Lodged Onshore? Can You Return Home to Wait for the Grant? Migration Regulations Clause xxx.411 Explained!

June 5, 2026March 15, 2023 by newstarsec

Author: Jason ZHANG

• MARA-registered migration agent, CTO of the Newstarsec Group, and gold-medal study and migration consultant at the Melbourne branch, writing under the pen name Mitu Weiyuan.

• With extensive experience in handling migration and study matters, he enjoys resolving all kinds of visa issues through migration law and specialises in difficult, complex cases. He has authored over a hundred in-depth study and migration articles for Newstarsec, helping applicants understand not only what the rules are, but why.

Q

What is clause XXX.411?

A

For every visa category, the law sets out, at the moment the visa is granted, the location the applicant must be in at that moment (the legislation calls this the Circumstances applicable to grant). This requirement appears in clause xxx.411 of each visa’s legislation (or in xxx.412 or 413), where xxx stands for the visa subclass code.

For example, the Bridging visa B subclass code is 020, so whether a Bridging visa B can be granted offshore is set out clearly in Clause 020.411 of the Migration Regulations. Whether the Subclass 485 visa can be granted offshore is set out in Clause 485.411, and the Subclass 189 visa is dealt with in Clause 189.411.

Next, we will use the actual wording of the legislation to explain whether common visa categories can be granted offshore (or onshore).

01

Bridging visa B (subclass code 020)

Xiao Ming lodged a Subclass 189 PR application and then wanted to leave Australia, so he applied for a Bridging visa B. But because the matter was urgent, he wanted to depart immediately after lodging the Bridging visa B and wait offshore for it to be granted. Is that possible?Unfortunately, the answer is no.The wording of clause 020.411 is as follows:

(Note: the “immigration clearance” mentioned in the image above refers to clearing customs — you can disregard it and focus on the earlier part.)

02

Visitor visa (subclass code 600)

Li Lei was in Australia and, because he could not get a flight ticket, lodged a Subclass 600 visitor visa before his current visa expired. After lodging it, he managed to buy a ticket and returned to China — can he wait in China for the visa to be granted?The answer is no. The legislation reads as follows:

As the image above shows, a visitor visa lodged onshore must, when granted, also be onshore; a visitor visa lodged offshore must, when granted, also be offshore (600.412).

Therefore, after leaving Australia, Li Lei must withdraw his visitor visa application; otherwise, it will be refused for failing to meet clause 600.411. This situation occurred frequently during the pandemic..

03

Student visa (subclass code 500)

Han Meimei lodged a student visa onshore — can she return to China and wait for it to be granted? And if she lodges offshore, can she enter Australia and wait for it to be granted (assuming she holds another visa that allows her to enter)?The answer is: yes.

A visitor visa requires lodgement and grant to be either both onshore or both offshore, but the rules for the student visa are different. The student visa does not require lodgement and grant to be in the same location. The wording of clause 500.411 is as follows:

04

Skilled migration — Subclass 189/190/491, etc.

As with the student visa, all three of these visas can be granted either onshore or offshore. Taking the Subclass 190 as an example, clause 190.411 reads as follows:

05

What about the Subclass 887 visa?

After meeting the residence and work requirements, some applicants no longer want to stay in a regional area — can they lodge their application, leave Australia and wait offshore for it to be granted?The answer is: yes.Before the pandemic this was not possible; it only became possible after the law was later amended.The wording of clause 887.411 is as follows:

06

Parent migration — Subclass 143 visa

The Subclass 143 parent visa could previously only be granted offshore (except in special cases such as a Subclass 173 to 143 transition),

but because of the pandemic, the Department of Home Affairs amended the law on 24 March 2021, providing that for applications lodged before the amendment, if the applicant happened to be in Australia on 24 March 2021 and, at the time of grant, was still within the pandemic concession period, then the visa could be granted onshore (in all other cases it must still be granted offshore).

Note: the Concession Period began on 1 February 2020, and its end date has not yet been legislated (until it is legislated, we remain within the Concession Period). I expect it may not be legislated until the World Health Organization declares the COVID-19 pandemic over.

The wording of clause 143.412 is as follows:

07

Graduate Work visa (subclass code 485)

Before the pandemic, the Subclass 485 visa could only be lodged and granted onshore (except for subsequent 485 applications). After the pandemic arrived, the grant provisions for the 485 were also amended, providing that, before the concession period ends, it can be granted either onshore or offshore.The legislation reads as follows:

08

What about the offshore partner visa, Subclass 309?

Before the pandemic, the Subclass 309 visa could only be granted offshore. After the pandemic, the law was amended to provide that a Subclass 309 visa lodged before the concession period ends does not necessarily have to be granted offshore. The wording of clause 309.412 is as follows:

09

What about the onshore partner visa, Subclass 820?

One point to note is that the Subclass 820 visa must still be granted onshore. Unlike the Subclass 309, the legislation for the Subclass 820 was not changed because of the pandemic. The wording of clause 820.411 is as follows:

Sum

mary

After the analysis above, have you noticed that the provisions of migration law are not as difficult as you might have imagined? If the visa category you want to apply for is not covered above, you can open the legislation yourself, look it up and find the answer. We have already located the download for you:

https://www.legislation.gov.au/Series/F1996B03551

If you are interested, you can download it and study it.

If you have any further questions, you are welcome to add me on WeChat or visit our Melbourne office for a chat.

MARA-registered migration agent (MARN 1805429)

Past articles

Jason’s Migration Law Column

[Refused onshore? What now?]

Is there any way back after an onshore refusal? Can you still apply for migration? A detailed look at Section 48, AAT appeals and refusal-rescue strategies!

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