The Department of Home Affairs has introduced some welcome concessions with respect to where certain visas can be granted.
If you have applied for any of the visas listed below, and you are in Australia, you do not need to leave Australia to have your visa granted:
- Subclass 101, Child Visa
- Subclass 102 Adoption Visa
- Subclass 300, Prospective Marriage Visa
- Subclass 309, Offshore Provisional Partner Visa
- Subclass 445, Dependent Child Visa
Application of concessions
These concessions apply to applicants who have been in Australia anytime during the so-called “Covid Concession Period” which commenced on 1 February 2020, and which will end on a date to be set by the Minister for Immigration.
Subclass 300, Prospective Marriage Visa – visa validity extended for visas granted after 27 February 2021
In addition to Subclass 300 visas, being temporarily able to be granted while the applicant is in Australia, Subclass 300 visas have their validity period extended for up to 15 months.
Normally, these visas are only granted for nine months, to allow the Visa holder to marry their partner and then subsequently applied for a Subclass 820 Onshore Partner Visa.
The concession applies to Subclass 300 Visas granted after 27 February 2021, regardless of when the application was lodged.
Case officer’s discretion applies
It is unclear from the legislation how the extended period will be decided – i.e. the case officer has a discretion to extend the Visa for up to 15 months, but it is unclear how a case officer will decide how much of an extension time will be provided to a particular applicant. It is also unclear whether extensions will only be provided to applicants who are outside Australia.
We will keep you posted!