COVID-19, Travel Ban & What This Means For Your Visa

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Southern Stone

• Migration Education Services Australia

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COVID-19, Travel Ban What This Means For Your
Visa

• The situation relating to COVID-19 in Australia
  is unfolding daily and as we wake up each day to
  more draconian measures aimed at curbing the
  spread of the COVID-19, our hearts go out to all
  our industry partners, colleagues, clients in the
  many industries absolutely devastated by the
  pandemic and our students and their parents,
  especially those whose study plans have been
  totally disrupted.

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This is a global pandemic and one the whole world
needs to fight against with our combined efforts.
Make no doubts, we will get through this and come
back stronger and more united and our tourism,
education and hospitality sectors will experience
extraordinary rebound once we contain the
situation.
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Move To Online Consulation
At Southern Stone, we have been highly vigilant
over the past few weeks with ensuring that our
office premises is sanitised regularly and having
hand sanitisers for our clients when they come
in. However, from today, for the safety of our
clients and our staff, we will cease face to face
contact with our clients and offer consultations
via phone or Skype/WhatsApp instead. Please
contact us if you wish to schedule a
consultation.
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Visas Options

• Given the travel ban enacted across the globe,
  many visa holders Australia find themselves in a
  situation where they are unable to return to
  their home country due to health and safety
  concerns.
• We urge these clients in the following situation
  to contact us to discuss their options moving
  forward. We have staff ready to assist you with
  lodging onshore visitor visa extensions.

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Visitor Visas Expiring
Many are now in Australia visiting loved one and
do not want to leave Australia due to safety
concerns. Please contact us if you are a visitor
visa holder and want to extend your stay in
Australia, our team will be able to handle these
cases very quickly for you to maintain your
lawful stay in Australia.
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Student Visas Expiring

• If you are currently a student in Australia and
  your visa is expiring soon, you may have several
  options, i.e., extend your student visa, apply
  for a graduate visa, apply for visitor visa or if
  you have an Australian partner, you may apply for
  a partner visa. Contact us now to discuss your
  options.

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Partner Visa Applications
For visa holders in Australia who has an
Australian partner, many are eligible to apply
for permanent residency via the Partner Visa
pathway.Please contact us if this applies to you
and you want to discuss your eligibility.
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Skilled Migration
Many recent graduates are affected by the
COVID-19 and given that skilled migration in
Australia is now managed via the Expression of
Interest system, there will be uncertainty with
invitation rounds. For many, especially those
with graduate visas nearing expiry, please
contact us as soon as possible to discuss
possible options.
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Offshore Applications

• Whilst many temporary visas applications are
  affected by the travel ban, we still urge
  applicants who are overseas and wish to apply for
  permanent visas or other provisional visa that
  have a long processing time to contact us ASAP to
  discuss visa options, subclasses which are
  currently unaffected by the COVID-19 to lodge
  offshore include
• Offshore Child Visas
• Offshore Prospective Marriage and Partner Visas
• Offshore Parent Visas
• Offshore Employer Sponsored Visas
• Offshore Skilled Migration
• Offshore Business Visas opportune time for
  business visa applicants to take advantage of
  record low exchange rates and record low share
  prices, especially subclass 188c visa applicants.

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Contact Us

• Suite 12, 241-243 Blackburn Road Mount Waverley
  VIC 3149
• 1300 188 999
• info_at_southernstone.com.au
• www.southernstone.com.au