No longer accepting appointments for 820/801 application in person

[Dan Mears]

As the switch has now been made to online apps for 820/801 DIAC will no longer arrange a physical appointment to lodge an application at a DIAC office. As neither of us are credit card holders and thus can't pay the fee by post, do you know if we attend in person without an appointment will they allow us to pay there and then? I forgot to ask this on the phone and don't fancy waiting half an hour again!

 

And I don't fancy starting an online application after spending so long on the paper based! :skeptical:

 

Thanks!

[Adam Grey]

You should be able to 'pre-pay' a Visa Application Charge at the DIBP and then attached the receipt to the posted application.

[Dan Mears]

Thanks Adam, helpful as always. Do you think this is a better option than sending a cheque, it should speed up the process by a few days should it not? By the way if I can probe you for more info, my 417 runs out on 03/01/14, do I need to state in my covering letter that I wish to apply for BVB or will they automatically check this? Do you have to wait to be assigned a C/O before your bridging visa is applied or will they do this before? My reasoning being that I'm pretty sure my 417 will expire before a C/O will be assigned...

[Adam Grey]

I must admit I've never experienced someone paying by cheque so wouldn't be able to say for sure, but I'd assume waiting for it to clear etc wouldn't be faster.

 

Applying validly onshore, you'll automatically get a Bridging Visa A which will then come into effect when your 417 expires. If you want to leave the country and return you'll need to apply separately for a Bridging Visa B.

[blossom]

It doesn't have to be a credit card. An efpos card with the visa or MasterCard symbol are fine too. You will have to check what your daily spend limit is though at your bank and maybe up it. They seem to keep them quite low.