March 27

How long does it take to get a visa?

This depends on the visa! It also depends on how busy the Departmental office is at the time. Visitor visas (when appropriate) may only take a few weeks. Spouse or fiancee visas 3 – 6 months. Permanent visas for temporary workers in Australia, between 4 and 7 months. Generally the better-prepared the application, the quicker it takes.

March 27

Why does it take so long?

Because the Department deals with hundreds of thousands of applications every year. Most of the processing time is literally taken up by the application sitting in a large pile waiting for a Case Officer to be assigned. And if there is investigation to be done, or further information to be sought, then it will take longer. Once the application has been assigned, it is quite possible for a visa to be processed in a single day if it is well-prepared and all of the requirements are clearly met.

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