Last August I returned from 3 months in TAS. As my friends convinced me to apply for an extension of 6 months, the law suddenly changed where one would have to pay $200, fill out an enormous amount of paperwork, and have a face-to-face interview with an immigration official. It would be up to the subjective decision of the Immigration Officer to allow an extension, or not. Where the $200 went, I don't know, but you don't get it back.

Hurridly, I paid premium to get a seat out of SYD before my original Visa expired. It was widely publicized that anyone over-staying their Visa date would visit the Immigration Holding Cells, while officials decided how much to levy in fines, how long you would have to stay in their Holding Cells, and as a coups de grace, place your name on the "Unwanted List" just before they threw you on a plane out of there!

As I was told later, if I wanted to file any papers relative to staying in AUS, I should have done it while I was in my hometown. My advice would be to call....not write, not email, but CALLl......the nearest AUS Embassy, and speak with the in-house Immigration Officer. S(He) will give you valuable information, and direct you to the proper paperwork for your travels to AUS. Be warned, if you do not have a career which would fit under the scope of "emergency employment" in AUS, then forget that part. If you don't have $250,000. to invest in real estate, or $500,000. to invest in a business, forget it. Another good immigration plan is to have family in AUS...no problem. With your friend in school, and without a "career" job, unfortunately your chances of immigrating to AUS to live happily thereafter might be a dream, rather than a reality. One thing you can do is travel to SYD on a 3-month Visa, and towards the end of 3 months, fly to NZ or Fiji for an overnight stay, and then have your Visa re-stamped for another 3 months.

As was stated earlier, don't falsify any answers as they have purposely increased their Immigration protocol to off-set any possible terrorism issues. That alone should keep everyone pristinely truthful!