After Application for a Tourist Visa is Submitted.

The only thing you can do once an application for an Australian tourist visa is submitted is to wait for the process to run its course. The VFS office in Bangkok will tell you that it will take between 3 and 5 working days to be completed. Experience has shown that 5 days is the norm. If you submit an application on Monday morning you the passport should be available for collection on Friday afternoon. This is provided a complete and properly prepared application is submitted.

There are two methods available to check if the passport is ready for collection. You can call them on 02 672 3476 (and /77 /78 /79.) The only information that they will divulge is if the passport is ready to be collected or not. They will not tell you the result of the application so better not to ask.

The second and best option is to use Track Your Passport page on the VFS website. To get access to the information you will need her passport number and the Applicant Reference Number. This number is on the photocopy of her passport that she would have received after submitting the passport. Again the only information you will get is if the passport is ready for collection.

When the passport is ready for collection she will need to go to the VFS office with the photocopy of her passport with the VFS stamp on it. This is required to collect the passport. Passports can only be collected between 3pm and 4:30pm.

If the application was properly prepared and there are no issues she is highly like to have a visa in her passport when it was collected. A visa is no long placed in passports. The passport will come with a document stating what visa was issued, the validity of the visa and any conditions. The details will be stored in the immigration department's computers. Details will be available to the airlines for checking prior to her boarding the plane.

Once she has the visa you can start preparing for her arrival in Australia. The next section deals with this. Don't skip it as there can be problems when she arrives if you don't give her some guidance.