The helplessness of waiting for a visa grant — those who know, know.
Some followers left comments asking: those offshore can understand, but for those onshore it shouldn’t matter much, right? 189/190/491/489 bridging visa holders are staying in Australia — they can just travel out and switch to a BVB? They can work full-time and study normally? Isn’t it basically the same?
Today we want to discuss,what changes after lodging a visa application need to be reported to the Department promptly?
189/190/489/491
Processing principle:The Department primarily assesses materials as at the point of invitation. Subsequent changes generally have little impact.
Of course — except for relationship status!
If you declared yourself single at the time of your EOI,you cannot enter into a spouse or de facto relationship after lodging your visa application and before visa grant (whether de facto or marriage).Because a partner affects your EOI score,if you wish to start a relationship, it must be after visa grant.We have previously analysed this under migration law:190/491/189: if you claimed the single-status bonus, you must not cohabit or marry before visa grant.
Conversely, if you declared a partner in your EOI and that partner contributed points to your EOI,that relationship must be maintained right up until visa grant,and given the long wait times,it is quite common for the case officer to request updated partner evidence upon review— this is not necessarily because they doubt your original documents, but because so much time has passed that they need to see the relationship is still genuine and ongoing.
If your visa is granted quickly, this may not be an issue at all — but with waiting periods now commonly stretching to one or two years,this has truly become an unreasonably burdensome requirement.
Changes to employment and address
As for employment changes and address changes, provided they do not affect relationship evidence,they generally will not affect visa processing.
Also, if you received a state nomination invitation and then changed to a new job (or industry), will it affect your visa?For skilled migration, the Department assesses materials up to the date of invitation — even if employment changes or ceases afterwards, this normally has no impact.
That said, this applies after invitation, but note:if your EOI did not claim work experience points,the Department may still review your work experience materials from your state nomination application when processing your visa —more on this in the second half of this article.
The above refers to the federal Department level —
there is also the state government level.
There is another point to emphasise: for state-nominated skilled migration, there is also the state government dimension. The state government guarantees your nomination through to visa grant, and during that period the state government retains the right to cancel your nomination,if you obtained a nomination and then moved to another state, the state government in principle has the authority to cancel your nomination,which would certainly affect your visa processing.
The states currently known to conduct residency checks on nominated but not yet granted applicants are mainlyCanberra and Tasmania— the most important evidence is bank statements showing residence and employment in the state; other states have not yet been observed to conduct such investigations.
Employer-sponsored visas
The key changes that need to be updated promptly areespecially if the sponsoring employer changes— a new nomination must be lodged within the required timeframe, and only after the nomination is approved may you commence work with the new employer.
(Just yesterday we came across an interview: a tradesperson seeking employer sponsorship had the misfortune of their employer going insolvent every time they were about to convert to permanent residency — 10 years in Australia and still not converted…)
Family migration
Partner migration —if there is any change to the relationship, you must proactively update the Department.For example, a change of address requires providing relevant documents such as a tenancy agreement.
Parent migration —generally does not require updates to the Department.
You can usually wait until the final assessment stage and provide all documents to the Department at once.
Student visa
Student visa processing is also currently very slow.If your CoE is updated— for example, the course duration changes from 18 months to 2 years — you need to update the Department. The Department will grant the visa based on the new CoE.
Also, regarding the partner relationship on a student visa: if you are considering applying for a dependent visa for your partner afterwards, you must declare the relationship accurately at the time of lodging the student visa application.
For all visas,if your passport changesyou need to update it in the Department’s system; and ifa new child is born during the visa application period, you also need to report this to the Department promptly.
190/491 applicants — even if you did not claim work experience points
A number of older backlogged applications have started moving again recently. Some of our clients have encountered:Having received their state nomination and lodged their visa application, the Department has still gone on to review the work experience submitted at the time of the state nomination application!
Firstly, some states require that applicants have employment or work experience as a condition of state nomination —
for example,Canberrarequires, as one of its preconditions, 3 or 6 months of local work experience (not necessarily in the nominated occupation); andWestern Australiarequires a job offer or current employment, as well as relevant work experience (local graduates stream requires 6 months).
There is alsoTasmaniawhich allows a job offer to be submitted as evidence of competitiveness.
However, if the work experience is under 12 months or not in the nominated occupation, it cannot earn points in the EOI. Many applicants submitted work experience documents solely to meet state nomination requirements. But the situation now arising is that after receiving state nomination, even though the EOI did not claim work experience points, the Department is still reviewing that work experience when processing the visa.
Applicants may reasonably ask:One question is: the work experience was submitted as part of the state nomination and the state government has already assessed and approved it — why is the Department reviewing it again? Another is: the work experience was to satisfy state nomination requirements, which should be the state government’s domain, and I didn’t claim EOI points for it — why is the Department involved?
The main reason is:applicants who receive a state nomination receive an EOI points bonus for that nomination (491 receives 15 points, 190 receives 5 points)so for the Department, the state nomination points bonus falls within their scope of review,and naturally the work experience used to obtain that state nomination (or to obtain those state nomination points) also falls within their review scope.
So, do not assume that because the state government has already granted you a nomination, those supporting documents can be put away — the Department still retains the right to review your state nomination materials.If the case officer finds issues with your documents at the time of lodgement, or if the Department (potentially) conducts a phone call to your then-employer and discovers discrepancies, your visa could still be refused!
There are already cases of applicants having their documents re-examined and employers being called — some have even received a Section 57 notice from the Department. Without a satisfactory explanation, in addition to refusal, a 4020 finding could be made, affecting a large number of future visa applications.
So, so, so!!!
If you are in a similar situation:
① If you submitted work experience documents as part of your state nomination application(even if no points were claimed, or the experience was not in the nominated occupation), make sure all that information and documentation is accurate.
② Both you and your employer should be prepared for a potential phone call from the Department.It is advisable to make sure your employer/direct supervisor/HR/even the receptionist is aware, even if only to transfer the call.
This is especially important given that 491/190 processing has been very slow over the past two years — many applicants are no longer working at the company they were with when they lodged their state nomination. Whether you are still working there now makes no difference; the Department’s calls will primarily be investigating your employment status at the time the state nomination was lodged.
Ultimately, slow visa processing can trigger a chain of complications — we hope the Department picks up the pace so everyone can get their visa grant soon!
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