What is a Condition 8503 on an Australian tourist visa grant? A No Further Stay condition? And do you have to worry about getting one when you apply for a tourist visa from Philippines to Australia?

condition 8503 no further stay for tourist visas from philippines to australia very rare these days

Condition 8503 and tourist visas from Manila

Definitely high time we did an updated BLOG article on the Condition 8503 (No Further Stay) and tourist visa applications from Philippines to Australia. We still have older BLOG articles in our BLOG history, and much as I’d love to go through and update some which are now outdated, we do at this point have 545 articles there going back over the last approx. 7 years since the BLOG started! I hope people realise that things do change.

First and foremost, let me make it clear here that we haven’t seen a Condition 8503 applied to a visitor visa from Manila for about 3 years. Yes, the Condition still exists in the Migration Regulations, and yes it can be applied to Subclass 600 tourist visas at the discretion of the Case Officer in the Manila Embassy, however we haven’t seen it applied to any of our tourist visas for I would think more than 1,000 visas ago. So it’s not something we think much about anymore.

What used to happen to tourist visas from Manila?

It used to be fairly automatic. You applied for a tourist visa to Australia from Philippines, and it would have the 8503 on it. What it meant was “NO FURTHER STAY”. Visit Australia with a tourist visa, and at the end of the stay you hopped on a plane and left. If you had a 3 month stay or a 6 month stay, you left at the end. If you wanted another visa to visit only, you applied for another one. Applying for partner visas inside Australia? Forget it! Not happening!

So options were limited. We just accepted that, and we used to fend off these poor souls who would email us wanting to remain together in Australia after arriving on tourist visas. Short-cut to Australia, they thought. Arrive on a tourist visa…..marry……then they HAVE to be able to stay! They were married after all! Many a heartbroken couple had their dreams shattered and said their farewells at the airport.

Then all of a sudden we had a few visa grants come through without the Condition, and before you know it we could stop warning everybody about this being a standard clause they could expect with their grant. New visa options opened up.

What does NO Condition 8503 mean?

What it means is that you may in fact apply for any onshore visa that you are eligible and qualified for whilst being inside Australia.

If you wish to apply for a further tourist visa within Australia then you may do so. You must watch the date that the 3 month stay will expire (which is 3 months and NOT 90 days), of course. Do not expect Down Under Visa to mark the calendar for you. But we may prepare and electronically lodge an onshore tourist visa application for you, and if successful you can get to stay longer without having to return. Note that this IS in fact a new visa application, and not a “visa extension”. I don’t like the words “extension” or “extend”, because they imply that it’s not a new visa application when it fact it is. They start afresh. They don’t just “re-stamp”.

How about applying for a partner visa onshore?

Yes, it can definitely be done. However need to ensure you are still complying with the criteria set in the Migration Regulations for tourist visas. Let us know if this is your intention, and we can most likely help you.

So in short? Don’t read through old BLOG articles, and don’t worry about what old-timers tell you about their visa applications years ago. Condition 8503 is definitely no longer in fashion visa-wise from Manila.

Hi Jeff, I read your article about the visitor visa condition 8503 (no further stay) being not popular anymore for applications from Manila. My mother still had this condition when she was granted a visitor visa last 2013. I am planning to get her another visitor visa (under family sponsorship) this year. However, I have read from the DIBP Australia website that the 8503 condition is mandatory for visitor visa subclass 600, family-sponsored. My question, is there still a possibility that she will not get 8503 condition on her visitor visa once its granted although it is family-sponsored? Because we are planning to apply her for Contributory Aged Parent Visa (my mom is aged 70) which can be done on-shore, but an 8503 condition on her visitor visa would restrict this. Thank you.

Jeff Harvie on 19/09/2017 at 6:50 pm

It IS mandatory for family sponsored tourist visas. How to avoid it? Standard tourist visa. Forget the family-sponsored stream. There is no advantage.
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