PETALING JAYA: The long-awaited reopening of Australia’s borders comes as a relief to many Malaysians intending to travel Down Under but it has brought about a dilemma – uncertainty in obtaining a travel visa.
Checks showed that there were cases of couples having only one of their applications approved, and the other put on hold with more details sought by Australian authorities.
Some going for holidays also had a rude shock when their tourist visa applications were rejected outright.
Businessman S. Jaikishin, 56, who intended to visit his two children in Melbourne, said his wife’s visa application was approved swiftly while his was not, as more information was sought.
“They wanted my financial and employment status, and I submitted this in mid-February. But there has been no response since then,” he said, adding that the uncertainty caused him to postpone his trip with his wife.
He said the situation, however, proved to be a blessing in disguise with the reopening of Malaysia’s borders on April 1, as his daughter had decided to visit them in Malaysia instead.
In light of his son’s graduation in Melbourne later this year, Jaikishin will apply for his visa earlier this time.
For businessman D. Kartik, 29, it was a nerve-wracking experience for himself and a group of friends travelling to Australia this Sunday with their visas only having been approved on Thursday evening.
“We had no idea if we could proceed with the trip,” he said, adding that this was the group’s second visa application after their first was rejected.
His previous trip to Australia in 2016 saw his visa application wrapped up within just two hours.
An accountant, who frequented Melbourne regularly before the Covid-19 pandemic, said he was well aware of the current regulations for entry to Australia.
“Despite the reopening of Australia’s borders, I have decided not to travel yet as a precautionary measure,” he said, adding that it had been two years since he last met his family based there.
His visa application for his next visit will be done well in advance just to be on the safe side.
Calvin, 26, said due to concerns of not having his visa approved in a timely manner, he would be applying as early as May to ensure he could attend his graduation ceremony in Perth in September without any hiccup.
“Given that there is an uncertainty, the best I can do is to continue staying updated with information from local and Australian media, alongside official announcements by the Australian government,” he said.
Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia Dr Justin Lee, when contacted, said due to the Covid-19 situation and a high demand for travel, visa processing times were affected which resulted in applications taking longer to be finalised.
“As such, we recommend Malaysians to lodge their applications well in advance of travel and only make the necessary travel arrangements once their visas have been granted,” he said, adding that this applied to all visas.
Lee said all Malaysian passport holders could apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) through the Australian ETA app with notification of their application results within 12 hours.
The ETA is an electronically-stored authority equivalent to a visa, which is linked to a passport number, that allows eligible passport holders to visit Australia for tourism or business visitor activity.Lee said some applications would however require further information to be provided whereby the applicants would be sent a link to complete the “ETA Request for further processing form”, which is submitted to the Department of Home Affairs for consideration.
“Applicants are required to answer all questions before submitting their applications, with incomplete applications also causing a delay in processing,” he said.
On Feb 22, Australia fully reopened its international borders to travellers vaccinated against the coronavirus after nearly two years of being shut.