Activated Oz WHV by mistake!!

Beachband

I applied and got an Australian Working Holiday Visa in January 2008.
Was hoping at the time to go for the year , but through the job I was with it wasn't possible.
Me and my girlfriend went to Australia in the summer of the same year to visit friends for the month, I got an eta visa( which the flight operator said would be the visa for the holiday and I could apply for another WHV when I wanted to use it) for this as I didn't want to use my WHV.
I went to apply for the Oz WHV again a couple of weeks ago, and immigration got back to me saying I had already activated my WHV!!
I told them I went to Oz for a holiday for 1 month and didn't want to use my WHV at that time and got an eta for this, I coudnt believe when they said that by going to Australia the eta activated the WHV and so I couldnt get another one because it is seen as been used.

Do anyone know is there any way I can get onto them again to explain the situation and has anyone had this happen?

hussey

best thing is to talk to them
They make it clear on their website that you need to cancel the visa if you want to go on a ETA, a flight operator isn't exactly an expert in Australian immirgration.

Mr Benevolent

This makes no sense. If you got it in Jan '08 you would have to activate it by Jan '09 anyway or it would expire.

This what you'd get if you got the visa in Jan '08

VISA INFORMATION
This visa allows you to make your initial entry into Australia no later than 12 months from the date that the visa was granted. Your initial entry into Australia must not be after xx January 2009.

Once in Australia, this visa permits you to stay in Australia for 12 months from the date that you first enter Australia. It provides you with multiple travel to Australia, which means that you can leave Australia and re-enter Australia as many times as you wish during your 12 month stay. However, if you depart Australia during your 12 month stay, you are not able to recover the period of time you have spent outside Australia.

So your WHV would have expired anyway by now.

Beachband

Yes it was expired, but that is all I thought had happened to the visa. The WHV will expire after a year, but if you didn't use it, you can apply for a new one if you still meet the same requirements.
So I didn't know it was seen as used, this is my point, I went to Oz wanting to use just a tourist visa, but the WHV was activated anyway.

Jagera

You are really only going to get a definitive answer directly from Immigration.

kittex

Confab wrote: »

This makes no sense. If you got it in Jan '08 you would have to activate it by Jan '09 anyway or it would expire.

This what you'd get if you got the visa in Jan '08

So your WHV would have expired anyway by now.

But he activated it by entering the country in 2008.
WHV trumps tourist visa on system, should have cancelled it in 2008, before getting tourist visa.

You prob need to appeal the decision and wee how that goes.
Good luck!

Annie10

There is an eta visa and then a tourist visa,eta does not override the WHV only the tourist visa,you should of applied for this before travelling instead of the eta visa. You need to talk to immigration but they rarely cancel an activated WHV