Australia is brimming with multiculturalism and welcomes plenty of overseas tourist visitors, international students and skilled migrant workers. Yet, it never ceases to amaze me how many non-Australians I meet all have visa-related questions. And while some people (successfully and unsuccessfully) try to navigate the complex pathways of visa strategies, for most people, they will opt to engage a lawyer and/or migration agent to assist them in their visa affairs.
In my conversations with many international citizens, I find that people are often unaware or worst yet, mis-informed about their visa status, work rights or entitlements under their current visa. Not knowing or being ill-informed about these matters may have severe consequences leading to the individual falling victim to an inadvertent breach of their visa conditions resulting in being sent home and/or being ‘black listed’. I recently talked to a client that we were helping that had assumed that she had a “NFS – No further stay” imposed on her visa as a condition. However, in doing our due diligence and performing a quick and simple (did I mention free?) VEVO check, it was discovered that no such NFS condition existed which drastically changed her visa pathway from a complicated route to a fairly straight-forward and simple path.
Before going to see your lawyer or migration agent, it is crucial (especially if you do not current have a copy of your ‘IMMI Grant Letter’) that you provide them with a VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online) Check. A simple check will reveal the visa the person is currently on, as well as any conditions that are attached to that visa. This will greatly assist your lawyer or agent in advising you properly and accurately as there exists a variety of factors that could change the nuance of your visa conditions. You can directly access the site here.
The view of the site should look similar to the picture below:
All you will require is your passport details and a previous IMMI reference (can be obtained from correspondence previously received from IMMI). If you are unsure, your representative agent or lawyer can also obtain a VEVO check on your behalf.
The sites listed above were accessed on 30 June 2017 and were accurate at the time of publishing. The URL is subject to change.
