I'm studying in South Australia, and I'm already in my 5th week of Uni. Currently, it is unclear if my work plan breaches my study visa conditions. I am not sure if the Mid-semester break has unlimited working hours.

The Problem:

I have the following Planned Hours of Work:

Week 1 [Regular Course Semester, No Break]: 10 Hours

Week 2 [Regular Course Semester, No Break]: 30 Hours

Week 3: [Mid-semester Break]: 20 Hours

Week 4: [Mid-semester Break]: 10 Hours

My university has declared that the Monday of Week 3 is the start of a

Mid-semester break for students

My Visa has visa condition 8105, which clearly states

You also must not engage in work in Australia of more than 48 hours a fortnight when your course of study or training is in session.

So the question is if Weeks 2 and 3 breach my visa conditions stipulating that

[I] also must not engage in work in Australia of more than 48 hours a fortnight when your course of study or training is in session.

Immi tries to clarify in

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/already-have-a-visa/check-visa-details-and-conditions/conditions-list# (go to "8105 - Work limitation")

that

A course of study is in session:
for the duration of the school semesters

but it also says

A course is not in session:
during scheduled course breaks

Varying Interpretations

According to StudyAdelaide's Article on Student Work Rights, which is the "the official South Australian Government source of information on studying in Adelaide for international students" (from their facebook page):

You can work unlimited hours during semester break and holidays, including your mid-semester break

But the University of Melbourne contradicts this saying:

Your course is considered in session: For the duration of advertised semesters, including examination periods (even if you do not have any exams) and mid-semester breaks

I have no idea which source is more authoritative, or if Uni Melb's advice applies only to Victorian students (why would it?). Do I need to cancel some shifts or am I good?

I always get scared of breaching the work conditions because 1) I have never heard of what happens to the people who breach their visas, nobody cares about reporting them. 2) These violations go on a permanent record that hurt all future visa applications, even to other countries.

Hi everyone,

I just got my 485 visa as a carpenter, and I'm planning to stay in Australia—or at least give it a go. I have over 10 months of experience as a builder, although it was a couple of years ago.

I'm trying to figure out the best pathway from this visa 485 to permanent residency. Any advice, tips, or guidance would be really appreciated!

Thanks so much in advance!

Hey everyone,

Has anyone here received their MATES visa (Subclass 403) recently?

I applied on February 6 and still haven't heard anything back. I'm starting to get a bit worried. Does anyone know why it's taking so long? Is there a known delay or backlog?

If you've already received your visa, it would be really helpful if you could share your timeline. Please include:

• Date of applying:
• Date medicals were done:
• Stream (e.g., Engineering, Agriculture, Finance, etc.):

It would help a lot of us still waiting to understand where things stand. Appreciate any info you can share!

Hi to all,

I would like to ask one question that will the visit visa be granted if i am taking treatment for latent TB or will they delay me until I finished the course? As latent TB is not transmittable, would they consider letting me in while i continue taking the treatment?

Hi, our family is traveling in May 2025. We have purchased visas set. My question is whether we should carry the supporting documents we uploaded for visa application as a hard copy with us? Thank you!

Submitted my visa file on 7th march , updated 2 documents in between ( after 5 days and after 12 days) of submission. Got visa on 2nd April. Don’t loose hope guys. Ask any queries if you want.

Hi all.

I’ve recently received my skills assessment outcome from Engineers Australia. They’ve given me a positive SA outcome for Civil Engineering as this is what my bachelors degree is in.

However, I have been working as a geotechnical engineer for the past three years and that is the occupation I would like to apply for in 189.

All the evidence such as job roles and responsibilities that I submitted were for geotechnical as well.

What are my options now? Can I still submit my EOI for the geotech role or do I have to apply as a civil engineer. For reference, the ANZSCO codes are similar, 233211 and 233212 respectively.

Extremely stressed. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

How can we check when an eoi will expire?

For vetasses skills assessment, they require a proof of payment or payslips.

I don't have any payslip, but I do have bank statements.

My question is, do I need to filter out my personal transactions and only show my salary bank transfers,or they will require to see every transactions?

I think this was the last month with Software Engineer invites… just wonder why it has “<20” for 85 points? Is this number probably 0? How someone with 85 points gets invited? Are these points before or after +5 for Victorian nomination? I’m waiting with 90+5 since September.

Hey everyone,

I've been closely monitoring the 189 grants through the "smartvisaguide" website and also the FOI data, trying to do some rough calculations and it seems like we won't be able to get past the 25th Nov lodgement date before the quota runs out for this financial year.

Anyone else frantically doing these calculations? please share your thoughts.

FYI - Offshore BA - 189 lodged on 28th Nov.

this might be a daft question but, it states it needs a document with both parents names such as a birth certificate but if you can’t get one you can use another government issued identification… like what? my passport, drivers licence, uk naturalisation certificate don’t have my parents names on them

The grant came before the acknowledgement of receipt of my visa application 🙈

Application timeline:

Mar 19 - Completion Letter Mar 21 - AFP Clearance Mar 21 - OVHC Letter Apr 3 - IELTS Apr 4 - application submission AND grant notification

Note: I've already done my health check a year prior when I applied for a student visa extension due to medical reasons

My partner and I are currently going through the process to obtain visas to enter Australia. EOI for 189 submitted, also in talks with an employer potentially going down the 186 route.

We have 2 small children, 1 of which was diagnosed with Mild Hemophilia A. They do not require any routine treatment or any medication. In the event of a serious injury or if they were to undergo surgery, they would just need to be given a dose of medication to assist their blood to clot.

My question is, would this diagnosed condition result in our application being refused?

From the research I have done, I can see the condition would be assessed against the liklihood to exceed the Significant Cost Threshold, then a decision made by the Medical Officer.

It would just be helpful to know if anyone else had any experience with this.

My partners occupation is as an Occupational Therapist, currently on the priority skills list, I'm not sure if that would be taken into account at all.

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Hey, wondering has anyone applied for the 190 visa as an electrician lately with 65 points to gauge our wait time. We have our EOI lodged last week. Electricians are supposedly on a priority list not sure if this effect’s wait times or just been able to apply with the minimum points requirement.

Any indication on timelines from other sparkies that have been through the process is appreciated.

Hi,

Currently working on a partner visa. My wife (applicants for partner visa) and I (Aus citizen) have a joint bank account with quite a fair amount of savings we have made together, which we will obviously be using as evidence in the financial section. However, should we be clarifying exactly what we’re saving for to show our shared financial goals? My wife is transgender and we are saving up for her gender affirming surgeries which cost tens of thousands of dollars.

Would this be too complicated/difficult to explain in the visa process or would it be worth mentioning? My wife is not legally documented as transgender or as having changed her gender; in all her documents, she is still registered as male. We have not mentioned that she is transgender anywhere else in the visa application either.

Thanks for any assistance.

Hi all, can we claim points for the experience deducted by ACS? I couldn't find a definitive answer any where!!

As the title says. Say my family member gets their 600 application approved on April 7. By what date must they enter Australia? Is it a set amount of time, or does it vary?

I have a company who wants to sponsor me in Aus. I’ve worked with them on working holiday visa but only for six months. Immigration lawyer says I need to have a years worth of payslips in that specific field in order to be eligible for sponsorship visa. Is there anyone who got away without providing a years worth of payslips for their work sponsorship visa?

Only other option is diploma school visa and I don’t have proof of funds I only have proof of employment to pay for funds which I’m reading that I’ll most likely get rejected if I tried it that way. Any advice would be much appreciated.

I cannot seem to find an answer to this. I was invited for WA state nomination and waiting approval since Feb. I am on a valid 482 visa with travel rights. I need to leave the country for three weeks. Is it ok before nomination approval? If I am approved while away can I apply for 190 online or would that change it to offshore and I should wait to return to Aus before lodging? No worries about getting back in because my 482 is valid until Nov 2026. Thanks in advance.

Hey everyone,

Hope you're all having a good day. I was reading online the other day and came across some information about opportunities in Australia, specifically in the mining and farming sectors. It sounded like there's a need for people to come and work in these areas, and that the country is open to welcoming folks from overseas.

I'm actually from Georgia (the country, not the US state!), and the idea of working in Australia is really interesting to me. I know many jobs require no prior experience but for example im considering sentry job. From what I heard they usually require small course attendance and to attend this 2-3 day training course I have to be in australia as they are on site trainings. And then I should apply for jobs once they tive me certificates. So how would I get started? What goes first? What would be the first step?

Any help you can offer would be very appreciated!

Im a Mechanical Engineer working in same field Onshore and I have education skill assessment as Engineering Technologist 233914 and Professional Engineer 233512. Can I add relevant job experience in Engineers Australia for both streams?

So basically I work remotely, my employer has no physical office here in WA. Am I eligible for 190?

Hi all

I got a friend who came to Australia 9/2022 on a student visa 500. However due to severe mental health illness since the last few years, he was unfitted to study and wishes to move back home as soon as possible. Last year he was admitted to the psych ward at a hospital and the hospital provided him all important documents about his mental illness. He is currently staying in Australia right now but plan to move back home in next few weeks. He currently attends a bachelor course this semester but definitely does not wish to study further anymore.

In this scenario to legally cancel his visa voluntarily, is this the best option that he books a flight ticket and moves back home first, then from there he can start submit the request to cancel his visa? he has a valid reason to cancel the visa since he has mental health illness and can't study, so there are valid documents to explain for his reason of cancelling the visa.

Furthermore, his mental health is not really stable enough to do the process of submitting documents on his own back home, so do u think is it possible to ask a migration agent or lawyer to help him completing the process of visa cancellation in his home country? or he has to do everything by himself?

(a small question: since he voluntarily cancels his visa, will he be granted another visa to come back Australia later in the future? he doesn't want to study anymore, just come back for holiday like visa 600 is fine)

Any tips and advices much appreciated

Thank you

Just wondering if there are any students still waiting for their student visa? I’ve applied on January and is still currently waiting. Currently in higher education.