the No Further Stay condition is important because it will decide whether you can extend your Visitor Visa or not. If your current Tourist Visa has 8503 – No Further Stay condition imposed, there is a very low chance that you can extend your stay.
Unless you submit and be granted a waiver first. It only applies if you have compelling and compassionate reasons or major changes to waive the condition, which includes:
- Unable to travel for a medical reason
- Death or severe illness of a close family
- Natural disaster in the home country
- War or civil unrest in the home country
- Your school cannot provide your approved course
Meanwhile, the following situations are not acceptable for a waiver:
- Marriage
- A new relationship with an Australian citizen or Australian Permanent Resident
- Pregnancy
- Failing your course (for Student Visa)
Read here to see how to waive the 8503 condition.
Step Five: Choose the visa that best suits your situation
You might have more than 1 visa option to extend your stay. It depends on your intention and reason to extend your stay.
Extending your stay by applying for another Visitor Visa can be the simplest and cheapest option, but there is a high risk behind it.
If you fail to convince the Department that your intention is genuinely to explore Australia as a tourist, your extension will be refused, and it will affect your ability to apply for all visas in the future.
So, it is strongly advised to get legal advice from a Registered Migration Agent. Don’t risk your immigration history which will only bring you to sorrow!
Step Six: Gather your supporting documentation
The required documents will be different depending on what visa you decided to apply for. Suppose you decide to apply for a new Visitor Visa, you must submit all documents that you submitted before, including evidence of financial capabilities, ties to your home country, etc., with some updated documents as evidence of your reason to extend your stay.
‘Why do I need to provide the same documents again?’ you might be thinking. Well, it’s because the Department of Home Affairs considers a Visitor Visa extension to be a new visa application.
Read More: Visitor Visa 600 Australia Complete Requirement List
Step Seven: Apply for your new Australian visa and have your health check
Once all documents are gathered, you can submit your new visa application through the Immi Account portal. Note that you must submit the new application at least six weeks before your current Visitor Visa expires.
You may need to do the health check either before or after the Department requests you to do so. When the Department of Home Affairs requests you to do it, pay attention to the deadline to avoid a refusal.
Step Eight: Wait for your new visa to be approved
While waiting for your new visa to be approved, you can submit supporting documents regularly. You can also check your application and email regularly in case the Department of Home Affairs requests for further documents or information.
You must understand that the processing time is varying depending on each applicant’s circumstances. You will get a Bridging Visa A that allows you to stay in Australia legally until you receive the decision for your new visa application, so don’t bother to think about your immigration status.
How much money should you prepare to extend your Visitor Visa?
The necessary costs to extend your Visitor Visa depends on your new visa application. Let’s assume that you decide to apply for another Visitor Visa, then you have to pay the Visa application cost which is AUD 475. You also need to prepare funds for other necessities like health examination, police check or documents translation.
Be noted that the Visa application cost generally increases in July every year and the above fee is valid from July 2023.
What are the reasons to extend a Visitor Visa?
There are various reasons that may lead you to extend your Visitor Visa, and it basically depends on your circumstances.
There are people who need extra time to look after their first grandchild or simply could not fly to their home country due to bad weather.
It is best to show genuine reasons to extend your Visitor Visa. Do not think to make stories up for the sake of extending your stay in Australia. The Department will find that you submit bogus information which is not only leading you to visa refusal and more consequences as explained here.
Can you extend your Visitor Visa if it has expired?
You cannot extend your Visitor Visa if it has expired. As mentioned above, you must ensure that your Visitor Visa is still valid, and it’s best to have at least 6 weeks validity period left, to extend your Visitor Visa.
If your Visitor Visa has expired and you have not left the country, it means you have overstayed your Visitor Visa and the condition is much more complex.
You must seek legal advice from a Registered Migration Agent soon before the situation gets worse.
Do you need more advice to extend your Visitor Visa?
Here at ONE derland Consulting, my team can advise you on the best visa option to stay legally in Australia. All advice is given according to your current circumstances and your intention to extend your stay in Australia.
We promise you a professional and transparent service, so nothing will be held back, including the assessment result that you might be not eligible to extend your stay to avoid you submitting a wrong visa application which may lead to a refusal.
There is a 100% Money Back Guarantee if you’re not satisfied with our consultation service.
Ready to take that first step to extend your visitor visa?
Our visa specialists at ONEderland Consulting will assist and give you complete suggestions in extending your stay in Australia. We have a 98% success rate and are one of Australia’s most highly recommended migration agents. Read our 4.9* score customer reviews.
We are complex visa specialists. As registered Australian migration agents with the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA), we are regulated in our professional practice and bound by the profession’s Code of Conduct issued by the Migration Agents Registration Authority.
Take the first step and get in touch with us. Our team members are professional, honest and speak various languages such as Mandarin/Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia, Arabic, Japanese, and Thai. Contact us through email at [email protected] or via phone on 1300 827 159. Alternatively, you may book your consultation online, and it is backed by our 100% Money Back Guarantee Program.
