The Federal Australian government has amended the legislation to allow people with S48 bar to apply onshore for certain visa subclasses.
People with S48 bar will be able to apply for visa subclass 190/494/491 onshore from 13 November 2021.
Department of Home Affairs has amended the legislation to facilitate these changes.
Section 48 of the Migration Act says if your visa has been refused or cancelled while in Australia, you cannot apply for another visa while in Australia. So the applicants need to go overseas only to lodge the application.
However, many immigrants lost a chance to lodge their visa applications despite receiving invites due to Section 48 bar after Australia imposed Coronavirus restrictions on international travel. As a result, only citizens and permanent residents can return from overseas.
Melbourne-based Migration expert Chaman Preet says this is huge for thousands of applicants in Australia who waiting to lodge their applications.
“Many applicants cannot lodge their applications due to S48 bar as they cannot travel overseas. This had left them in limbo. So this change in legislation is huge for them. Now they will be able to apply for the visa,” said Chaman Preet, Chaman Preet, Director, Migration and Education Experts.
Some visa applications are exempted from the S48 bar. For example, onshore applicants can apply for Partner Visa 820/801, Protection Visa, Medical Treatment Visa, Special Category Visa, All Bridging Visas and Child (Residence) Visa.
Chaman Preet says this will be the first time in history that onshore applicants would be allowed to apply for subclass 190/494/491 visas.
