I’ve already mentioned about the Silly Season being upon us, and everyone wanting a visa for Christmas, especially tourist visas. I certainly understand the wishes, the hopes and the emotions tied up in the whole thing. But please do understand that we don’t have any control over the processing of applications once they get into the system.

How fast can Down Under Visa process applications?

In some ways I wish I could promise and assure visa applicants that Down Under Visa operate an express visa application processing service, but in other ways I’m glad we can’t. We are not super-fast, and I’m happy about that.

Why would I say that?

Because I’ve been around long enough (just try to count my grey hairs) to know that speed and accuracy normally don’t go together, and that accuracy and overall quality matter more than speed!

Are we in fact slow? No, we’re not slow. But we see our job is to get your visa application granted. And that will always be our number one priority. So if we have to go slower than you had hoped in order to ensure the application is good enough? Then yes, that’s exactly what we will do! And we will not apologize for that.

I had somebody contact me this week. Flight booked for I think the 9^th of December. Non-refundable ticket in hand. “Can you get her a visa?” I said that I doubted it very much. He’d been told by someone somewhere that the Australian Embassy in Manila could do an express processing if you just asked them. I said sorry, but that this was news to me. He asked if I could rush it through?

Several issues there!

1. Could I rush it through and ensure a quality visa application with everything of the highest standard? No, I couldn’t.

2. Would it be right to push someone to the head of the queue because they had booked a ticket without a visa? No, I don’t think it would be right at all. And on that note, I don’t think the Embassy feel like pushing other applicants aside to accommodate a latecomer either.

On that second point, maybe if Down Under Visa were new in town and were tossing paper aeroplanes around the office to kill time, maybe we could do that rush job. But that’s not the case at all. We are good at what we do, therefore we don’t have spare time to fill. And who would you rather deal with anyway? A Registered Migration Agent with plenty of work to do because they are good and enjoy a great reputation, or the other one with nothing to do?

Quality comes first with Down Under Visa

Down Under Visa will always put quality first. Yes, I believe we are efficient and will always do all that we can to avoid unnecessary delays. We do know how important this all is to you. But if we have 20 clients with applications that are ready at the same time, then we won’t be lodging yours the next day. And we will not compromise our quality systems and our extensive double-checking of everything in order to save a few days right at the end. Because this is what makes the difference between visa grants and visa refusals.