abi31

Hi

Wondering if anyone can help with the rules on how often you can apply for a tourist visa? I've checked out the immi website and it just seems to say you have to be out of Aus for 'extended periods' before applying again. Does anyone know what periods this translates to in practice?

The person this is for would not be working, would have all necessary health insurances and we would hope would have the 12 month visa at a time.

In addition, there is a rule that you might have to provide evidence of funds - can this be avoided if there is formal acceptance of the visted family member that they will cover all costs including visa costs and flights and can provide evidence that they have the necessary funds?

Thanks

Abi

Grayling

You can not live in Australia on a tourist visa. 6 months is the usual time. Eventually the person will be turned away at immigration. It is not a way to get a family member to live here.

Tramps_mate

You can visit Australia for 6 months every year i believe. But you cannot work etc etc..

abi31

Thanks Tramps_mate - I am surprised by that though as I would have expected them to require longer than 6 months out of Aus before reapplying! It would be good news if that were the case as I was expecting something like 2 or 3 years.

Pollyana

If they think you are using tourist visas to live in Australia then DIAC can refuse you entry though, you need to be aware of that. And the more frequent your visits the more they may require you to show that you have links to your home and are not trying to live here.

abi31

I don't think that would be an issue as she would still own her house in the UK and would not leave the UK for any period that would recind her residency status here. She wouldn't even rent her property out. My question is purely to determine how often she would be able visit her grandchildren on holiday as she is not in a position to gain permanent residency as she has 3 children. As we would have to pay for everything we obviously want value for money as far as the length of visit goes. Plus, if that were the case wouldn't it be far simpler for them to refuse a tourist visa at application stage rather than refuse entry to the country?

Bermudashorts

The immigration officers at the border have the right to refuse anyone and if they have a different opinion to the person who granted the visa, then they can refuse entry at that point.

Anyway sounds like your mother is a genuine visitor, a good rule of thumb is to spend as much time outside the country as was spent in it, inbetween visas. e.g. 6 months Aus, 6 months UK.

abi31

That's great - thanks for clearing that up - sounds like a pretty good compromise for us.

Pollyana

There is a poster on here called Quoll, I believe her parents/mother did much the same thing for a few years (if my memory serves me right). Might be worth searching for some of her posts to see how long they left it each time