Condition 8503 — the no further stay condition — means you cannot be granted the subclass 820 partner visa while you remain in Australia. The Department of Home Affairs states plainly that a waiver of the condition must be approved before you can apply for the visa. Lodging the 820 first does not work.
What condition 8503 does
Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994 sets condition 8503 out in a single sentence: "The holder will not, after entering Australia, be entitled to be granted a substantive visa, other than a protection visa, while the holder remains in Australia."
The condition is made under section 41(2)(a) of the Migration Act 1958, which allows regulations to impose a condition of exactly that kind, "despite anything else in this Act". Three consequences matter:
- it does not shorten your stay — you keep the visa you have until it ends;
- it does not stop you leaving Australia and applying for an offshore partner visa; and
- it is not limited to partner visas. It blocks the grant of almost every substantive visa while you stay in the country.
Condition 8503 is commonly imposed on visitor visas. Under the Migration Regulations it must be imposed on some subclass 600 streams and may be imposed on others, which is why two people on the same subclass can have different conditions.
Conditions 8534 and 8535
Two related conditions do a similar job for other visa holders, mostly in the student area:
- Condition 8534 provides that the holder will not be entitled to be granted a substantive visa, other than a protection visa, a Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate) visa or a Subclass 590 (Student Guardian) visa, while the holder remains in Australia.
- Condition 8535 provides that the holder will not be entitled to be granted a substantive visa, other than a protection visa or a Student (Temporary) (Class TU) visa granted on the basis of support from the Commonwealth government or a foreign government, while the holder remains in Australia.
Neither exception list includes a partner visa. So a person holding a visa subject to 8534 or 8535 is in the same position as a person subject to 8503: the 820 cannot be granted onshore unless the condition is waived first.
How to check whether your visa carries it
Check the grant letter, then check VEVO. The Department tells visa holders to use its check visa details and conditions (VEVO) service, because Australian visas are digital and there is no label in the passport.
Conditions appear by number. Look for 8503, 8534 and 8535 specifically, and do it before you pay anything — this single line decides whether an onshore application is possible at all.
Important
the condition attaches to the visa, not to the person. A new visa may carry it when an earlier one did not, and a waiver of the condition on one visa does not carry across to a later visa that is granted subject to the same condition again.
The legal test for a waiver
Section 41(2A) of the Migration Act allows the Minister to waive a condition of this kind "in prescribed circumstances, by writing". The prescribed circumstances are in regulation 2.05(4) of the Migration Regulations 1994, which provides that the circumstances in which the Minister may waive the condition are that:
- "since the person was granted the visa that was subject to the condition, compelling and compassionate circumstances have developed:
- over which the person had no control; and
- that resulted in a major change to the person's circumstances"; and
- if the Minister has previously refused to waive the condition, the Minister is satisfied that those circumstances are substantially different from those considered previously; and
- if the person asks the Minister to waive the condition, the request is in writing.
Every limb has to be met. The circumstances must have developed after the grant of the visa, the person must have had no control over them, and the change must be major. Circumstances that existed when the visa was granted, or that the person brought about by choice, do not fit the wording. Even where the test is met, the regulation says the Minister "may" waive the condition.
Regulation 2.05 has other, narrower grounds for waiving condition 8503 where the holder genuinely intends to apply for certain skilled and employer sponsored visas. Those do not help here: regulation 2.07AG provides that where the condition has been waived on that basis, an application is valid only if it is for one of the skilled visas listed there. A partner visa is not on the list.
How a waiver is requested
The Department says a waiver is requested through its No Further Stay waiver request form online, or on Form 1447. Both are on the Home Affairs site:
The request should set out what changed after the visa was granted, why the change was outside the person's control, and why it amounts to a major change — with documents rather than assertions. Medical reports, evidence of events that occurred after grant and evidence of the resulting change in the household are the substance of a request; a narrative alone rarely is.
What happens while the request is being decided
A waiver request is not a visa application. It does not extend your visa, it does not create a bridging visa, and it does not stop your current visa from ending on the date shown in VEVO. If the visa expires before a decision on the request, you become unlawful, and the partner visa application then also engages the Schedule 3 criteria — a much harder position than the one you started in.
That is the practical trap. The timing runs in one direction only:
- check the conditions on your visa in VEVO;
- request the waiver, in writing, with evidence, and early enough that a decision can realistically be made before the visa ends;
- wait for the waiver to be approved; and
- only then lodge the 820 application.
Lodging the partner visa application before the waiver is approved does not make it valid, and does not give you a bridging visa. If your visa is close to expiry and no decision has come, that is a matter to raise with a professional immediately rather than to wait out.
Why this is a point to get advice on
A no further stay problem is one of the situations where an application prepared by an Australian migration lawyer is more likely to succeed, for reasons specific to this condition. Everything turns on sequence and wording: the waiver has to be approved before the application exists, the request has to address each limb of regulation 2.05(4) separately rather than tell a general story, a second request must show circumstances substantially different from those already refused, and a visa that expires mid-process turns a solvable timing problem into a Schedule 3 case. No one can promise a waiver. But a request filed late, or one that never engages with the words "developed", "no control" and "major change", is among the most avoidable refusals there is.
What to do next
Open VEVO and write down every condition number on your visa and the date it ends. If 8503, 8534 or 8535 is there, deal with the waiver before anything else. If not, read applying from a visitor visa or applying from a student visa for the rest of the sequence, check being in Australia when you apply, and see Bridging visa A for your status once a valid application is made. The full list is at 820 visa requirements.
Common questions
What does condition 8503 actually say?
Condition 8503 in Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994 states that the holder will not, after entering Australia, be entitled to be granted a substantive visa, other than a protection visa, while the holder remains in Australia. It does not stop you leaving Australia and applying from overseas, and it does not shorten your stay.
Can I lodge the 820 first and ask for the waiver later?
No. The Department of Home Affairs states that a waiver must be approved before you can apply for the partner visa. An application lodged while condition 8503 is still in force is not made valid by a waiver granted afterwards, so the safe sequence is always waiver first, application second.
What is the legal test for a no further stay waiver?
Regulation 2.05(4) of the Migration Regulations 1994 requires that, since the person was granted the visa subject to the condition, compelling and compassionate circumstances have developed over which the person had no control and that resulted in a major change to the person's circumstances. If the Minister has previously refused to waive the condition, the new circumstances must be substantially different from those considered before, and a request by the person must be in writing.
Does falling in love or getting married count as a compelling and compassionate circumstance?
There is no rule that it does or does not. The decision maker must be satisfied that circumstances developed after the visa was granted, that the person had no control over them, and that they produced a major change in the person's circumstances. A relationship that already existed when the visa was granted is harder to fit within that wording, which is why the request needs to be evidenced rather than asserted.
How do I know whether my visa has condition 8503?
Check your visa grant letter and check the conditions recorded against your visa in VEVO, the Department's online visa entitlement verification service. Conditions are recorded by number, so look for 8503, and also for 8534 and 8535, which have a similar effect for some student and related visas.
Sources
Keep reading
Genuine and Continuing Relationship: How Home Affairs Assesses It
How Home Affairs decides if a partner visa relationship is genuine and continuing — the four matters in the Migration Regulations and what case officers look for.
Read the guide →
Spouse (Married Partner) Requirements for the 820
What married couples must show for the subclass 820 — the section 5F definition of spouse, a valid marriage, no 12-month rule, and why a certificate is never enough.
Read the guide →
De Facto Partner Visa 820: The 12-Month Rule
How the 12-month de facto rule works for the subclass 820, what counts towards the 12 months, and how time living apart is treated.
Read the guide →