Originally Posted by Sydny
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!
Generally, you will be kept for a bare minimum time. Long enough for checks to be done on your background and outstand criminal records so that it can be decided if are wanted in AU on any charges, if you are suspect, or if you are wanted in any country where we have an extradition treaty. You are billed somewhere in the region of $110 p/n AU for accomodation expenses, and also are handed a bill for your repatriation. Also, if needed, you will be expected to pay for escorts when the officers deem it warrented. To be honest, the bill isn't forced payment. If you dont pay, the government doesn't hound you generally. You just wont be able to get back into AU, and I'd expect to have a couple black marks against your name in many countries.
You can go in and meet with immigration officers, and get advice. They are generally friendly as long as you are, and aren't asking really suspect questions.
And leaving australia and re-enterting repeatedly has been to known to cause waves.
The biggest problem I've found with immigration is that while I can generally find the answers I want in AU easily enough (for a governmental agency at least), its very hit and miss trying AU embassies. Its a bit like trying for award tickets...if you're not getting the help you want, try again later. Eventually there is someone that knows the answer, or who to put you thru to.