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Australian visa made easy

DUBAI - Visa seekers to Australia will no longer have to travel to the Australian High commission and can now lodge their applications at two new visa application and collection centres in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

The new centre in Dubai will accept passports and applications for visa processing from GCC residents and will work six days a week for the anticipated summer rush.

Noel Campbell, Australian Ambassador to the UAE, said that the decision was a part of the new user-friendly arrangements which the commission was looking into to provide efficient and hassle free service to the community.

"This move comes as a part of our system of internal improvement which aims to reduce the inconvenience faced by visitors to the commission and improve efficiency in our services as well. We have in a sense become a victim of our own success and the most practical way of dealing with this problem was to bring in cleverer and smarter ways in improve our efficiency. Both the UAE and Australia are enjoying excellent relationships between them and traffic to and from Australia is increasing steadily," he said.

The Australian high commission issues nearly 600-800 visas every month and the number of visas processed last year was almost 12,000. These numbers are expected to go up during the summer months and the new centres aim to reduce the long queue's which inevitably come up due to the peak season. Applicants will now no longer be required to apply directly to the Australian consulate in Dubai, which sometimes involved significant travel and inconvenience,

The new arrangements will be in addition to the electronic visa application facility now available to UAE and Kuwaiti nationals. In addition to this, the office has also tied up with Aramex, in helping to facilitate visa processing for residents outside the UAE in other GCC states.

Any person wishing to apply for a visa can go to the Aramex office and obtain all the documents required for the application.