AUSTRALIAN VISA: requirements & online APPLICATION

This step-by-step Australian visa guide covers both traveler and company streams, the visa requirements, and the entire online application process. Last updated: April 6, 2019.

One sure way to make us smile is to mention Australia. Whenever a friend asks us a easy question about our time there, we can’t seem to stop talking passionately. Australia is incredible. It may be the world’s smallest continent, but it is teeming with adventures.

So far, we have went to seven cities and six national parks (Litchfield, Kakadu, Wattarka, Kata Tjuta-Uluru, Port Campbell, and the great barrier Reef). Fortunately, it is easy to get an Australian traveler visa. While you can still apply through VFS Global, a much more problem-free way is to do everything online. I’ve done this three times for myself and several times for my friends and family.

WHAT’S covered IN THIS GUIDE?

AUSTRALIAN traveler VISA OR company VISA?
AUSTRALIAN VISA REQUIREMENTS
HOW TO apply FOR AN AUSTRALIAN VISA ONLINE1. sign up for an ImmiAccount.
2. accomplish the Application Form.
3. submit supporting Documents.
4. Pay the Application Fee.

AUSTRALIAN VISA frequently ASKED QUESTIONSHow long is the processing time for Australian Visa (Tourist or Business)?
How long is the validity of the Australian visa?
How early ought to I apply for an Australian visa?
How much money ought to I have in the bank to get approved?
What is the grant Number in the application form?
In the application form, what ought to I answer to the “Any significant Date” field?
Is Australian visa group APPLICATION possible?
I’m traveling with family. Do all of us need to sign up for an Immi account?
What to answer to ‘Other Passports or files for Travel’ and ‘Other identity Documents’?
I don’t see any section for travel history in my submit files page. What ought to I do?
I’m being asked to submit form 956A. Τι είναι αυτό?
I can’t type correctly on form 54 (Family Composition). Τι να κάνω?
I can’t sign form 54 (Family Composition). how do I add my signature?
What ought to I submit in the section called ‘Exceptional reasons for extended stay in Australia as a visitor (Beyond 12 months)?’
Can I apply for a multiple entry Australian visa?
Can I be given a multiple entry visa even if I only applied for single entry?
Can I be given a multiple entry visa even if I’m applying for the first time?
What are the reasons why my application would be denied?
What to answer to the part of the form about NON-ACCOMPANYING members OF THE family UNIT?
Do the files have to be notarized?
Does Australian immigration still stamp passports? Can I request for an entry stamp?
Where do I attach or submit the cover letter?
To whom ought to I address the bank certificate, cover letter, and employment certificate?
What does an Australian Visa look like?
Are medical or health exams required when applying for an Australian visa?
If I submit this, this and this, what are the chances of approval?

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AUSTRALIAN traveler VISA OR company VISA?

This guide is for those applying for an Australian visitor Visa (subclass 600) online. Under this visa, there are two main streams: traveler and Business.

Tourist Stream. According to VFS, a traveler is a person going to Australia temporarily “for a holiday, for a visit to relatives or friends, or for other short-term non-work purposes, including study for less than three months.” This stream applies to people who will be shouldering their own expenses and have no sponsors.

Business Stream. This type is for those who are flying to Australia for a business-related activity like attending a conference or meeting a client. This is different from a work Visa, which we know nothing about.

If you’re eyeing another type (long-term study, work, residency visas), I’m scared we can’t help you because we haven’t experienced it.

To clarify: If you’re going to a relative or friend but you will take on your travel expenses, you will still fall under the traveler Stream. but if you’re sponsored by someone in Australia, there is a separate category for that: Sponsored family Stream. We haven’t tried this stream yet, so we’re not covering that in this post.

AUSTRALIAN VISA REQUIREMENTS

Accomplished online application form. No need to print anything. You will be filling this out after creating an account. The form has 20 pages, so completing it can take a while, but it’s easy.

Passport-size photo. Soft copy.

Copy of passport info page. Scanned. should be clear.

Evidence of financial status and funding for visit. any or all of the following:
– personal bank statement
– ITR or tax document
– Payslips
– Τίτλος ιδιοκτησίας
– retirement pension book

Evidence of Applicant’s Previous Travel. You may be asked to offer scanned copies of the pages of your OLD and current passports that have entry and exit stamps and visas. Not all applicants are required to submit this.

Evidence of current employment or self-employment. For employees, it can be any or all of the following:
– Certificate of employment, discussing your role in the company
– evidence of leave
For self-employed individuals or business-owners, any or all of the following will be accepted:
– company registration documents
– finance sheets (profits and losses)
Για τους μαθητές
– Certificate of enrolment

Family Register and composition Form.
– form 54 (Family Composition)
– PSA Birth Certificate
– πιστοποιητικό γάμου. If your current last name is different from your last name in your birth certificate.

Evidence of planned tourism activities in Australia. (For traveler Stream ONLY)
– day-to-day schedule (daily schedule showing the places you will visit and things you will do). sample schedule here.

Evidence of Business-Related reason for Travel. (For company Stream ONLY.) It can be any or all of the following:
– conference registration
– details of previous contacts with Australian company or organization
– Letter from employer discussing the reason for traveling

Group trip Details. If you’re going to Australia as part of a group tour, submit any or all of the following:
– group Itinerary
– Letter from company or institution organizing the tour
– group trip participants list

Visa Fee. as of July 2019, the fee is AUD 145. credit report card, debit card, PayPal, and UnionPay are accepted.

ΣΗΜΑΝΤΙΚΕΣ ΣΗΜΕΙΩΣΕΙΣ:

NOT all of the above are required. Some are labeled required while others are labelled RECOMMENDED. So technically, not all of these are required. but I still strongly encourage you to submit as numerous noted files as you can.

On the list above, I keep on writing “ANY or all of these documents” under some categories. Γιατί; because in theory, you can submit just one item per file type. but of course, the much more relevant files you upload, the higher your chances of your application being approved.

Some files don’t apply to everyone. I tried changing some answers to check if it would affect the list of requirements and I found that it did. Therefore: The list of requirements vary depending on your answers to the questions in the form. For example, when I applied for myself and my mom, I wasn’t required to submit proof of travel history but my mother was.

The following file types are accepted: jpg, bmp, png, pdf. PDF files should NOT be encrypted. Zip files are not allowed.

The size of each file should not exceed 5MB. If it’s bigger than that, you will need to decrease the size. If your PDF files are still over, recreate your files with Adobe Distiller and set to “lowest file size.” Jpeg files can be set to only 96 DPI (dots per inch).

Here are additional files that are not required but I believe can help your application go smoothly. (I submitted the following for my first application.)

Cover Letter. This isn’t required, but it would help you a lot if you submit a letter discussing why you want to visit. Make sure that the letter summarizes and supports everything else you’re submitting. Remember, there will be no interview so it is best to let them know what you plan to do in Oz. We have a sample here: AUSTRALIAN VISA COVER LETTER.

Roundtrip flight and hotel booking. You are actually discouraged to book flights and hotels before you’re given a visa (so your money won’t go to waste ought to your application be denied), but in our case, we already had confirmed bookings so we thought we might as well submit them. This might be helpful if you snagged low fares through seat sale. but if you don’t have tickets yet, don’t book. wait for your visa before making flight arrangements.

I know friends who also submitted their newest credit report card statement. This is to show them that you have additional source of travel funds. I have a credit report card but didn’t submit mine.

Again, if your trip is sponsored by a family member, apply for a visa under Sponsored family Stream. Unfortunately, we haven’t experienced it so we don’t know the details. but from what I know, you will need to have the following on top of the other requirements.

Επιστολή πρόσκλησης. only if you’re going to a friend or relative. best if you have photos with that friend and relative showing that you really know each other.

Identification files of Sponsor. If you declare that your trip will be paid for by someone other than yourself.

Evidence that your sponsor in Australia can financially support your trip. If you declare that your trip will be paid for by someone other than yourself.

Your sponsor might also be required to pay a bond.

HOW TO apply FOR AN AUSTRALIAN VISA ONLINE

1. sign up for an ImmiAccount.

ImmiAccount implies an account with Immi.gov.au, the Australian government’s official immigration website. It is essential to create an ImmiAccount because the whole process will be done on this website.

Australian immigration site Interface
Important: Make sure you use a working email address. any update about your application will be sent to this email (including the acknowledgment of receipt of your application and the actual visa grant). You will also get notified each time you log into your account.

To register, go to this site.

2. accomplish the Application Form.

Once you have an account, you’ll receive a confirmation link through email. check your inbox and follow the link.

Once confirmed, do the following:

Click on new APPLICATION. Here, you’ll be asked what type of visa you want.

Click on VISITOR. then choose visitor Visa (subclass 600). For tourists, this is the equivalent of form 1419, except you don’t need to print this out.

Continue filling out all 20 pages of the form.

What if you start accomplishing the form but can’t complete best then? Είναι εντάξει. You can save the changes and continue editing in the future. As long as you save it (and NOT SUBMIT), you can keep on editing the form.

DO NOT submit THE form if you’re not done yet.

3. submit supporting Documents.

On your application dashboard, you will find a field where you can submit the required and recommended documents. The essential is to submit as numerous types as you can. better safe than sorry.

You can see the list of requirements above.

This is what the submit files page looks like when applying for a traveler STREAM visa.

Some applicants will see an additional evidence OF THE APPLICANT’S PREVIOUS travel field.

And this is for company STREAM.

The file Attachment page for company Stream Applicants. I applied for company the second time. first time, tourist.
Αυτό είναι! once you have submitted your application, you ought to receive an acknowledgment of Application Receipt in your email. I got mine on the same day of submission.

From here, it’s gonna be a nerve-racking waiting game. note that they will never give you an update from the moment you submit until a decision is made. This implies that the next email you’re going to receive from them will tell you whether you have been given or denied a visa.

4. Pay the Application Fee.

Online payments are done through credit report card only.

The fee is now AUD 145 (PHP 5194). A credit report card surcharge was also collected. (In my case, it was AUD 1.37.)

If you don’t have a credit report card, you can ask a family member or a friend who has one. You can also use PayPal and UnionPay.

AUSTRALIAN VISA frequently ASKED QUESTIONS

How long is the processing time for Australian Visa (Tourist or Business)?

The processing can take as short as 24 hours to as long as a month, depending on your case. The first time I applied, the process took practically a month. I submitted my application on may 9 and received my visa on June 5. This was in 2015.

The second time, it took 7 days. submitted the application June 21 and got my visa on June 28. My teammates had it shorter. They got theirs in 5 days. some of my friends got theirs in less than 24 hours. It’s pretty hard to predict.

The third time, it took 8 days. My mom, who was applying for the first time, had hers in 8 days too.

How long is the validity of the Australian visa?

In my case, even though I applied for a 3-week stay, I was given a visa valid for 3 months. I think that’s the standard length for non-working visas.

How early ought to I apply for an Australian visa?

Not earlier than 6 months before your trip. In the visa, the last day I can enter Australia was clearly specified: 6 months after the visa was granted. Again, I’m not sure if this is the case for everyone, but that’s what was indicated on mine.

How much money ought to I have in the bank to get approved?

No one knows exactly. They don’t explicitly say. but to give you an idea for a ballpark figure, the embassy of France now requires from Schengen visa applicants EUR 120 per day of stay.

My personal guideline is P10,000 per day of stay + airfare + cost of accommodations.

What is the grant Number in the application form?

On page 3 of the Application Form, yo