Getting Visas for our Australian Honeymoon
 

Can anyone clear up the contradicting info I'm coming across in regards to getting our electronic Visas for Australia? I've heard from some sources, including guidebooks, that they are free and easily obtained by simply calling the airline through which you booked your tickets. When I search the Internet though, many places charge a fee and state that not all "visa processing" goes through correctly, yet you will still be charged even if the net result is no visa. This seems absurd. Can anyone help? We are traveling in mid-October and would like to get our Visas soon! Thanks in advance!

Hi, Melhog!

You don't say where you are coming from, which might well be a relevant factor. At any rate, since you are getting conflicting advice, I think that, if I were you, I wouldn't risk a cliff-hanger.... October is pretty close! Ring the Australian consulate in your capital city and be advised by them.

By the way, the bit about being charged even if there is no visa... surely that's just to protect the agent from people who apply when they know damn well that their visa is going to be rejected.... people like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden's twin brother. There would be no way, surely, that they would charge you because of some kind of technical error... you'd just have to fix it up and re-submit!

Good luck!

Sorry -- we're coming from Chicago in the U.S. Has anyone out there applied for a Visa online?
Thx!

Hello Melhog,

As I understand it, if you go to an Australian visa office in your country, usually an Australian consulate, you can apply for a visitor's visa to Australia for free.

Australia has an embassy in Washington DC, and it has consulates in Atlanta, Chicago, Honolulu, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco. So, if you wanted to go to the hassle, you could go to the Australian consulate in Chicago in person.

Many airlines and travel agents have computer links with Australia's Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA). The airlines and travel agents that have those links are able to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) on behalf of the passenger. Whether or not the airline or travel agent charges the passenger a fee for processing the ETA application is at the discretion of the airline or travel agent. If memory serves me correctly, Air Canada has always done this for us for free.

In addition to the above methods of applying for an ETA, the traveller also has the option of applying for an ETA him/herself, over the Internet.

DIMIA operates a website that travellers can use for ETA applications, and there also are companies that act as agents for DIMIA, that are connected to DIMIA's computer system just as airlines and travel agents are, and that are authorised to handle ETA applications.

DIMIA as well as these private agents charge fees for Internet applications. In the case of DIMIA, the application fee is 20 AUD (14 USD) per applicant.

I personally think it's quite reasonable for DIMIA not to refund the fee if the application is rejected. After all, they incur costs in running the service, whether applications are successful or not. And it's not as if it's a whopping fee to start with. It's only 14 USD (if you go through the DIMIA website).

I have not undertaken this process over the Internet. However, from my experience, it is extremely simple. I remember being on the phone with an Air Canada representative, reading our passport numbers to her over the phone, and then hearing from her within seconds that our ETA applications had been processed successfully.

Okay, we have Canadian passports, so this admittedly is not an experience involving American passports, and it's also not an experience involving a direct application over the Internet, but rather an application over the Internet through an airline acting as an intermediary.

There are a few circumstances that would result in the rejection of an ETA application. One of them is a prior criminal conviction.

There was a man who posted here some months ago. He didn't receive his visitor's visa to Australia right away, and he wondered what was going on. He phoned the relevant Australian government office in the U.S., and discovered that they had gotten hung up on the fact that he had an extremely common name -- John Smith or something like that. What was taking them so long was that they were checking out all of the John Smiths. Anyway, they did grant him his visa after a bit of a delay. At that point he was very relieved that he had left himself some room for error, and had applied for his visa some 6 weeks before his trip (if I remember correctly).

Although I don't have answers to all of your questions, I hope that has helped to some extent.

Hi - as someone said maybe the only surefire way is to contact Aus immigration directly, but for what its worth, I applied for my Aus. visitor's ETA (Electronic travel authority) over the internet just recently and the process was quite simple. I didn't have any technical problems so I can't speak for the issue of refunds if there is some glitch (but it is $20 for each application). You should receive a reference number right at the time your application is processed online (and you can also check the status of the ETA online using that ref number, just to confirm its still valid etc)

I'm a Canadian citizen with a Canadian passport but presumably the process would be similar for you - if you don't have it the web site is: www.eta.immi.gov.au.

Hope that helps - good luck and congrats on your marriage.

whiskey

Hi

Since I've just gotten our visas, am from the states, and am heading to Australia in a couple days - I think I can answer.

The entire process is done via the internet and it was very easy - just recheck your address and your Passport numbers to confirm that they're correct after you've entered them. I just took my time and there were no problems with it.

It will cost you $20 AUD (approx $14 US) to get them and you'll need a credit card number for this.

The site you go to on the net is http://www.eta.immi.gov.au/

Good luck AND have a great trip and honeymoon!!

%%- LN

Your airline should take care of you for free. I returned from Aus and NZ a few weeks ago. All I did was call United (International Reservations), give them our passport details, address, etc. and we were all set.

If you are flying on Qantas - it is not free. You must do this yourself. Perhaps United and other airlines take care if it for you but Qantas does not.

Agree with the above posts. Apply for the ETA online. United is the only airline I've come across that does it for free for their passengers.

Husband and I heard United Airlines did free Australia visas so we called them about it. The lady on the phone was going to submit our applications until we told her our flight was on American Airlines/Qantas.

Don't stress-it's really easy to apply online.

Also have gotten the visa online at the above mentioned official site. No problems.

Air New Zealand (United partner, but I can't speak to United directly) did take care of this for us a couple of years ago. Quantas did not on our most recent flight.

And neither did Qantas. :)

Hi melhog - I'm the John Smith that Judy in Calgary mentioned. I applied online for my wife & I and the approval (for my wife) was instant. My application was not approved and I was given instructions on what to do to help the approval process along.

Alan from Sydney was kind enough to inquire at DIMIA on my behalf from Australia but they didn't have any information on why my app was held up.

After about two weeks, I called the Australian embassy in Washington D.C. The person on the phone asked for my passport number, punched into their computer and told me everything was approved and to have a nice holiday!

We had quite a scare in Los Angeles when checking in at the Qantas counter. The counter agent was very friendly and playful. My wife was joking back with her & telling her that we needed to find a good Australian man to bring home to marry our niece. The agent took our passports, entered them into the system. looked me straight in the eye and with a serious face told me that my visa had been denied. She said that I would have to stay here while my wife continued on to perform the search for an Aussie for our niece!

Once we explained the problem we had getting the visa approval, she couldn't stop apologizing! She even moved our seats so that we had an empty middle row all to ourselves!

Congrats on your marriage and enjoy your time in Australia!

John in Miami

thanks to you all for the wonderful advice and information. you are all correct -- qantas(who we are traveling with) does NOT do it for free ($25US, so it's more than any others), and the online version is $14US. i'd heard that travel agents do it for free to and sure enough found one for us to use. Thanks to you all though for the help and well wishes. We are very much looking forward to traveling down under!

LN was right on target. My husband and I applied online for our visas last month for a trip scheduled this September. It took about 15 minutes and cost us 20 AUD/14 US Dollars. It was a snap, I printed out our confirmation screens to carry to the airport (just in case) though I understand it's all tied in with your passport number.

Have a terrific Honeymoon.