457 Cancellation

mrkobain

I was unfortunately made redundant right before Christmas and was on a 457 visa through the company. I understood that I had 28 days to find a new sponsor and as this was going to be next to near impossible coming up to Christmas I contacted my migration agent who said she can delay them cancelling the visa for another month or two somehow. As I had already tickets booked home for Christmas she advised me that I could go and that the visa wouldnt be cancelled......poor advice, about a week before I was set to return I recieved an email telling me that it was in fact cancelled. Now I am stuck in Ireland again, searching for a new sponsor, and everything I own is over in Australia still. I was wondering does anyone know, if I dont get a sponsorship, is there any other visa that I can go over there on to at least get my stuff home. The cancellation email says no penalties were incurred as a result of cancellation. I feel extremely hard done by as sponsorship only came into effect last April and was supposed to last until 2015, and also the fact that I paid the $3650 for it myself. Does immigration offer any sort of leniency in circumstances like this?? I have tried to contact the embassy in Dublin but the automated message says they dont deal with visa issues there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

aido79

mrkobain wrote: »

I was unfortunately made redundant right before Christmas and was on a 457 visa through the company. I understood that I had 28 days to find a new sponsor and as this was going to be next to near impossible coming up to Christmas I contacted my migration agent who said she can delay them cancelling the visa for another month or two somehow. As I had already tickets booked home for Christmas she advised me that I could go and that the visa wouldnt be cancelled......poor advice, about a week before I was set to return I recieved an email telling me that it was in fact cancelled. Now I am stuck in Ireland again, searching for a new sponsor, and everything I own is over in Australia still. I was wondering does anyone know, if I dont get a sponsorship, is there any other visa that I can go over there on to at least get my stuff home. The cancellation email says no penalties were incurred as a result of cancellation. I feel extremely hard done by as sponsorship only came into effect last April and was supposed to last until 2015, and also the fact that I paid the $3650 for it myself. Does immigration offer any sort of leniency in circumstances like this?? I have tried to contact the embassy in Dublin but the automated message says they dont deal with visa issues there. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

This is why sponsorship is possibly one of the worst visas to be on in Australia. It was very bad advice from your agent though. You are pretty much back to square one visa wise. you can get a holiday visa to get your stuff back to Ireland.

hussey

Did you ring the immigration department in Sydney or an agent?
I don't see how an agent could delay the cancellation (unless the company doesn't contact the department for some reason)

You should be able to come back on a holiday visa, and you may be entitled to a flight home from your 457 company. I know one of the conditions is that they pay for flight back (but this may be within X days) or you might be able to charge them in lieu
http://www.workplacesolutions.asn.au/workplace_relations/alerts/2009/457_changes

Repatriation Costs
Under the current obligations of the 457 visa the Employer must ensure that the cost of return travel for an employee (and accompanying family member/s) is met to return them to their home country. As of 14 September 2009 the Employer is now liable for the payment of the costs associated with repatriation (being international economy class flights and internal flights as required).

Immigration in Australia should be able to help here.
I have a feeling your migration agent is just giving you the brush off

mrkobain

I was just dealing directly with the agent, do you think I should contact the embassy regardless if I want to arrive over on a holiday visa? would be a nightmare to arrive all the way over to be refused entry at customs.....never overstayed and did everything by the book taxwise so Id hope there'll be no problem

Zambia

Just apply for a holiday visa and put reason for travel is to collect your stuff. If you are concerned email DIAC

hussey

mrkobain wrote: »

I was just dealing directly with the agent, do you think I should contact the embassy regardless if I want to arrive over on a holiday visa? would be a nightmare to arrive all the way over to be refused entry at customs.....never overstayed and did everything by the book taxwise so Id hope there'll be no problem

Contact the embassy in regards to what rights and entitlement you have - the flight is a big one. As far as I can remember the company must contact the embassy within 5 days to kick off visa cancelations then you get 28 days.
I don't think much can be done, but at least you should get some $ for the flight

Tigerandahalf

Why would the company cancel the visa so quickly? Are they getting some sort of rebate from the gov? I can't see how it would otherwise be top of their agenda, unless of course there are penalties for not declaring that you had been made redundant?

mrkobain

well its not the company that cancels the visa, its immigration but as far as I know the company have to inform immigration within a certain time, I asked the company to keep me on the books till I at least came back from Ireland but they refused. Technically they were supposed to pay for the sponsorship aswell but thats a different issue....will have to contact embassy, does anyone have a number for the one I need to call....thanks again for responses

mrkobain

can I apply for a WHV for New Zealand?

gustafo

mrkobain wrote: »

can I apply for a WHV for New Zealand?

if you are under 31 you and you did not have one before you can.

The Sweeper

I'd be referring all of this back to your agent. They were the ones who informed immigration, so the miscommunication must be between them and immigration. Find out precisely what happened, why you got wrong information and why your agent didn't work to inform you earlier that your visa would be cancelled.

CiaranC

gustafo wrote: »

if you are under 31 you and you did not have one before you can.

You can get an IEP work exchange visa even if youve had a WHV before. Up until you are 35.

http://www.bunac.org/uk/worknewzealand/eligibility.aspx

LizOHagan

Hello,

Best advice I can give is revert back to the agent - they are acting for you and have a duty of care under the Migration Agents Code of Conduct to respond to your requests and guide you according to Migration Regulations. Put your requests in writing and request a response in writing as per the code of conduct. If the agent is not able to help you or doesn't know the steps to take they have a duty of care to pass you to an experienced agent.

Good Luck, Liz

karl bracken

Interested in this as im on a 457, i heard (yes heard is a sin!) that if visa gets cancelled by redundancy you are entitled to apply for PR, i could be miles off on this...

What if your company dosent hold up its end of the deal e.g. give you a raise to the min salary level or whatever.
I think theres a 25000 fine for them or what would happen?

aido79

karl bracken wrote: »

Interested in this as im on a 457, i heard (yes heard is a sin!) that if visa gets cancelled by redundancy you are entitled to apply for PR, i could be miles off on this...

What if your company dosent hold up its end of the deal e.g. give you a raise to the min salary level or whatever.
I think theres a 25000 fine for them or what would happen?

Which pub did you hear this in?

hussey

karl bracken wrote: »

Interested in this as im on a 457, i heard (yes heard is a sin!) that if visa gets cancelled by redundancy you are entitled to apply for PR, i could be miles off on this...

What if your company dosent hold up its end of the deal e.g. give you a raise to the min salary level or whatever.
I think theres a 25000 fine for them or what would happen?

Part 1 is false
Part 2 you can complain to fair work/trade Australia and yes they can be fined

mandrake04

aido79 wrote: »

Which pub did you hear this in?

Probably the Cock 'n' Bullshit that's where all the good ones start.

mrkobain

what my migration agent told me exactly was that I have 28 days to find a new sponsor. Close to the end of the 28 days I would recieve a notice of intention to cancel and that i was to ring her straight away when I got this and that it can then be "stalled" for a certain lenght of time - Im assuming they give a good enough reason to Immigration not to cancel it. When I asked will this affect me leaving the country and coming back in she said "no, the company doesnt have the power to cancel your visa". That was pretty much the advice I got so I did come home for Christmas but immigration saw that I had left and never bother to issue the notice of intention to cancel but just cancelled it outright. I would have stayed in the country to try and sort it if I knew they would do that. Needless to say Im changing migration agent....

LizOHagan

I genuinely believe this is an example of where the use of a public forum is not the place to discuss such critical information.

I strongly urge you

- URGENTLY contact a reputable migration agent who specialises in 457 applications and have them review your case in full and make a recommendation. View mara.gov.au and the associated code of conduct
- make sure you have a complete copy of ALL correspondence on your application and subsequent communication with the agent as this will be needed for further visa applications and will also be needed by any agent who advises you in the future
- should you then believe the agent has not acted competently then make a complaint to mara.gov.au to prevent this happening to others and look at how you might be reimbursed for monies spent

I hope you get sorted asap and can move forward positively, Liz

mrkobain

Thanks Liz, unfortunately alot of the said correspondance was by phone so I dunno what to do. I am tempted to call immigration before I head back on holiday visa to collect my stuff to at least find out if my old company will have to pay for my ticket home again, as advised earlier on forum, even though ive left the country already.