# Australian tourist visa 600 paper processing time in Washington



## nikkilarzul (Mar 18, 2014)

Hello,
I have an Indian passport and I applied for tourist visa 600 paper application on March 5th. I did book my flight tickets for April 5th, little did I know the visa application will take so long to get processed.

Every-time I now call the embassy I get the same answer "it take 4-6 weeks to get processed, please wait" 

I am now wondering if I should move my travel dates, even so we are family of 4 and have made all the non refundable reservations 

Anyone have any ideas?


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## lincsus (Jun 18, 2013)

It takes at least 4 weeks for the visa to be processed in DC. I think it will be wise to move the travel dates and keep a buffer. The change fees will be the same whether you get the dates moved now or later. So may be wait for another week or so and see if something does come up.


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## kttykat (Oct 30, 2012)

nikkilarzul said:


> Hello,
> I have an Indian passport and I applied for tourist visa 600 paper application on March 5th. I did book my flight tickets for April 5th, little did I know the visa application will take so long to get processed.
> 
> Every-time I now call the embassy I get the same answer "it take 4-6 weeks to get processed, please wait"
> ...


I would attempt to contact the embassy and give them your travel dates and proof of them. Ask them if you would possibly have the visa in time or should you change your bookings. Do it as an email and they are supposed to acknowledge you.

Kttykat


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## nikkilarzul (Mar 18, 2014)

Thanks Kttykat for your response. I have provided my confirmed bookings with my visa application and called them 3 times, and they have made a "remark" on my application saying "intended date of travel is April 5th". But they say "we cannot make any guarantees, nor can we ask you to move/cancel your tickets. That is entirely your choice. It takes on average 4-6 weeks for your visa to get processed" They also say "we cannot bump you up just because you have booked your tickets"

I can probably email them to say the same...


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## lincsus (Jun 18, 2013)

IMO, they are actually right. They cannot bump you just because you have booked the tickets. I applied for tourist visa while waiting for the partner visa. They never gave me the visa after keeping me hanging for a couple of months. So with the embassy, you can never be sure of what they will do.


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## Mish (Jan 13, 2013)

Probably wise to move the dates unless you want to wait till closer in ... it depends if the cost to change the tickets change or not.

Also the unlike other embassies the oz embassy specifically states not to book tickets until the visa is approved. Was actually strangr when looking at visas for Europe for my partner and they wanted the plane ticket.


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## nikkilarzul (Mar 18, 2014)

Yes, we are thinking of changing our tickets but the question is by how many weeks? If we move it by 2 weeks, is that enough? If we move it by 4 weeks then probably it will be too cold/rainy there... Then is it worth going with 2 little kids. Kind of stuck 
Of course the change fee is the same, so waiting another 1 week to decide...


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## Mish (Jan 13, 2013)

Where are you going? I live in qld and it is still summer weather .

It is so hard to see how long it would take to finalise it. How many weeks are you currently waiting and how many weeks from application is your flight? Maybe change it to 6-8 weeks after application.


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## nikkilarzul (Mar 18, 2014)

Application date mar 5. Intended travel date apr 5 (4 weeks and3 days)
Plan was to go to Melbourne Sydney cairns Ayers Rock.


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## Mish (Jan 13, 2013)

Probably pushing it would push ot back.

Sydney and Melbourne can be a bit hit and miss. Melbourne is 4 seasons in 1 day.


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## kttykat (Oct 30, 2012)

nikkilarzul said:


> Application date mar 5. Intended travel date apr 5 (4 weeks and3 days)
> Plan was to go to Melbourne Sydney cairns Ayers Rock.


Yeah, that is cutting it fine. It is a pity that you aren't a US citizen, as you would have been eligible for an ETA and that only takes minutes to get.

It also sounds like it could take much longer than the time quoted to get your visa. Perhaps you should push your travel dates a fair way back by the sound of it.

Kttykat


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## nikkilarzul (Mar 18, 2014)

Yeah I know it is frustrating that I have to go thru this brutal process, while my husband and 2 kids (being american) got their visa approved in seconds!


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## nikkilarzul (Mar 18, 2014)

It has been 4 weeks and still no decision on the visa. I only have 4 days left before my intended date of travel. 
The call center keeps saying "we cannot give you any information, the application is being processed"
Its so frustrating!


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## kangaroogirl (Aug 25, 2012)

I'd suggest you change the date. This is exactly why they say not to book any flights until you have the visa approved. They do say 4 - 6 weeks on there clearly.


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## leeja (Apr 9, 2014)

Hi nikkilarzul, did you get any response on your visa? i am in your same boat..though i applied on march 18th..not sure if i will receive by april 18th..but do let me know if you received yours.


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## australia14 (Feb 24, 2015)

leeja said:


> Hi nikkilarzul, did you get any response on your visa? i am in your same boat..though i applied on march 18th..not sure if i will receive by april 18th..but do let me know if you received yours.


Hi there!

Did you end up getting your visa in time for your trip?

I came across your posting and thought I would ask as I am in the same boat. I have my flight booked and am still waiting for the visa. I would appreciate your response. Thanks!


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## Tourist (Jan 3, 2017)

nikkilarzul said:


> It has been 4 weeks and still no decision on the visa. I only have 4 days left before my intended date of travel.
> The call center keeps saying "we cannot give you any information, the application is being processed"
> Its so frustrating!


Did you finally get your visa? How long did it take?


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## swoop (Jan 19, 2017)

Ah, in the same boat. Tourist visa form received 1/11/17; Fly out on Feb 24th. No acknowledgement received yet…. Really stressed. I'm an Indian citizen who is a permanent resident of the US. Received my New Zealand visa in little over a week… Hope it comes through in time...


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## cristianoronaldo (Jan 9, 2017)

Swoop,
I have been waiting on My New Zealand Visitor Visa since Jan 9th. When did you apply for NZ visa? and how many business days did it take exactly for you? We are flying on Feb 10th and Irony is we are waiting on both Aus and NZ visa now(which they say will take 20 Business days which would be 6th of Feb)...not sure what we could do here.


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## swoop (Jan 19, 2017)

cristianoronaldo said:


> Swoop,
> I have been waiting on My New Zealand Visitor Visa since Jan 9th. When did you apply for NZ visa? and how many business days did it take exactly for you? We are flying on Feb 10th and Irony is we are waiting on both Aus and NZ visa now(which they say will take 20 Business days which would be 6th of Feb)...not sure what we could do here.


I applied on Jan 9th. They asked for additional information on Jan 16th. I uploaded that on the 17th and got my electronic visa in a couple of hours after that&#8230; So 9 days. You should get your NZ visa soon&#8230;. Hope that helps. I did have to send my passport to Washington, but the visa is electronic. Strange&#8230;.


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## cristianoronaldo (Jan 9, 2017)

Thanks for the reply. Did you ship your documents(Passport Included) to TTS NZ for NZ visitor Visa? I am finding it strange that some of them got NZ visitor Visa approved in as little as in 2 days and people like myself when i mail them get the answer as 20 Business days. Still scratching my head over this.


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## swoop (Jan 19, 2017)

cristianoronaldo said:


> Thanks for the reply. Did you ship your documents(Passport Included) to TTS NZ for NZ visitor Visa? I am finding it strange that some of them got NZ visitor Visa approved in as little as in 2 days and people like myself when i mail them get the answer as 20 Business days. Still scratching my head over this.


No. Applied online, then got an email to mail my passport to DC, which I did.
worried about my Australia visa&#8230; It seems to be taking a long time for some these days&#8230; Put in my long overdue US citizenship application in&#8230; Won't have to deal with crap like this anymore!


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## cristianoronaldo (Jan 9, 2017)

I now know what messed it up. If i am applying along with my spouse then i have to use Paper based Visa which is a pain itself as they(TTS who are the Visa Service Provider) just held on to my application because of Incorrect Payment Amount for 7 business until i reached out to them ... ..and now looking at Australian Visa it might be taking close to 10 Business weeks or more.


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## swoop (Jan 19, 2017)

That is horrible. I fly in out 5 weeks… I'm keeping my fingers crossed!


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## cristianoronaldo (Jan 9, 2017)

Got our visitor Visa on 1/21/2017 and strangely it was on Saturday Morning at around 10 am. so it took almost 8 weeks from 11/28/2016. So its taking close to 2 months for Paper Based Applications.

Sub Class(600) Paper Based - Applied 11/28/2016
Acknowledgement - 1/7/2017
Approved - 1/21/2017

Now the wait starts for NZ Visa :|.


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## swoop (Jan 19, 2017)

Congrats… I hope they are a bit quicker with mine…. I haven't received my acknowledgement yet…but noticed you got yours almost 6 weeks after application…

Good luck on the NZ visa…they appear to be much quicker...


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## AliceKings (Jul 18, 2016)

cristianoronaldo said:


> Got our visitor Visa on 1/21/2017 and strangely it was on Saturday Morning at around 10 am. so it took almost 8 weeks from 11/28/2016. So its taking close to 2 months for Paper Based Applications.
> 
> Sub Class(600) Paper Based - Applied 11/28/2016
> Acknowledgement - 1/7/2017
> ...


Congrats! I've been reading your posts, so good you finally got it!

Still waiting for mine, is being processed in Ottawa, acknowledgment received the same day. Feeling pretty anxious these days, hopefully I'll hear something soon! Have a nice trip


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## swoop (Jan 19, 2017)

I had lodged my paper application at the embassy in Washington, DC on January 11th. Yesterday morning (1/25) I received my acknowledgement e-mail and this morning I received an email that my visa had been granted. All in all, it took 15 days to process the paper tourist visa application. I am stunned…and thrilled!


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## AliceKings (Jul 18, 2016)

swoop said:


> I had lodged my paper application at the embassy in Washington, DC on January 11th. Yesterday morning (1/25) I received my acknowledgement e-mail and this morning I received an email that my visa had been granted. All in all, it took 15 days to process the paper tourist visa application. I am stunned&#8230;and thrilled!


Thats great swoop! Congrats!!

I'ts incredible, but im still waiting. But nothing to do but to keep waiting for the best.

Have a nice trip


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## swoop (Jan 19, 2017)

AliceKings said:


> Thats great swoop! Congrats!!
> 
> I'ts incredible, but im still waiting. I lodged my tourist visa application on Dec 9 (online), and till this day I know nothing. Mine is being processed at Ottawa though. This wait is literally killing me! But nothing to do but to keep waiting for the best.
> 
> Have a nice trip


Thanks. I wish the embassy was a little more transparent with the process. It sucks to be waiting in limbo for so long without information&#8230; Hope you get it soon&#8230;.


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