Declan30

Hi all,

Can anyone tell me if a permanent visa holder needs leaver the country when the visa expires?

If not, does the holder have to have a job before the visa expires?

Thanks for any help.

wmoore

If it's a permanent visa then it never expires, though there are some caveats to that. If you never left Oz then you'd never have a problem. If you leave after the 5 years on the sticker you'd need a resident return visa to get back in - you may have to prove your ties to Oz, intention to stay, etc to DIMA too. If you haven't spent much of those 5 years in Oz, you might struggle to convince them.

JAJ

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/968i.pdf

BAY

Is the RRV a fairly straightforward thing to get if your PR visa has expired and you need to return to the UK for a funeral ? Has anyone out there had to do this ?

cyclemark

Yes.
I worked with a number of Malaysians who used to do this regularly.

For some reason they didn't become Australian citizens, porbably because they'd have to give up their Malaysian passports.

The scenario you are describing is a really good reason to get citizenship!

JAJ

If you have spent 2 years in the last 5 in Australia as a PR, you can get it over the counter at a DIMA office.

But citizenship makes more sense, normally.

Declan30

Thanks all for your replies.