After finding out my fellow party fiend and allround Geisha Legend Timo’s visa application was not accepted I decided to do a little digging on just what it takes to be accepted into Australia.

Well the easiest way to do so is if you are a New Zealander. Many people are unaware that Australia and New Zealand have a beautiful little agreement whereby that little stamp in your New Zealand passport is also your permanent residency. The Australian and New Zealand Governments have had arrangements in place since the 1920s to facilitate a free flow of people between the two countries – more recently, the Special Category Visa (SCV) is a temporary visa introduced for New Zealand citizens. A New Zealand citizen wanting to enter Australia needs to present a valid New Zealand passport and incoming passenger card for immigration clearance. By doing so, New Zealand citizens are considered to have applied for a visa and, subject to health or character considerations, will be granted an SCV. This visa is recorded electronically and the person’s passport may be stamped, showing the date of arrival in Australia.

What does all that mean? Only that our kiwi mates from across the ditch are able to live here and work here for as long as they desire, without any annoying forms or applications to do so. If you’re not from NZ, then it’s a much harder road ahead of you. There is only one place you will get your visa from, and that’s the Australian Government, via the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), so you need to apply to them.

In terms of being denied for Visas, it has been said that some of the top reasons for denial are: the lack of adequate financial situation to support the person while in Australia, the applicant failing to supply enough information by the time the application form was filled, and the applicant not providing any bond with their country of origin (no family/place of residence/job – basically, anything that indicates that the person in question will return to its country before the expiration of the visa. People sometimes omit information or mislead the DIAC on their forms, which is silly, because they do investigate EVERYTHING and if there are any irregularities it is considered very serious and sometimes even fraud – meaning you won’t be a good candidate for visa acceptance.

Sometimes it is just a huge case of bad luck, and you can blame your parents for giving you the most generic name ever. If you have a very popular name like Michael Smith then you may be denied if someone else by that name has a conviction, or has also applied, making it look like multiple applications. Are you in excellent health? If the government thinks that you could end up costing them money in medical care, then sorry Sir, you do not qualify.
Australia is notorious for being extremely strict on visas. It has been noted that because we are an island continent, we can get away with this because we have such vast control over our borders. If you’re an Australian or New Zealand citizen then thank your lucky stars because damn you have it good!