From July 1, 2017, all Indian passport holders will have the option of lodging Visitor visa applications online — a move which will see faster processing of visitor visa applications in India, and will also give the applicants the ability to monitor the status of their applicaiton.
“The online application option would make applying for Australian Visitor visas easier and ultimately enhance the visitor experience for Indian citizens ” The Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Alex Hawke
At this stage, Indians can lodge many other visas online such as Family Visitor, Student, Temporary Work, Training, Temporary Activity, Partner, Prospective Marriage, Resident Return and Maritime Crew visa applications online. With this new changes, visitor visa will be made available in the list so indians panning to visit Australia can apply online for faster processing.
“applicants will no longer have to travel for hours to lodge a hand-written form for visitor visas. They can now complete the whole application online.” A DIBP spokesperson
This move comes on the back of hundreds of complaints from Indian nationals wishing to travel to Australia and facing inordinate delays in obtaining visitor visas.
Visitor visa applications lodged by Indian citizens in last 3 yrs:
Program year |
Visitor applications lodged by Indian citizens |
2013-14 |
164,219 |
2014-15 |
193,310 |
2015-16 |
208,739 |
2016-17 (to 31/05/17) |
228,331 |