# From the uk for a holiday of 2/3 weeks with a criminal record



## s4lkk (Jan 3, 2009)

I have one criminal record that resulted in a prison sentence of 15 months,(6 months in jail) this was 6 years ago. If i wanted to come to Austrailia for a holiday what do i have to do? And what kind of timeline is involved with applying for the things i need, thanks in advance


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

The yard stick on being of good character for all people wanting to enter Australia is that you have not been convicted of a criminal offence resulting in a 12 months or more custodial sentence and you can check that on Form 79 it may be or one of the other links grouped near bottom on Character Requirement - Applications & Forms

You can try doing a couple of things and one is see how you go doing an EVisa application and depending on the questions and truthful answers you may get a rejection, possibly with a response of contact Immi. eVisitor
They are free so no financial damage.

Even if the application goes through, do not start counting chickens yet, or if it does not get accepted, I would head into the AHC and see about seeing someone to get what assurance you can of not being stopped by Immi in Australia or to see what the chances are of having a paper based application accepted along with assurance.

If after this stage, you have a visa and assurance or without the latter which is likely because the left arm can never vouch for the right arm when they are so far apart , you could try sending a nicely worded email to the Global Feedback Unit, they being under the Contact page link in Immi pages top bar and see if any guidance can be offered.
Make sure of letting them know you have read the Character test and even give the link and that may save them just responding with a printing of the riot act but at least with what comes back you can print it off to have something in writing.

So if you have the visa and can be assured as you can about being allowed in, if you go ahead, make sure you fill in your arrivals card correctly and still do not be surprised if you are invited into an interview room for questioning.
Be honest and be prepared with why are you visiting Australia and it ought to be more than just " wanted to have a look "
Have you family/friends here to see and/or have you something of an itinerary in mind, sorted out travel, accommodation, bookings etc. and have you budgetted and what funds do you have for travelling around Australia is not exactly cheap and if you plan on getting about and experiencing various things, yoú can be looking at A$1000/w.

If you have a good plan, funding to go with it and your crime was not terribly violent, you may have a chance of being allowed in.
Just in case Welcome to AirAsia.com... Now everyone can fly have cheap flights ex Stansted and via KL that can be booked as individual legs and Asia ain't too bad a place to spend three weeks for a back up holiday and a lot cheaper.


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