# Voluntary cancellation of 457 visa whilst applying for partner visa



## defacto (Sep 2, 2014)

Hi all, 

Firstly, apologies if this question has already been raised/addressed elsewhere on this site.

I am British and have been living in Australia for the past 4 years (firstly on a working holiday visa, then as a student, and for the last 2 sponsored on a 457).

Until a few months ago, I planned to raise the possibility of employer sponsored PR with my company, which I could technically apply for in October. However, unfortunately my working situation has steadily become more and more unbearable over the last year (as in anxiety and panic attacks requiring antidepressants and counselling) and I really cannot face the prospect of staying with the company for longer than absolutely necessary... or of signing a declaration that I would stay with them for another 2 years!

Thankfully, my partner and I submitted a decision ready application for a de facto partner visa a few weeks ago, so hopefully I'll be out of this place sooner rather than later. Our agent has advised us that it could take as little as 3 months for an approval, but obviously this is something of a 'how long is a piece of string' matter. I have been granted a Bridging Visa Class A (Subclass 010), but of course this is not in effect as my 457 visa is still valid.

My question is this: does anyone know if it is possible to voluntarily cancel one's 457 visa, move onto a bridging visa and exercise the full working rights it allows without complicating the partner visa application? I have asked our agent for some feedback, but it would be really interesting to know if anyone has personal experience of this situation.

Thanks so much for your time, 

L


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## texbabe01 (Sep 8, 2014)

*same situation*

Hi L

I'm in pretty much the same situation as you (457 visa applying for a partner visa, I'm also from the UK). We are going to lodge the application in the next few weeks. However my boss has indicated to me that I will probably be made redundant in the next month. I've done a bit of research on bridging visa etcs and work rights, but it seems a little unclear. If you hear anything, or if anybody knows what happens in that case, I would love to get that info.

Thanks
K


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## defacto (Sep 2, 2014)

Hi K,

Having done a bit more digging and spoken to immigration directly, I think I now have a better understanding of how the class A bridging visa works, and it's definitely not as straightforward as I thought.

Once you apply for your partner visa, you are granted a bridging visa, but it only kicks in if your 457 visa runs out- which in my case is 2 years away. Unfortunately, it doesn't come into effect if your 457 is cancelled (voluntarily or otherwise)- in that case, the bridging visa is cancelled as well. So, it kind of depends how long you've been on your 457 for, but in my case the bridging visa isn't the wonderful panacea I'd hoped!

As you probably know, if you (have to) leave your sponsorship (so sorry to hear that redundancy is on the cards, that's really rubbish), you have 90 days upon leaving your job to either get your sponsorship transferred, or get another visa... after that your 457 can be cancelled and you become unauthorised... which I've heard in turn can complicate PR and citizenship applications.

Long story short, as I can't use the bridging visa, my partner and I are weighing up a) whether it's worth my leaving my job in a month or so and taking the risk that our visa will granted within the aforementioned 90 day period- we handed in our application a month ago so it's still early days and b) whether we can actually afford for me to be out of work for that long!

I agree with you that it is all very unclear, and I'm not totally au fait with all the different types and classes of bridging visa, but I think I've just about got my head around my particular situation.

Hope that helps?

L


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## TheExpatriate (Feb 7, 2014)

Edited


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## texbabe01 (Sep 8, 2014)

HI L

Thanks for your reply. My 457 is also valid for a few more years, so unless I can get another job it will be cancelled I guess. I'm hoping that I will either get a bridging visa that allows me to work (I doubt it though) or worse case scenario, a bridging visa that at least allows me to stay with my partner, and hope that the partner visa is processed quickly. 

Thanks for your help. If I hear anything more from my agent, when I see them, I will post it here. Hope you get your visa quickly too. 

Cheers
K


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## defacto (Sep 2, 2014)

Good luck to you too- if I hear anything that would be useful I'll be sure to let you know.

:fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed::fingerscrossed:


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## hidayahramli (Oct 21, 2014)

Hi guys, just wondering if you guys have heard from your agent? I am on 457 as well expiring in 2016. But will be made redundant end of this month. Partner visa is on the card, but we really want to go travel in Feb next year.


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