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Schedule 3 Waiver and Partner Visa Granted After Applicant Could Not Return Due to Pregnancy Stigma

Visa TypeSubclass 820
CategoryPartner Visa

Case Summary

An applicant on a no-further-stay tourist visa who had become unlawful and had two children with her Australian partner needed both an 8503 condition waiver and a Schedule 3 waiver. The compelling circumstances were grounded in her inability to return to her home country while pregnant and unmarried, given the severe social stigma and risk of harm she would have faced.

Background

Our client had arrived in Australia on a Subclass 676 Tourist visa with a no-further-stay condition (8503). She met her partner in Australia and the couple had two children together. She was unable to return to her home country while pregnant and unmarried, as this carried severe social stigma in her community — serious enough that women faced the risk of honour-based violence. Her unlawfulness arose from this inability to return. We first secured the 8503 waiver and then lodged the 820 partner visa application. The 820 was complicated because the lodgement date was more than 28 days after her last substantive visa expiry, requiring a Schedule 3 waiver.

Challenges

  • 8503 no-further-stay condition needed to be waived before any other visa application could be lodged
  • Schedule 3 criteria not met due to the lodgement date exceeding 28 days post-substantive visa expiry
  • Compelling circumstances needed to address both the 8503 waiver and the Schedule 3 argument
  • Cultural and personal safety risks in the home country needed to be carefully presented

How We Helped

We secured the 8503 waiver by demonstrating the compelling circumstances arising from the applicant's pregnancy and the severe social perception in her home country of unmarried pregnancy. We then lodged the 820 partner visa with a Schedule 3 submission arguing that the circumstances leading to her unlawfulness — being pregnant outside marriage and unable to safely return — were entirely beyond her control. We also submitted evidence of the emotional, psychological, physical and financial hardship that would result from forced separation of the family.

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Key Success Factors

  • Compelling 8503 waiver grounded in the pregnancy and cultural safety risks in the home country
  • Schedule 3 argument establishing that unlawfulness arose from circumstances entirely beyond the applicant's control
  • Evidence of the family's emotional and financial interdependence and the hardship of forced separation
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Outcome

The 8503 condition waiver was granted and the Subclass 820 Partner Visa was subsequently approved.

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