Yes, you can get an MSIC if you hold a visa that entitles you to work in Australia. The application, the identity and background checks, and the price are exactly the same as for any other applicant. The one genuine difference is timing: your card cannot outlast your visa.
To issue an MSIC, ClientView must be satisfied of one of three things: that you are an Australian citizen, that you hold a visa entitling you to work in Australia, or that you are a crew member of a regulated Australian-registered ship (regulation 6.08C(1)(c)). Most visa holders qualify under the second of these. Beyond that one difference in evidence, every other requirement is identical: the same operational need, the same identity verification, the same AusCheck background check, and the same fee as any other applicant.
A visa-holder application follows the exact same steps as any other MSIC application: apply online, verify your identity, and ClientView lodges your background check with AusCheck. Two things genuinely differ, and nothing else does.
What you show as evidence. Instead of a citizenship document, you show ClientView your visa, or other evidence that you hold a visa entitling you to work in Australia (regulation 6.08C(1)(c)(ii)).
How long your card lasts. Your MSIC cannot be valid beyond your visa's expiry date, even if that is sooner than the standard 2-year or 4-year term (regulation 6.08I(2)(b)).
Alongside the standard identity documents and operational need evidence every applicant provides, ClientView needs to see your visa, or another document showing you hold a visa that entitles you to work in Australia. Your visa does not need to be a specific subclass: the regulations simply require evidence of a valid work-rights visa (regulation 6.08C(1)(c)(ii) and 6.07A(1A)). If you are not sure whether your particular visa carries work rights, the Department of Home Affairs' VEVO service lets you check your own visa conditions before you apply.
If your MSIC expired only because your old visa expired, you do not necessarily have to start a fresh application. Under regulation 6.08LA, if you are granted a new work-rights visa within 12 months of your old visa expiring, and you still have an operational need, ClientView can issue a new MSIC once you provide a statutory declaration confirming nothing else has changed since your original application.
Can I get an MSIC if I'm on a visa? Yes, provided your visa entitles you to work in Australia and you meet the standard operational need, identity and background check requirements (regulation 6.08C(1)(c)(ii)).
How long will my MSIC last if it's linked to my visa? No later than your visa's expiry date, even if that is sooner than the standard 2-year or 4-year term (regulation 6.08I(2)(b)).
My MSIC expired when my old visa did, and I've since been granted a new visa. Do I have to start again? Not necessarily. If your new work-rights visa was granted within 12 months of the old one expiring and you still have an operational need, you may be able to get a new MSIC with a statutory declaration rather than a full fresh application (regulation 6.08LA).
Apply today. It is the same application, the same price, and the same background check as any other MSIC.
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