# re-entering on an eVisitor - please help



## jesscook (Apr 24, 2011)

Hi all

Currently in a relationship with an Aussie (I'm from the UK). Been together 1 year and lived together 6 months. We want to apply for a de facto visa. I am currently on an eVisitor and already had a WHV.

I'm leaving the country soon in order to comply with the 3 month maximum stay per visit requirement on my visa.

I'm a bit worried though. I have already left the country once before and was questioned on my arrival back in. The guy at the airport seemed perfectly satisfied once he met my boyfriend and learnt that he fully supports me (pays all rent, bills, etc!) and he didn't tell me I'd need to leave Australia for a longer period or anything like that. I just keep imagining the worst case scenario when I come back from my next trip (I will be with my boyfriend again this time too). We're obviously not doing anything wrong... I haven't overstayed my visa and I don't work - but is it frowned upon to do this? We just want to be together and then apply for the de facto! What is the best thing to say at the airport? I'm getting really stressed that they may say I'm not allowed into the country... does this ever happen on an eVisitor? I'll only have been out of Australia for a week on my return.

Please reply with any advice or even experiences you may have had with this situation


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## aussiegirl (Dec 15, 2009)

Hi Jess,

The border authorities are just doing what they have been told to do. You are on a tourist visa, which is meant for travel, or visiting friends, family for a temporary stay only. You're quite lucky that he didn't refuse you entry, as you are technically not a tourist in the DIAC definition of the word.

I'm not trying to throw the book at you, and I'm not on DIAC's side either, but DIAC would prefer spouses to be offshore when they lodge visas (for whatever reasons they may have). You might want to talk to this poster:

http://www.australiaforum.com/visas-immigration/8951-question-17-form-80-de-facto-visa.html


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## jesscook (Apr 24, 2011)

I spoke to two immigration lawyers this afternoon and they said I'm not doing anything wrong and they can't really refuse me entry unless they have suspicions that I am working illegally. They didn't seem to think it would be a big deal as long as I explained the situation if questioned.


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## jesscook (Apr 24, 2011)

PS I would also happily lodge my application offshore but we have only lived together 6 months and my partner cannot come to the UK until the end of the year. We don't want to have to be apart for long periods of time and it seems silly not to try and stay together when we're already half way there.


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## lexuszips (Apr 19, 2011)

*Question question 17 on form 80 - de facto visa*

hey jess!

i just read your thread, linked to me by aussiegirl, and it sounds like our situations are kinda similar. i haven't had a chance to speak to any immigration agent but i saw that you have, so i thought i would ask you for your opinion on my case...

got a question on form 80 for you...

question 17 asks for current residential address. at the moment i live in australia with my boyfriend, it's been over 2 years now. however i am on a tourist visa.

under purpose of visit i know i should write visiting partner/friends and travel, to not look too dodgy. the confusing part is that i do actually live in australia. all my stuff is here. i was just lucky enough to get a 3 year tourist visa, after having explained my situation to the australian embassy of where my current visa was issued.

so like i said, for question 17 i wrote my address in australia. then underneath that it asks for "country of residence". so i wrote australia. would this be correct given my situation?

it doesn't feel right to write in my parents' address for my residential address just because of the technicality of being on a tourist visa. i think if i explain my case enough to my CO, that i do currently live in australia, my points should be valid enough. do you guys agree? anyone else had this problem?

let me know your thoughts....

part 2 of my question ------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by aussiegirl View Post

Being on a 676 and applying for an onshore spouse visa is fine if it doesn't have a no further stay condition on it. If it does, you have to go somewhere out of Australia to apply. As you realise, your visa is just for tourism, so you need to be careful about what you say regarding your reason for travel. You could say visiting friends and travel?
__________________________________________________ ___________________

Do you think its really a bad idea to write "Temporary Resident" anytime it asks "Purpose of Visit" on a form? I'm looking at form 47SP and form 80. It just doesn't seem to make sense to write "Tourism / Travel" when my case clearly indicates that I am in Australia just to be with my partner....

Any other ideas? Sorry, this has just been buggin me since the beginning.

So far I've only come up with "Visitor" lol 
Hope everything works out for you x


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## jesscook (Apr 24, 2011)

Hey there

I'm not really sure I can help with that. If you google immigration lawyers in your area a lot offer free consultations by phone! I don't think it would really matter where you put your current residential address as because you are currently living in Aus and wanting to stay more permanently correct? I mean when I was at uni I used to put my uni address as my residential address even though it was in England not Scotland (where my family home is!)

I would just put something like visitor/visiting friends/family because that is technically what you are doing!

May I ask how you managed to stay in Aus over two years on a tourist visa??

Thanks

Jess


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## lexuszips (Apr 19, 2011)

jesscook said:


> Hey there
> 
> I'm not really sure I can help with that. If you google immigration lawyers in your area a lot offer free consultations by phone! I don't think it would really matter where you put your current residential address as because you are currently living in Aus and wanting to stay more permanently correct? I mean when I was at uni I used to put my uni address as my residential address even though it was in England not Scotland (where my family home is!)
> 
> ...


Alright thanks for that. I didn't think it really mattered either which residential address I put on the form. It's just stating the truth and actually supporting the fact that I have been living with my partner for over a year (that my life is in australia) and I would love to be allowed to be here permanently.

The only reason why I got a bit worried was because when I arrived at the aiport in Sydney, after one of the holidays Ive been on overseas, I wrote on the form that my address was in Sydney, and the immigration officer said that technically I couldn't write an aussie address as a residential one, being on a tourist visa. But he didn't really make a big deal out of it, I explained why I wrote what I did, and he said thats fine, it just needed to be outside australia for technical reasons. He wasn't annoyed / angry, etc, nothing at all.

So i guess everything should be fine, since I can always tell the truth explaining me and my partner's situation.

And I was actually really lucky with my tourist visa. Long story short I accidentally overstayed in australia, a bit of a mix up, so i was given a 3 year exclusion period. i presented my case, explaining everything, including that i was in a relationship with an aussie and after studying there all that mattered to me was to return to australia, and hopefully eventually obtain a more permanent visa. so everytime i applied for a tourist visa it was with an immigration's officer at an embassy, explaining my case / plea, and i guess i got really lucky with their kindness =) i still have to leave the country every 6 months but at least the visa won't expire for a while.


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## Stillwaiting79 (May 1, 2011)

Im about to leave OZ & apply for a TV to return back here so they the lawyers can lodge my OH's PR app with me as his spouse. I'm freaking out as I'm not sure what I should tell them should I be questioned at immigration upon entry.


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