Tips and Tricks: Applying for An Australian Tourist Visa Online
It's been 3 years since I last visited Down Under so I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the Philippines is already included in the list of countries eligible to apply for a visitor visa online.
You can lodge your visa via the web if you are a Philippine passport holder and are outside of Australia at the time of filing. Your intent for the visit must also be one of (or a combination of) the following:
- A visitor (Tourist Stream) - traveling for a holiday, recreation or to visit family and friends and for other purposes;
- For business visitor activities (Business Visitor Stream) - traveling for business or employment inquiry, negotiations or participating in a conference;
- To visit family (Sponsored Family Stream) - traveling to visit family. You must have a sponsor who might be asked to provide a bond.
Before lodging your application online, I suggest that you gather all the pertinent documents for your application. And since you will be submitting soft copies of these documents, make sure that they are scanned properly. I do not recommend photographing them.
Personal documents
- A copy of the biometric page of your passport (photocopy then print in color; must be notarized as an authentic copy by your suking notary public)
- 1 passport-sized photo (45mm x 35mm in size; should be of the head and shoulders only; should show the person facing the camera against a plain background; must be less than six months old.)
- Copies of your bank deposit books showing your history of savings or salary
- Copies of bank statements or payslips over a period of time
- Credit card statements and limits
- Letter of support from Australian contact with the above evidence of financial capability
- Evidence of current employment or documents supporting business ownership
Other
supporting documents
- Evidence of intended purpose of travel
- Invitation letter from Australian Contact
- If supported by Australian contact, evidence of relationship to Australian Contact i.e. birth certificate, marriage certificate etc. and a copy of the photo page of their passport
Once you've gathered the necessary documents and saved their digital copies in a folder on your laptop/desktop, you can now proceed and create an ImmiAccount.
There are numerous benefits to creating an ImmiAccount but as someone applying for a tourist visa, these are my top 3:
- You can continue a saved online application - you don't have to answer the application form in one sitting; you can save your answers and come back later to review and revise your previous answers or continue answering the form from where you left off;
- You can attach documents to an online application - if, after submitting your application form and supporting documents, you are able to get additional documents which you believe will help in your application, you can log-in to your ImmiAccount and attach them (Note: Attachments can be added immediately after an application is lodged, or at any time up until a decision on the application is reached);
- You can check the progress of an online application - you can check the status of your application without having to wait for an email (or worse, snail mail.)
After you're done creating your ImmiAccount, you can now lodge your visa application. You will be asked to answer a set of questions nearly identical to the ones in Form 1419. I don't think it needs to be said that you must answer the questions truthfully, correctly and completely. Make sure you double-check your answers before pressing the "Submit" button because you cannot revise nor get back your form once you've done so.
After submitting your application form, you will be brought to the payment page. You must have a credit card ready to pay for the AUD130.00 processing fee (plus a AUD1.40 credit card surcharge). A tax/invoice receipt will be emailed to you once you have successfully remitted payment.
The final step is to attach digital copies of your supporting documents. In your "My Applications Summary Page," select an application by clicking on the "Reference Number." You will then be brought to the page where you can attach your documents.
Click on the "Attach Document" button, select the name of the applicant, the evidence type, the document type, then write a short description of the file you will attach. Click on "Browse" and navigate to the folder in your laptop/desktop where the supporting document is located. Click on the "Upload" button to submit the file.
Some things to note when attaching documents:
- The maximum file size for each attachment is 5MB.
- The maximum number of files that can be attached is 30-60, depending on the application type.
- The allowed attachment formats include: MS Word, MS Excel, MS PowerPoint, PDF, RTF, GIF, BMP, JPG/JPEG, PNG, and TXT.
- Once you have uploaded a document, it cannot be removed.
As someone who's lodged applications personally in the past, I can truly say that having the ability to submit a visa application online is easier, faster and cheaper. I'm so glad that this feature is now available to Pinoys who wish to visit Australia.
There are 3 intents for the visit visa to Australia. We only need to choose one or a combination of them to fit in our legal status. Whether you are only traveling for a holiday, you need to specify your other visits for family or friends. If you have other purposes going to Australia, you may include it as well. For business visitor activities, you can apply for a visa for a business trip. Included on this business trip can be your participation in any business conference. To visit a family, of course, you can go there for your family. But, they must be an Australian citizen who can sponsor your visit. This blog explained on how we can apply for a visa an Australian travel thru online. It will give us a hassle-free and easy access on our online application. Thanks for this blog and I learned a lot.
ReplyDeleteThank u for the information …but if you want know easy ways to apply for Online Australia visa .just visit australiae-visa.com
ReplyDelete