Australian ETA

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It's been years since I visited my sister's family in Australia. Probably the last trip was in 2015. Now that borders are opened for both countries and that my sister and I are comfortable with Ban and I visiting them, I made plans for a trip there this year.

Previously, I applied for the most appropriate visa, ETA, initially via the Australia's Immigration website and later via EasyETA. They were both easy to use and result was nearly instantaneous. However, now all ETA applications, according to the official website and also the Australia High Commission in Malaysia, have to be done via their app Australian ETA.

" All ETA-eligible passport holders must apply for an ETA using the Australian ETA app. For more information, see our Step by step guide.
If you are unable to use the app, you can apply online through ImmiAccount for another visa that suits your needs. "

Unfortunately, the entire process was so much more tedious than previously:

  1. The smartphone must have NFC feature switched on to register applicants in the app. If not, you'll have to apply for another visa online (as quoted above). The NFC was used to scan the chip within the passport to capture information stored within.
  2. Once registered, we then applied for the visa. As warned beforehand, we were not fortunate to have the application approved after the process was done: we received emails asking us to register for ImmiAccount to answer more questions.
  3. Information that was already given to the app was asked for again online. Arrgghh.
  4. There was more information requested and the most onerous and invasive ones were in the last page where documentary evidence was needed, including bank statements showing income of last 3 months.
  5. The problem I had was giving evidence that I intend to return to Malaysia: I couldn't get employer to provide letter stating that I'll be returning to work and I couldn't show evidence of education course I'm enrolled in, since neither is applicable to me. Showing itinerary doesn't make sense because we weren't joining a tour group and also naturally we had yet to purchase return flight tickets. So Ban and I didn't submit any evidence and simply stated that we were visiting sibling/partner's sibling.
  6. We had to wait about 3 working days for the results. Unfortunately, mine wasn't approved. Ban and I concluded that his was approved because he showed higher bank balance. Hence, I decided to do that too in my second application. Furthermore, my sister helped me by writing a letter, inviting both Ban and I to visit her family and stated that both she and her husband were happy to answer any queries that the Immigration Dept might have. After about 3 working days, I received email informing me that visa has been granted. Phew.

Comments

William said…
Leceh! Luckily they approved your application the second time round.
October 27, 2022 at 1:25 PM
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