An Indian woman who applied for a student visa while being in Australia on a visitor visa has been denied a visa to stay in Australia.
Natasha Sharma arrived in Australia on a visitor visa in November 2015.
Ten months later she applied for a student visa to pursue a diploma course in early childhood education and care.
Migration consultant Chaman Preet tells SBS Hindi there is a possibility to apply for a student visa after arriving on a visitor visa.
"If your visitor visa says ‘no further stay (8503) condition is not applicable to this visa’, you can apply," she says.
However, if the application is made in Australia, the applicant is required to establish that there are “exceptional reasons” for the grant of the visa.
Ms Sharma stated that she wanted to ‘increase (her) knowledge and bridge the gap in (her) skills.”
She stated that she had been in Australia for the past ten months, living with her brother and had met various individuals from whom she had learnt the “benefit of studying in Australia”.
The case officer was not satisfied with these reasons and her visa was not granted.
Ms Sharma applied for a review in the Administrative Appeal Tribunal (AAT) which upheld the department's decision.
‘While the Tribunal accepted that Ms Sharma would like to open a childcare centre on her return to India , it did not accept that going back to India to apply for the visa would affect Ms Sharma financially and socially, or that because her brother, mother and friends resided in Australia, this constituted exceptional reasons for the grant of the visa.’
Ms Sharma applied for another review in the higher courts.
She told the court she would be alone in India as her brother and mother live in Australia.
‘My father passed away in 1988. My mother looked after both of us and then later on my brother supported me and my mother.
"As they both are now settled in [Australia] on a permanent and long-term basis, I will be the only person left alone, and I have no other immediate family member in my home country to support me.
"It will be very hard for me to survive as a single girl in India, where the safety of females is a huge issue, which can be seen in every day’s [newspapers]. My [forced] exit from Australia can totally destroy my future and [career] cause mental stress.’
However, the federal court was also not convinced and dismissed her appeal.
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