All non-citizens of Australia are required to have a valid visa in order to come into Australia. There are different types of visas depending on the purpose and duration of stay, and applicable criteria also vary accordingly. Your visa application must be lodged and approved before you're allowed into the country. The following article discusses some of the most important questions raised by visa applicants.
1. How long does it take to get a visa?
You can apply for a visa yourself or use a migration agent. Doing the latter doesn't offer any guarantees, but it can help speed up acceptance of your application because they can tell you exactly what you need to get the visa you want. It's always best to start with your visa application before scheduling your flight or making other bookings. If you have a fixed timeline, lodging an application months in advance will take care of any delays in your application.
Application processing times depend on the following circumstances:
- Your domicile country/citizenship – some countries' applications are processed faster
- Amount of work at the Immigration department or embassy
- Planned duration of stay – short-term visas are processed faster than long-term visas
- Type of visa being applied for
- Conduct of applicant on previous stays where applicable
- The applicant's health or criminal record
- Age of applicant
2. How can you speed your application along?
You can improve chances of fast processing by submitting properly-filled applications with all the necessary documents – called a decision-ready application. Certified and experienced migration agents are your best chance at doing this. Therefore, be ready with all information and documents they need, so that they can request for urgent processing when submitting your application. In addition, ensure that scanned documents can be read clearly, and non-English documents have been translated into English. Remember that there's no way to circumvent application requirements depending on the visa you want – be wary of an agent who claims they can evade certain requirements.
3. What are the benefits of using migration agents?
Certified migration agents are well-versed with migration laws and immigration application requirements. They can help you make decisions that you wouldn't know to make otherwise depending on circumstances of application. In addition, migration agents know the best statistical codes, phone numbers, email addresses and other avenues to speed things along.
This knowledge is especially handy in urgent situations. For instance, if you need a six-month visa tomorrow, there are certain medical records you'll need to provide and these take time. A migration agent might instead advise you to get a three-month visa which is faster to process and then get it extended once you're in the country.
Share