DigitalGhost

Hi All,

My girlfriend of nearly a year was due to start a new job in Perth early next month however her employer didn't start her temporary work visa application until very late last year. She recently received a request for a medical from the Aussie Immigration Dept. which she submitted and the application is still in progress.
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By all accounts her new employer are showing some impatience and have told her that they want her in Australia from the beginning of February for orientation and she should apply for a tourist visa and use that for the orientation before starting work properly after/if her work visa application is approved. Apparently their new hires from overseas do this "all the time".

Can anyone just confirm whether or not this would be legal? It sounds sketchy to me but she is weary of causing any trouble with her new bosses apparently since references in their line of work can supposedly make or break an entire career.

Thanks,

DG.

Pollyana

Sounds a bit dodgy. Would she be paid for this orientation?

DigitalGhost

Thank you, I'm glad it's not just me being paranoid. I asked my gf that question when she called me earlier to tell me and apparently the answer was yes. I've told her to email them back and ask them to run all of this by their own legal team and provide confirmation before she does anything further.

Pollyana

No,not paranoia at all!
She cannot work -ie be paid for doing her job in Australia- on a tourist visa. I'd say that with a work visa in the pipeline she may get asked about her intentions when entering Aus, and possibly be refused. There are various short term business visas but I don't know their ins and outs or how fast they are processed.
If none of the agents spot this post it might be worth contacting someone like George Lombard to see ifthere is a viable quick solution, but I would be very wary of starting a job on a tourist visa.

DigitalGhost

Thanks Pollyanna. She wouldn't be starting work on the tourist visa. She'd essentially be attending a 1.5 day orientation session. She's emailed them tonight to confirm the details and ideally dissuade them from insisting that she attends. It's a lot of expense and hassle for not much benefit as well really.

BritInParis

Which passport(s) does she hold?

Dorothy

I believe she's Canadian.

DigitalGhost

No, she's actually from one of the ETA eligible South East Asian countries.

I don't want to give away too much info on a public forum but I can PM you with her nationality BritInParis if you think it would help.

Pollyana

I was hoping you would drop in!

Dorothy

Oh, sorry. I jumped to that conclusion since you're in Canada.

BritInParis

That would be helpful.

DigitalGhost

Thanks, I've PM'd you.

DigitalGhost

No apologies necessary. I'm actually not in Canada atm. It's kind of a complicated situation. I'm from the UK and I'm living in the UK atm but I have PR status in Canada. My current girlfriend is from South East Asia but is due to move to Australia for work after living in the UK for quite a long time.
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BritInParis

With the passport she holds your girlfriend is able to use the Smartgates to enter and exit Australia. Together with being able to apply for an ETA she would be subject to less scrutiny than someone having to apply for a subclass 600 visa and speak to an Immigration Officer before entering the country. That being said, she should not look to bypass Australian immigration law, particularly if she will be moving to Australia in the near future. To receive work-based training she should be applying for a subclass 407 visa; an ETA is not going to cut it. If her employer is impatient then that’s their problem if they did not initiate the application process for her work visa until the last minute and any responsible employer would not be attempting to pressurise an employer into bending or breaking the law for their convenience. Assurances to the contrary mean little as if anything goes wrong it’s your girlfriend who will suffer the consequences, not her employer.

I would seek to expedite the application already in progress. If they have requested a medical then a case officer would’ve been assigned and in a position to make a decision.

DigitalGhost

Thanks again BiP, I think you've pretty much confirmed all of my initial suspicions tbh. She's spoken with their HR today who have advised her to wait until next week and see what happens. They have apparently emailed immigration to chase and maybe expedite the visa process and have also done something related to APRA paperwork. Her visa application is for subclass 407.

Being able to use the SmartGates in Australia (which she can't in the UK) is obviously a plus but I've made it clear to her that she can't really depend on that, especially considering that she has an application for another category of status currently in progress. I met her for lunch today and I think she really does understand that she's the one potentially in the firing line here. The problem is that she is in almost daily contact with both their HR team and the guy who will be her future boss and she is trying to make a good impression and appease everyone. She isn't trying to bypass any laws and she would personally be quite happy to just wait until the official go-ahead is received from immigration.