# Applying for a 485 Visa without a completion letter.



## pumalacasueca (Jun 26, 2015)

Hi everyone,

I have already finish my two years study but I will receive my completion letter in the middle of August and I am planning to apply for the 485 Visa. The problem is that my current student visa will be expired on the 10 of July, it is mean that by the time I get my completion letter my visa will be already expired, and that it is a compulsory requirement to apply for the 485.

I called the immigration office and they told me that I can still load an application for the 485 without the letter, and that in fact I should load the application before my current visa expire so I can be in bridging visa, and then I can submit the letter when I get it since the processing time takes around 2 months.

Then I spoke to an immigration agent and she told me that according to the law I cannot load an application without the letter, and that if I do so, my visa will be rejected as I am breaking the law for loading it without actually having the letter beforehand. She advised me to apply for a tourist visa in the meantime, and then apply for the 485 when I get the letter. The problem is that tourist visa will cost the same as applying for the 485 with the disadvantage that I won't be able to work.

Has anyone gone through or going through the same problem as me? Should I listen to the person from immigration office or to the immigration agent? What should I do? 

Thanks!


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## Jeremy Hooper (Jul 10, 2014)

You do not need to load the letter immediately. It can be loaded later. However, you must have officially completed your course. You will need to call your Education Provider and ask them what the official completion date is for your course. Note, it is NOT the date of your last exam. If the official completion date is after your visa expires you will have apply for a new visa so that your can stay until after the completion date for your course.


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## pumalacasueca (Jun 26, 2015)

Jeremy Hooper said:


> You do not need to load the letter immediately. It can be loaded later. However, you must have officially completed your course. You will need to call your Education Provider and ask them what the official completion date is for your course. Note, it is NOT the date of your last exam. If the official completion date is after your visa expires you will have apply for a new visa so that your can stay until after the completion date for your course.


Hi Jeremy,

Thank you so much for replying. The University provided me a enrolment status letter, which state the course that I am doing, the length, etc, and it also say that " it is anticipated that this student will satisfy the requirements of the degree no later than June 2015".

The thing is that my last exam was on 17 of June , and the grades will be released on the 15 of July, and I will officially receive the completion letter on the second week of August. My visa expire on the 10 of July.

Will it be all right if I submit that letter that they gave me? Will it work? I mean, in the meantime while I get my official completion letter.


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## wrussell (Dec 31, 2014)

The crucial issue is when you completed the requirements, not how you were notified, or whether you were notified at all.


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## Jeremy Hooper (Jul 10, 2014)

No it wont. It looks like you will need to apply for another visa. The official course completed date will be printed on your final transcript. If you apply for your visa prior to that data then you will not have completed your course at the time of application. I have had experience with this situation before.


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## wrussell (Dec 31, 2014)

Jeremy Hooper said:


> No it wont. It looks like you will need to apply for another visa. The official course completed date will be printed on your final transcript. If you apply for your visa prior to that data then you will not have completed your course at the time of application. I have had experience with this situation before.


I had a DIY 485 applicant who was refused for lodging a couple of days before his official course completion date.

I won it in the MRT on the grounds that my client had completed the course requirements and the registrar who notified immigration about the official completion date was in error.

There was an official completion date about which the students were informed as part of their enrollment. This completion date allowed an extra week after the usual course completion for those students who had not completed all the academic requirements time to do so.

The lecturer had told my client, a week before the official completion date, that he had completed all the course requirements and he could depart, which he did. A week or so later the lecturer sent all the academic reports to the registrar via.academic committee.

The registrar did not have a motherless clue when my client had completed the academic requirements, so provided a 'generic' completion letter that sank the ship.

I advised my client to obtain a statutory declaration from the lecturer and a letter from the academic committee confirming that their deliberations were not part of course completion. The latter was a trifle tricky. If the committee had decided that he had not completed, for whatever reason, he was stuffed.

In those days applicants used to have their $1400 MRT filing fee refunded if they won.

I advised my client - since you want me to lodge your PR I shall operate on a contingency basis - if we win this MRT case you will owe me half the filing fee, and you buy lunch. He tried to buy lunch, but he could not use his credit card, so I bought it. The next day he drove all the way St Marys to give me $50. As it happened I had just remove the trans axle from a Pajero and I was covered in it.


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