Australia tourist visa guide for Indians

That was the subject of the email I received from the department of immigration and border protection of the Australian government.

I did a heels-click jump in my mind. That was pretty quick. Eight days, to be precise when they had told me it would take around 15 working days for them to process my visa.

Here’s how I went about applying for the Australian tourist visa.

VFS handles the Australian visa process and I paid them a visit some days before I planned to submit my application. They directed me to a room a girl sat behind a glass window apparently ready to answer all my questions.

“Hello!” I started. “The info wasn’t quite clear on the website. What are the documents I need to submit for a tourist visa application?”

“There are no specified documents. You can submit whatever you want,” she replied.

“But surely, there must be some documents that are absolutely necessary?”

“There are no specified documents. You can submit whatever you want,” she repeated like clockwork.

“So, you’re saying I don’t even need to submit an application form?” I was going crazy.

“That, you will need sir.”

“And flight tickets?”

“That should be helpful too!”

I couldn’t believe it! Why wouldn’t she say this in the first place?! “Is there any other document that the visa department will find useful?”

“If you want, I could give you an application form and a document checklist,” she said.

There was an actual checklist and I have no clue why I had to prod her for so long to unearth that.

She handed me those two in a minute. The checklist was a full three printed pages! I later dug it out online. Here’s the link to it.

The checklist mentioned notarized copies of all the pages of the current passport. But the girl said VFS could certify them at the rate of INR10 a page. I decided that should be easier. The checklist also mentioned a 45mmX35mm passport sized photograph. But there was no mention of the size of the face.

The visa fees was INR7,700 and I had to submit a demand draft on behalf of “Australian High Commission” payable in New Delhi. VFS charges INR910 for their services.

 The rest was pretty easy to understand.

One thing I find irritating about VFS is that despite being this big company partnering with so many governments around the world, they make it plainly obvious every time that they are just another middleman perpetually looking for a bigger cut than already promised.

When I was applying for my Canada visa in 2013, they had tried to reject my photograph on the pretext that the background wasn’t white and wanted me to have my picture clicked at their facility at an exorbitant price. 

When I pointed out that the official website mentioned a “light” background and not necessarily a “white” background, they went on the defensive and said they’d send it if I insisted, but they wouldn’t take responsibility if it was rejected (they are not responsible for anything anyway!). I asked them to ahead with it and I had no problems getting the visa.

[Source: http://www.travelandy.com/australia-tourist-visa-guide-for-indians/]