Changes to Australian Visa Application Processing in China Announced

Australia’s Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) is introducing two key changes that will affect the way applicants will receive the Australian visa services based on their place of residence effective from September 03,  2012.

Australian Visa Application Centers (AVACs) and Visa Processing Centers are being created at various locations in China to provide easy access to Australian visa services to the Chinese nationals. These centers will start working from September 03, 2012.

Australian visa applicants living in provinces within the Beijing and Shanghai catchment areas and wish to apply for Australian visas will have to submit their visa application in most cases at an AVAC in either Beijing or Shanghai.

VFS Global has been contracted to open tow Australian Visa Application Centers in Beijing and Shanghai. These AVACs will facilitate the applicants to receive Australian immigration and visa services through greater access to information, extended service hours and streamlined processing.

The main role of the AVACs will be to receive visa applications, provide basic immigration and visa information to clients to facilitate filing their application, collect visa application fees and provide the clients with an application tracking number allowing them to track their application online.

In addition to the introduction of AVACs, there will also be changes to where certain visa applications are processed in China from 3 September.

Consolidating visa processing for certain visa applications into these processing centres will enable a greater level of consistency in processing and decision-making and will improve the service DIAC provides to clients in this region.

Applicants residing in the Guangzhou catchment submitting applications in person or by post for an Australian visa will continue to submit their application directly with the Australian Visa Office at the Australian Consulate in Guangzhou.

However, there will be no change to the current lodgement and processing arrangements for Government officials applying via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) or their local Foreign Affairs Office (FAO), Australian Destination Status (ADS) travel or Australian citizenship applications which should continue to be lodged directly with the nearest Australian Visa Office.

Tags: Australia, Australia Visa Application Center, Beijing, China, Department of Immigration and Citizenship, DIAC, Shanghai