# 457 to Student Visa and applying for an 820 Onshore



## Wilberforce (Jan 14, 2013)

Hi all...

Some advise would be most appreciated from people out there on this one as I am getting very confused!

I am currently on 457 visa and sponsored by my employer but really want to leave the job as it is affecting my health with the stress and it isn't a very pleasant working environment. Myself and my Australian partner (I am British) are in the process of preparing our 820 onshore application however I am struggling to find another job that will sponsor me. I am thinking I need a change of industry and I am wanting to go back and study IT or Business for a year to further up-skill myself.

I don't think there are any issues with moving from a 457 to a student visa BUT what I am concerned about is if we put in the application for the 820 when I am still on my 457 do the conditions of that visa hold in regard to a Bridging Visa or will the swap to a student visa while the 820 application is being processed be OK and then those conditions apply?

I hope this makes sense!


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## Wilberforce (Jan 14, 2013)

Can anyone shed any light on this at all? I would really appreciate it!


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

Sorry, but the third visa thrown in the mix complicates things to a point where I don't know how to answer. 

If you were on a 457 and applied for an 820, you would have to continue working for your employer until the 820 was granted. Any break of the terms of your 457 would mean your Bridging Visa would be cancelled along with your 457 and you'd be immediately illegal. 

But I don't know how a student visa thrown in the mix would complicate things, and I'm not going to speculate because I don't want to give you incorrect information.


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

Just from the student visa side, though - be aware that with a student visa there are work restrictions, and that your bridging visa would not kick in (with its attendant full work rights) until your student visa ends on its own.


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## Wilberforce (Jan 14, 2013)

Thanks CollegeGirl!

I think perhaps I should phrase it another way...

Can I lodge my 820 application whilst I am on my 457 and then move onto a Student Visa after the 820 application has been lodged? Are there any issues with this?

In other words can you lodge another visa application once you have already lodged one previously.

I really need to find this out so if anyone has any info that would be great.

Thanks in advance!


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## tulauras (Sep 1, 2013)

You would technically be cancelling the 457, so would lose the BVA, but I believe you could apply to have it reinstated once you're on your student visa. This should work, but it is a bit tricky

It would obviously be easiest to apply for the student visa first and then the 820, but I'm guessing that you don't want your PR held up by a couple of months? If you could hold out this might be a more certain way of doing things (and not leave you beholden to DIBP's discretion).


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## Wilberforce (Jan 14, 2013)

Thanks tulauras...

I think if I simplify it a bit more maybe... Does it matter about the BVA? Surely moving from one visa to another (457 to Student Visa) would just transition over anyway? It is more whether there is anything stopping me applying to do this once the 820 has already been lodged?


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

I honestly don't know, Wilber. This is the first time I've seen anyone ask about something like this.


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## tulauras (Sep 1, 2013)

CollegeGirl, is it right to say that the BVA wouldn't just carry over? I think you'd have to get another one. 

As to whether you can apply for another visa, the answer would be 'yes, unless you're precluded from doing so'. So I'd read the BVA conditions carefully, and if it doesn't say you can't then you can. I'll have a look at this myself when my phone's not dying...


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## GBP (Jun 1, 2013)

tulauras said:


> CollegeGirl, is it right to say that the BVA wouldn't just carry over? I think you'd have to get another one.
> 
> As to whether you can apply for another visa, the answer would be 'yes, unless you're precluded from doing so'. So I'd read the BVA conditions carefully, and if it doesn't say you can't then you can. I'll have a look at this myself when my phone's not dying...


OP obviously doesn't mind about BV A at all...


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## Adventuress (Jan 8, 2012)

Hi Wilberforce,

There would be nothing to stop you having two visa applications in the pipeline at the same time - people do this all the time when they apply for a partner visa offshore and then apply for a tourist visa to visit. So you could certainly apply for the partner visa and the student visa, and have the student visa granted and active while a decision is still pending on the partner visa.

However what you need to be aware of, is that the visa that is the latest one granted is the visa that is ultimately valid. This means that if your partner visa is granted at some point in time, and the student visa granted immediately after it, then the student visa would effectively "cancel out" the partner visa, because that's the latest visa you have had granted to you. In such a case your only resort would be to re-apply for the partner visa you lost.

In practice I think this would be extremely unlikely, as student visas normally take much less time to process than partner visas. Since you are from the UK, you would be classed in Assessment Level 1 for student visas, which according to this table have a standard processing time of 14 days. Partner visas, on the hand, commonly take longer than a year to process onshore. However, having said that, we do receive stories here on the forum - and this is infrequent and rare, but not impossible - where partner visas have been granted within days.

Ultimately, the issue is communication with your case officer(s) (not sure if you even get assigned one for the student visa) - I think different visas are processed by different centres who would ordinarily have no reason to communicate with each other.

The other issue you have to be careful of is fulfilling the conditions of your 457. With the plans you have outlined here, it does not appear that there would be a problem. The Immigration website states the following regarding this issue:



> Employment conditions
> 
> You must continue to meet the conditions of your employment while on a subclass 457 visa. This includes:
> 
> ...


From this it appears to me that even if you stop working for your sponsor, you will not be breaching the conditions of your visa as long as you apply for your partner/student visa within the 90 days.

I hasten to add that I am not a migration agent and this should not be taken as advice, but just my own navigation through the immi.gov.au website.


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

tulauras said:


> CollegeGirl, is it right to say that the BVA wouldn't just carry over? I think you'd have to get another one.
> 
> As to whether you can apply for another visa, the answer would be 'yes, unless you're precluded from doing so'. So I'd read the BVA conditions carefully, and if it doesn't say you can't then you can. I'll have a look at this myself when my phone's not dying...


I imagine so. I just don't know. I really think OP needs either professional input (preferable) or DIBP info on this one. Not because of the bridging visa aspect (Bridging Visas are pretty easy to get reinstated), but because he needs to make sure that switching visas midstream like that is not somehow going to undo his partner visa application.


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

Adventuress said:


> Hi Wilberforce,
> 
> There would be nothing to stop you having two visa applications in the pipeline at the same time - people do this all the time when they apply for a partner visa offshore and then apply for a tourist visa to visit. So you could certainly apply for the partner visa and the student visa, and have the student visa granted and active while a decision is still pending on the partner visa.
> 
> ...


Great info from Adventuress (didn't see this post before I posted above.) The one thing I do want to add is that we have seen it be a problem when people stop working for their employer while on a 457, having already applied for a partner visa and being on a bridging visa A. It does immediately cancel out both the 457 and the BVA. So even though people in that situation have already applied for another visa, it's still a problem. Just cautioning you to be careful here.


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## Adventuress (Jan 8, 2012)

That's interesting. It appears to me that the 90 day period is key in these situations - leave the employer first, and only then apply for the new visa, once the 90 days begin to roll. I think in previous cases, people applied for partner visas while still working on the 457, and then left their jobs which activated the 90 day period where they had to do something. Since they had already applied for another visa before the 90 day period even began, the 90 days ran through without them taking any of three options for action and therefore they became unlawful.

If my thinking on this is correct, then in Wilberforce's situation the student visa would actually be the saving grace - the partner visa application might already be in, s/he leaves the employer on the 457, the 90 day period begins to roll, and s/he follows one of the courses of action advised by applying for the student visa, and thereby remaining lawful.

Of course, since this is so complicated, it would definitely be a good idea to seek the professional advice of a registered migration agent - and a good one, too!


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