Missed Your Australian Visa Entry Deadline - Visa Condition 8502 & 8504?
Once you have successfully been granted a visa, you will notice that there may be a condition attached to your visa requiring you to enter the country before a particular date. The reason for this condition is that it is more likely that you will continue to meet the requirements for your visa if only a short period of time passes since it was granted.
What are the entry-related visa conditions?
The two main first-entry conditions are 8502 and 8504.
Under condition 8502, a secondary applicant cannot enter Australia before the primary visa applicant. However, the attachment of this condition is discretionary, and if you have exceptional reasons as to why it shouldn’t be imposed, then these will need to be submitted before the visa is granted.
Condition 8504 requires a visa holder to enter Australia before a specified date, which you can usually find on your visa grant notice.
What are the consequences of breaching these conditions?
If you breach a condition of your visa, it may be cancelled under section 116(1)(b) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). Alternatively, it can also be cancelled under section 128 for the same reason if you are not in Australia. These cancellation powers are discretionary, so decision-makers will typically consider various policy factors, such as:
Whether there is a compelling need to travel to or remain in Australia
The degree of hardship caused to the visa holder and their family due to cancellation
Circumstances in which the ground for cancellation (breach of entry condition) arose
The visa holder’s past and present behaviour towards the Department
Under what circumstances can cancellation happen?
As a matter of policy, visas will be cancelled for breach of condition 8504 unless exceptional and compelling reasons are demonstrated. These reasons should be beyond your control, and some examples include:
A sponsoring partner or family member suddenly falls seriously ill and requires care
Being unable to travel due to a natural disaster
Being unable to travel as you are in the late stages of pregnancy
Cancellation will also depend on the extent of the breach of your visa condition – in particular, how long it took for you to enter Australia since the initial entry date. Even if you have a compelling reason not to have entered Australia earlier, if you could have entered sooner than you did, then this may also be taken into account.
For a breach of condition 8502 due to the primary applicant failing to travel to Australia, cancellation will usually follow unless you can show that you would have satisfied the primary criteria had you applied as the main applicant. Exceptional and compelling circumstances can also be taken into account if you want to arrive in Australia before the primary applicant in spite of condition 8502. However, the primary applicant should still arrive before their initial entry date.
How Can Agape Henry Crux Help
It is always a good idea to plan for your objective so you can know what to do next for your visa pathway. Reach out to one of our immigration lawyers at Agape Henry Crux for a tailored strategy session. Our team works with 2 of our Accredited Specialists Immigration Lawyers (s) who specialise in handling highly complex matters. You can schedule an appointment with one of our lawyers or agents to seek professional advice by calling 02-8310 5230 or emailing us at info@ahclawyers.com.
We speak fluent English, Mandarin and Cantonese. We can also help you arrange an interpreter if this isn't your language.
This article/presentation (“publication”) does not deal extensively with important topics or changes in law and is not intended to be relied upon as a substitute for legal or other advice that may be relevant to the reader's specific circumstances. If you find this publication of interest and would like to know more or wish to obtain legal advice relevant to your circumstances, please contact our office.
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