Like Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, there are many European countries who are facing huge labor shortages, and today I’ll be covering Ireland. Its capital is Dublin, and this is an English-speaking country, so you don’t need to learn any additional foreign language to migrate here.
The labor shortage is worrying news for many Irish companies at the moment, but not for you. If you wish to move to a foreign country and settle down, this is the right time to start applying for jobs. There are a number of reasons for the labor shortage in Ireland. Now, many people have chosen to switch jobs and, in some cases, move sectors after the pandemic shutdowns. Others have chosen to retire early or to work for fewer hours.
Hello guys, I’m Sara, and welcome to Your Knowledge Buddy. So, my today’s agenda is:
1. To cover everything about Australia’s tourist visa, which is called a Visitor Visa.
2. Benefits of this visa.
3. How to apply.
4. What documents are needed?
5. Common visa rejection reasons.
6. How much it will cost you.
7. Timelines.
Insufficient Financial Evidence
So, if you’re in the process of applying for your visa or you want to apply in the future, make sure you watch the video till the end. But before we start, a quick introduction about myself for my new audience. The first is about the study abroad service. You guys already know that I can help you study abroad in any of these listed countries. You simply need to fill out the form which is provided in my video description and pin comment, and my team will reach out to you soon.
So, without any further delay, let me invite you guys to Victor, who is my special guest today. Hi Victor, welcome to Your Knowledge Buddy. If you don’t mind, can you please introduce yourself to my audience again?
Please thank you, Sara, for having me once again. Hello, audience, this is Victor from New Zealand, and I bring more than 12 years of experience in the field of immigration industry and immigration advisory. We have dealt with thousands of applications, so we bring that crux and that knowledge, and I just hope that these things can improve your chances of success in your visa journey. So, this is the purpose of today’s video as well. So, Sarika, tell me what are we going to cover today.
Incomplete or Inconsistent Documentation
Today, we are going to talk about Australia’s tourist visa. We want to know how to apply, what documents are needed, and also, from your expertise in the cases that you have handled so far, why the tourist visa gets rejected and how people can avoid it so that they can succeed more.
So, how do you be successful while applying for a tourist visa? Thank you, Sara.
So, I’m going to take our audience to the screen first of all and show what sort of options are available for them. So, let’s have a look at this.
There are different options in the visa. If you talk about tourists, it is the person who is going to explore the country and they do not have any sponsor or any relative in the country. If we talk about Visitor Visas or Family Visitor Stream, basically parents are going to visit family members or brothers and sisters are going to visit their brothers, sisters, or their uncles and aunts. So, that’s a family-sponsored visa. There are two major categories which we get applications for, and there is another third category which is Business Visitor.
Okay, if there’s a businessman in India or maybe any part of the world—basically, because our audience is from different parts of the world—so if there’s a business visitor, if they are planning to go and explore business opportunities, they have business meetings to do in Australia. They are going to have some maybe a quotation or a tender process. They’re going to enter or they’re going to provide some services to somebody like a software company. If they are offering some services to an Australian company, they want to go and do a briefing session or a training session. They can even do that on a Business Visa, which is a Visitor Visa category again.
So, the major stream if you do not have any relatives or any family members—that is the number one which we’re going to cover now—is a tourist stream, which is applied outside Australia, and you are looking to enter Australia for tourism purposes.
The cost of this visa is $195 AUD.
Why it’s getting declined? So, guys, today the purpose of this video is to give you information about what are the things to keep in mind when you are applying for a tourist visa and what are the reasons why it gets declined.
Lack of Genuine Intent
So, guys, the number one thing when you apply for this visa, you have to show to Australian authorities (Home Office) a very clear indication and a clear travel plan—basically, why you have applied for this visa, what you’re going to do in Australia, for how long you intend to stay there, what are the cities you’re going to visit, and what are the activities you intend to do while in Australia.
Your bank account is a very important aspect or very important tool to assess your financial situation or Financial Health, I would say, because if Financial Health is not good, then you cannot justify that you are actually intending to stay in Australia temporarily, and you intend to be sufficiently qualified or sufficiently, I would say, financially capable of doing the stated purpose of your travel.
So, your bank statements, and your fixed deposits, are very, very important aspects to show the strength of your visa application.
So, the third thing that the immigration department is very much looking into is your ties with your home country, and they could be:
– Social ties: means who else is in your family in your country.
– The other most important thing is your occupational ties. It means that they want to see if you’re running a business—how old is the business, what sort of turnover the business is doing, what sort of money the business is making, understand? So, if you’re in a job, how long you have been in the job, and what’s your salary package, if you are in the same company for a longer duration of time, what sort of savings you have been doing, if you have any assets in the country or not. What if someone is retired? Retirement is fine if somebody is retired, but they need to show that they have enough money.
Otherwise, if they are sponsored, then it’s fine—their sponsor is sending the money. I’ll give you an example: a lot of parents of Australian residents or citizens or even Visa holders (work visa holders) visit their family, they visit their friends, and they are retired. It’s okay when you are retired; you need to your application is better. Basically, you are less likely to go and breach your visa conditions, you’re less likely to go and work illegally in the country.
Health and Character Requirements
But only one thing that goes up in the risk is if
somebody’s retired, immigration officers start looking at your health. Basically, if your health is not as good, so if your health is fine, then it’s okay. If you are applying for a Visitor Visa, generally they do not ask you for health records and all that—Medicals, yeah.
But if you are applying for a longer duration Parent Visa, then you have to provide your health history, medication history, and any surgeries you have undergone. So, just to answer your question: if somebody is retired and if they are applying for a visa without sponsorship, then they need to demonstrate how they are going to fund their travel and sightseeing and other expenses while in Australia.
Okay, and what is the maximum duration they can be in Australia on a tourist visa? Is it six months or 12 months? Basically, as I just mentioned, so three months, six months to 12 months—they can have this visa and they can be in Australia for 12 months. And it’s a multiple entry visa generally; they can go and they can go to some other countries and come back to Australia. So, they can have multiple entries. When we launch the application, it is asked if you’re looking for a single entry visa or if you’re looking for a multiple entry visa. So, that is covered according to the circumstances of the applicant.
Previous Immigration Violations
Okay, cool. Uh, I would like to ask you another question: when you say somebody is a working professional, right? So, say someone has taken a leave of two weeks to go and visit and then maybe come back. So, what kind of documents would be needed by someone who is a working professional? Does like a letter from HR stating that they applied for a leave for two weeks—is that kind of document needed or not?
Definitely, definitely. It is a strong document because if you are working in a company or even if you are running your own business, you still have to show or demonstrate how this company will run in your absence. If you’re running a business and if you’re doing a job, you need to show that your employer has accepted your leave application because that is a very big reason for you to return to your home country.
Okay, so if your employer is not happy with your leave and you are basically leaving the job without informing him, it means your intentions are not clear and you have no intentions to return back to the same employer. Okay, this is how it works.
Unclear Travel Plans
Yeah, in terms of another question of supporting documents: let’s say for retired parents who want to go and visit their son or daughter, in terms of other documents other than what you mentioned—if it’s sponsored by their children, they can have a letter from the children like a sponsor letter. But what other documents does the parent need to submit? Like, is it like tax filings, property papers, fixed deposits, what else is needed?
Sara, from our experience, we have seen in some cases even if a resident or a citizen of the country from Australia or New Zealand is sponsoring their parents, still their applications get declined because they do not understand the category requirements of the visa. I’ll give you a very prime example: one of our applications which we received after declining—somebody applied for the visa, and the wife was pregnant, and both husband and wife were residents of the country, and they supported their mother-in-law. They said they wanted to get their mother-in-law to come and spend time with the wife during the pregnancy and the final stages of the pregnancy, but the application was declined. On several occasions, I’ve seen many applications of such nature get declined because immigration says that you fail to demonstrate your ties with your home country.
So, that’s always a good idea when we are making temporary entry-class applications—we must demonstrate what sort of assets we have in the country if we have any, regular incomes, if we have investments in the equity or in the share market, if we have bank balances, fixed deposits, a source of the money—where it’s coming from. Any other assets: cars, houses, shops, businesses, agriculture land—anything which you can think of. If you have any ties with your home country, you must demonstrate that because the application’s nature is a temporary entry. You must demonstrate even if your family is there—a citizen or a resident in the country—still you need to demonstrate that you have reasons to go back to your home country.
Okay, can I ask you another question? Again, this is not directly for people who are applying for a tourist visa from India to Australia, but these questions are being asked to me by these students who are in the UK and now, for some reason, they want to move out of the UK because, say, they are not successful in getting sponsorship jobs or their student visa is about to expire or is already expired because they overstayed, and now they want to move to Australia from the UK, but say they are Indian. Is the requirement and eligibility criteria the same or is it different?
Yeah, Sara, we have a lot of inquiries from people who are in different countries and they are running out of their visa options in their country, and then they decide that okay, let’s apply to a third country. So, they come from their home country to another country, then they want to jump the boat—they want to go to a different country.
So, guys, I would like to mention here that we have to keep a few things in mind. We have done such cases successfully, but there are a few things to keep in mind. I’ll give you some examples: if you are on a Visitor Visa in a country and applying for a third country, you need to demonstrate what activities you have already done in that country and what are the plans for going to the next country, and you have the right to return to your home country. So, basically, these are the things for a Visitor Visa holder.
Tips to Avoid Rejection
If you talk about people who are on a student visa or they are on a work visa in any country, they need to demonstrate how long they are allowed to stay in the country of the visa, and which visa they are holding right now. Say, for example, somebody in the UK—they need to demonstrate how long they have been there and how long they can stay in that country. And if they are applying for a visa to Australia or New Zealand, do they have the right to re-enter the country or not, their bank statements, if they have regular income or not, if they have regular savings or not.
So, basically, give an example: if a student is applying from the UK to go to Australia for a visit, they need to demonstrate financial ability as well as if they can show proof of their enrollment—that they are enrolled in a longer duration program like a degree program or a master’s program—then, and if they have the financial ability by all means, yes, they can get a tourist visa to enter Australia because they have a purpose to return back to the UK to complete their studies. And same with work visa holders: if somebody is working in any country and wants to apply—the first question or the first information that officers will look at is the duration, the expiry date of their current work visa, and their financial ability, basically.
Okay, that makes sense. Thank you. So, I believe the students who are asking me this question, this is going to make some sense for them now. Uh, thank you, Victor.
In terms of now, let’s talk about the cost involved in applying for a tourist visa. What is it like generally? If you look at the streams of the visa that you were covering, if you look at my screen, so up to $195 AUD is the fee for the visa, and then there are some charges that cost around $5, which is the C charges. So, around, say, $200, I would say, it costs to get a visitor visa for Australia. So, yeah, that is an okay cost.
And in terms of timeline, are you aware of what is the current timeline if someone is applying today? Generally, how long does it take for the visa to come? Basically, the standard time frame if you talk about—it is around 39 to 40 days. We should keep in mind, so this sort of 39 to 40 days—39 to 40 days. Oh my God, that’s a standard time frame, but as you will appreciate, Sara, in some cases we get decisions earlier if it’s a straightforward application, and in some cases, it takes even longer. Oh dear.
Okay, so basically, when we look at the time frame of Australian visas, they say generally 50% of the applications will be done within 39 days, and the rest of the applications—90% of applications—will be done in maybe six months. Oh my God, I think the UK is better. I shouldn’t be saying that in front of the camera, but yeah, I mean, it says within three weeks it’s normal, and for my parents when I got their visa done, I did not even apply for a fast track.
It was normal, and I think I got a visa within eight or nine days. It was that quick here in New Zealand. Australia, it takes around two to three weeks or four weeks sometimes just to allocate the application. Oh dear, okay, I’m not complaining about being in the UK or for getting my parents in the UK. See.
Okay, uh, thank you very much, Victor. Any final tips or suggestions for my audience?
Definitely, uh, what I would say is if anybody is planning to apply for a Visitor Visa or any Temporary Class Visa, guys, you have to provide the information in a very structural manner. Do not be overconfident. You need to demonstrate what your ties are, why you will go back, and what you will do in the country where you are going to visit, as well as show your income tax returns, show your bank statements.
A major problem that we see from the applications is that just before the application is made, they get a lump sum or a huge amount of money credited into their account. So, that is something that they have to explain if they have any unexplained deposits in the account. You need to demonstrate. And the money of your parents—people miss the point sometimes, Sara, what they think is they just need to show the money. It’s not about just showing the money or the financial aspect; you need to show the source of money as well.
If you have the money, you have taken the money from your parents, guys, your parents are not traveling—you are traveling. You need to explain why you will go back to your home country or why you will return to your base after the completion of your stated purpose of traveling to Australia. So, this is the final note: be mindful, don’t be overconfident. Try to think from the perspective of the immigration officer. They don’t know you, they don’t know your financial wealth, Financial Health, they don’t know anything, so you need to put everything in your application and writing and explain to them your circumstances. And this is where our specialized knowledge comes into play. This is what we here…
Yes, I was about to complete that sentence. If you need help from Victor and his team, you can send your applications or email to yourknowledgebu@gmail.com, and I’ll pass it on to Victor and his team so that you guys can be successful in the first attempt. Thank you very much, Victor.
Thank you for coming and sharing your knowledge. Thank you very much, Sara, and thank you very much to the audience for giving us so much love. We welcome your inquiries. Sorry about the delay sometimes in responding to your queries, but definitely, we are committed and we are trying our best to answer your queries as soon as possible. So, keep sending us messages, keep asking questions, and we are here to help you with Your Knowledge Buddy. Thank you.
