Hello everyone,

I am currently working as a division 1 nurse in Melbourne on a 457 visa since November 2008 - it's 2 year contract, so it will end November 2010. I changed to this visa when my 2nd work & travel visa was running out and I decided to stay longer here to work full time for a while. Now I nearly have all my paperwork ready to send off my application for the skilled independent permanent residency visa subclass 175(have to apply offshore, even if I'm onshore as I gained my qualification overseas) and hope I will be able to lodge the visa request before the end of this year. I know that it will take about a year for the visa to be granted under my circumstances even if my occupation is listed on the CSL.

Now I have the following problem: I really would like to go back home to Germany for about 4 months next year - if I could from April to July and I want to figure out how realistic this aim is.

Under the conditions of the 457 visa I should be able to leave the country and come back to Australia without trouble. Is that also the case after I have applied for the 175 visa? And if that is would it be possible to take also unpaid leave(don't have that much annual leave that I could go for such a long period of time) with the option to continue working the time I missed out work when I was overseas on unpaid leave extending the original contract/visa?

And if this doesn't work:
What would happen if I decide to quit my 457 visa at the end of March after I applied for the 175 visa so that I am able to go home in April? Would I be able to return after my visit back home? And if that would be possible what would be my visa situation after coming back?

What other options would there be to realize what I have in mind?


Thank you in advance for your help!


Cheers,
Martin

Hi Martin,

I am not an expert and Andre should correct me if I am wrong, but from my own experiences I'd say the following:

For the business sponsored PR you can apply onshore even if you gained your qualifications overseas. Not sure why it should be different for the skilled independent PR. As long as your 457 is in place you can travel overseas and enter Australia. Handing in the application for the PR does not terminate your 457 visa, it only gives you a bridging visa for the time between the end of your 457 and the decision about your PR application. While you are on the bridging visa you can not enter into Australia anymore.

With the 457 being valid until November 2010 there won't be problems to travel to Germany and back into Australia as long as the 457 is in place. But this is where you need to start asking. If you travel to Germany for 4 months, does this automatically mean quitting your job and your employer informing DIAC about the end of the work relationship? Could you take off for 4 months without pay and return to your employer in July until the end of your 457? If so, your 457 should remain in place and you could return to Australia.

Cheers, Kerstin

Hey Kerstin,

First of all thanks for your reply!

I also thought that I would have to apply for an onshore version of the independent skilled PR as I have been here for a while and I am going to apply for the visa in Australia, but after contacting the DIAC I found out that under my conditions I have to apply for an offshore PR even if I am in Australia. They also said I can leave the country under the conditions of the 457, but I don't know if this is also the case for unpaid leave. So and that's where I got stuck with that option.

Well, thanks anyway Kerstin

Dear Martin,

Thank you for your post.

Although the Skilled Independent Subclass 175 Visa is considered an offshore subclass provided there is no condition attached to your current 457 visa preventing you from applying onshore (which there should not be) you can lodge the application onshore. However, as an offshore subclass, you must be offshore at the time of decision.

In relation to your other queries, we would need to research the PAMS in relation to unpaid leave etc. If you would like further advice you will need to register for our Ask An Agent Service. Please email me direct on Diese E-Mail-Adresse ist gegen Spambots geschützt! JavaScript muss aktiviert werden, damit sie angezeigt werden kann. for further instructions.

Hi Martin

you can be in Australia while the visa is processed and you will be informed when it has been approved. But(!) you have to leave and go to an embassy outside Australia to actually get the visa attached to your passport.

That's exactly what I had to do a couple of years ago: I flew to Auckland, dropped-off my passport at the Australian High Commision (=embassy), enjoyed New Zealand for a couple of days until the High Commision had done all their work, picked-up my passport with PR visa and returned to Australia.

I assume the regulations haven't changed since.

Markus

Thanks for all your replies !

I had a bit of look around in the internet and found out that it would be possible to take unpaid annual leave for about a months time if the company that sponsors me is okay with it. If I add this together with my annual leave it will make around 3 months, not 4, but that will be good enough. So I would be able to go overseas without violating the regulations of the visa. Lets hope that my employee is kind enough to let me go.

By the way I didn't know that I might have to leave Australia in order to get my PR visa when it is approved - thanks for the infos!

The Skilled Independent Subclass 175 Visa is likely the appropriate visa. It is considered an "Offshore Subclass". No bridging visa rights are conferred. You can be onshore at the time of applying but must be offshore at the time of grant. Any period spent overseas to have the visa evidenced will likely be less than 2 weeks and therefore should not cause any problems in terms of breach of visa conditions attached to your 457 visa.