Australian visas – prepare for bottleneck

THE Australian High Commission in
South Africa is warning agents of
a bottleneck of visa applications
over the next few months, leading up
to the festive season.
“We receive 50% more visa
applications in October and November.
It is a very challenging time for us,
with a much bigger volume of visa
applications than normal. We have
outlined a number of requests that
will help to make visa processing
as easy as possible in the next few
months,” the High Commission said in
a statement.
Agents are advised to avoid these
common reasons for delays:
 Lodge the visitor visa application
well in advance of your date of
travel. The visa office is currently
at approximately one month for
processing visa applications. During
the peak period, it is likely that this
time may be extended further.
 Please ensure that visitor visa
applications are lodged complete,
with all required supporting
documentation. You can find
checklists for visitor visa applications
here: https://au.tlscontact.com/za/
JNB/page.php?pid=visa_info
 If you are lodging the visitor visa
application online, you must upload
the supporting documents at the
time of visa application. “This
particular issue is causing us a
significant amount of extra work
in having to request additional
information, instead of being able
to finalise the visa on the spot,” the
Commission said.
 If the client is under the age of 18
years, ensure the required additional
documents are submitted. All
children under the age of 18 require
an unabridged birth certificate. If
they are travelling with one parent
or without parents, a signed
and completed 1229 form and
certificated copies of identification
documents for both parents are
required. The form is available here:
https://www.border.gov.au/Forms/
Documents/1229.pdf
 If a medical examination is required
in order to be granted a visitor
visa, please arrange to do this
before you lodge the visa application.
For detailed information, visit
Travelinfo.