Visa stickers from London

[jadunlop]

Can you send them by post to be done? We are oing in 7 weeks but won't be able to get down there.

Cheers

Jim

[Adelaide_bound]

Can you send them by post to be done? We are oing in 7 weeks but won't be able to get down there.

Cheers

Jim

Yes, that's what they say you should do if you want the sticker (phoned them today and they got quite stroppy with me), the details will be with your grant letter bumpf, it should be recorded delivery down there and they send it back recorded delivery (you need to send a pre-paid envelope etc).

For anyone else wanting to know about visa stickers - phoned today, was told you can go along, however the guy put up quite a fight about it and told me it really was only for the most urgent cases to be seen in person - but that if you do want to go along you can't book, you just turn up between 9am-11am in the morning at Australia House on the Strand. They prefer you to a) not get the sticker at all but b)if you do, to do it by post. Or c) ignore them and turn up on spec lol.

[jimmyskinner]

We got ours when we got here it took 10 minutes. Its all electronic anyway and our qantas tickets said on them 40kg baggage.

[jadunlop]

I don't want to sound silly but does anyone know how long it takes by post? I mean we are leaving in middle of march and it is still roughly 7 weeks away but do they do it straight away?

Cheers

Jim

[Adelaide_bound]

We got ours when we got here it took 10 minutes. Its all electronic anyway and our qantas tickets said on them 40kg baggage.

Yes, its electronic, but its nice to have the sticker before you go lol (if you're in London anyway etc, its not a huge hassle was our thinking - will let peeps know how hassley it is next week :) )

I don't want to sound silly but does anyone know how long it takes by post? I mean we are leaving in middle of march and it is still roughly 7 weeks away but do they do it straight away?

Cheers

Jim

Think it should be back with you within a week, max. 2 apparently, so you should be fine, or you can just wait and get them put in once you are in Oz as well.

[jadunlop]

Sent the passports last Monday and got them back on the Friday. About £5 each way using special delivery. Think it is worth it for piece of mind and showing when trying to get a rental. Now just need to get something from my employer to show too.

[Adelaide_bound]

Thought I'd report back as well (sorry, head all over the place!) - we got there at about 9.15am, there were 2 other people waiting, both just wanting general visa advice, which they were given (who needs a migration agent?) and eventually we were seen at about 10.15am, the chap was lovely and very helpful, took a few minutes to print them off and put them in our passports.

Getting in the building is fun, lots of looking in bags, walking through a metal detector (that bleeps and then you are told to go in anyway lol), but its easy to find and they are all very pleasant about it. Its very small, both the entrance room and the actual room where they have the counter, so don't take the whole family along if you don't need to, I can imagine small children running around would get a few dirty looks (from other people rather than Oz House people I hasten to add lol).

All very simple, hubby is very underwhelmed by the stickers, I think they are lovely (not as nice as NZ - less silver foily bits and shiny stripes - but still very lovely). Hurrah! :D

[alex27]

Hi,
I thought we needed visa stickers as well and was in a bit of a panic. I called the high commission in London and they said not to worry, all electronic. When we arrived in Australia the immigration officer didn't ask us anything, apart from where we were staying and then proceeded to give us restaurant tips. He wasn't interested in our grant letter or anything. It was the most laid-back experience I have ever had entering a country-nothing like when we go through Heathrow-even on a Canadian passport!