Australia Tourist Visa With Work Permit

Are you looking to be on vacation in Australia while having a job too? There are some residence visa options that you can consider. If you are skilled and lucky enough, this visa may work for you.  It will allow you to visit the country on a temporary basis and start working there even before getting your permanent residency. Those with skills and work experience who want to live and work in Australia may be eligible for an employer-sponsored temporary visa. Under these visas, applicants also need to get their employer’s sponsorship to get the visa.

Recently the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection announced changes to Australia’s visa program. The two main changes are:  1)  Australian immigration will now allow multiple entry tourist visas (up to 3 months in duration) that allow travelers to visit Australia on short trips of up to 3 months at a time as long as they remain outside of Australia for no more than 12 months in any 24-month period; and 2) Certain eligible skilled independent visa holders are able to apply for bridging visas that allow them temporary employment in Australia.

You would like to come to work and live in Australia.

You think that the easiest way is to just come to Australia on a visitor visa and then convert it to a working visa.

Your friends told you “Everything is easier once you are there”. Well, for most it is not going to be that easy.

That may used to be a case, but lately it is getting harder and harder to get a working visa for Australia.

Extending your visitor visa

Once you hold a visitor visa, you cannot extend it or convert it into another type of visa, such as a working visa. If you want to extend your stay in Australia as a visitor, you need to apply for another visitor visa.

Many people can meet requirements only for Visitor visa Subclass 600.

If they apply for this type of visa while they are outside of Australia, visa application charge (VAC) is $140. However, once they come to Australia, if they want to apply for another visitor visa, VAC is $345. If they want to later apply for their third visitor visa, VAC is $1,045.

These are only costs for extending your stay while you hold a visitor visa and want to apply for extension (another visitor visas). With every application you need to show to have sufficient funds and that your intentions are only to stay temporarily in Australia. If you have a condition “No further stay” in your visitor visa, that means that you cannot apply for another visa.

Getting that working visa

If you can meet requirements for Working Holiday Visa Program, which is open only to passport holders of certain countries, in that case applying for a working (holiday) visa is usually going to be a smooth process.

This may even be the better strategy for eligible applicants to first come on a visitor visa and if or when they find a job, then apply for a working holiday visa (WHV) and then use their WHV by working from the first day.

However, most people who are interested to work in Australia do not meet eligibility criteria for WHV. For many, options are Skilled migration or Employer sponsored visas. Majority of people find student visas as an option which is often the most expensive choice.

Skilled Migration

To meet requirements for skilled migration, you need to reach a point to be issued an invitation to apply for a visa. Lately, the number of invitation has significantly decreased and currently you need to have 65 points to get an invitation.