When you think of a “visa extension”, you think of the existing visa being given a bit more time. A bit like a top-up. You can get extensions of 59 days or up to 6 months on tourist visas in the Philippines. A mere formality, really. And Down Under Visa frequently find returning clients thinking it will be a formality.

Australian tourist visas are nothing like that, sorry to say. No top-ups or refills of existing visas. If you wish the applicant to stay longer, it’s a new application.

Can I get a second tourist visa? Or a third?

In most cases we can get a second tourist visa for you. If the applicant did the right thing, ie. didn’t overstay, and visited Australia for a genuine reason, then normally it’s fine.

Third or fourth? In the same 12 months? We strongly suggest that you don’t. Be honest! If you want a third stay, it means you’re using tourist visas to live together. That’s not a genuine reason for a tourist visa. It means you’re avoiding getting a partner visa which you really should be getting if you can’t stand being apart. Please read THIS.

And this isn’t our opinion. This is what the Case Officer will thing when they see the application, and they will explain all this in the refusal letter.

So be realistic. If you want to be together permanently, please talk to us about a partner visa.

Restrictions on applying for a second tourist visa inside Australia?

If your current visa has a Condition 8503 on it, that means no further applications allowed while the applicant is inside Australia. She must leave and we can then apply for another one.

If there is none, we can make a fresh application.

Will the second tourist visa application be easier?

It will be easier, but it won’t be “easy”. They will not make a few mouse-clicks and bring up all your previous documentation and evidence. Government Departments don’t work like that and never have in my memory, and the Department of Immigration (DIBP) certainly do not.

It will be easier because we have your information already. It will also be easier because you will have more of an idea what is expected of you. You will know what “certified copies” are, as well as the other documents and types of evidence we will need. And we may have some documents we can re-use, but generally it will all need to be brought up to date. Documents and evidence going back 4 – 6 months are not a great deal of use by themselves.

Please contact us early if you want another tourist visa. We get a great result generally. In fact I can’t remember the last time we had a second visa application refused, so we must be doing something right. And understand that it won’t be an “extension”. It’s always a new application.