Jill G Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 19 hours ago, moliere19 said: A beacon of hope for anyone still waiting for their visa after receiving their travel exemption. Our travel exemption was approved in late November and ever since we have been sweating on getting the visa even having to cancel flights we had booked for late December. Then this morning our visas arrived, yipee! Having said that I don't think it just happened without prompting. We had already emailed the eVisitor helpdesk in December but got no response (perhaps closed for Xmas/New Year?) so we again sent an email to them last Saturday and the email we received today, with the visas attached to it, was from the helpdesk. There are 2 email addresses for the helpdesk, one that seems to work and the other one that doesn't. For anyone who may need to try this avenue the email address we used successfully is: evisitor.helpdesk@homeaffairs.gov.au Hopefully this will work for you but just to also advise that we got our daughter to contact her local MP to try and put some pressure on immi to sort our case out. They were closed until Monday 10th January but when they returned they immediately called our daughter and then emailed her requesting all the details so they could resolve the issue. I'm not sure all MP's will be so proactive and treat it with urgency but at least they were prepare to take on our case if it wouldn't have been resolved by the visas being granted today. Thank you to all of you that has provided guidance and advice to us during this stressful time and good luck everyone. Andrew Congratulations Andrew, could you give me the email address for the eVisitor help desk please. I'll try that route. Many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moliere19 Posted January 12, 2022 Share Posted January 12, 2022 2 hours ago, Jill G said: Congratulations Andrew, could you give me the email address for the eVisitor help desk please. I'll try that route. Many thanks Hi Jill, The email address we used, as shown in the post, is: evisitor.helpdesk@homeaffairs.gov.au Good luck Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill G Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 19 hours ago, moliere19 said: Hi Jill, The email address we used, as shown in the post, is: evisitor.helpdesk@homeaffairs.gov.au Good luck Andrew Thank you so much Andrew, I'll email them straight away Jill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowbow Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 Hi - does anyone know how long a travel exemption and visitor visa is valid for prior to using it? E.g. could my mother start the process now even if she didn't actually want to fly until say March? Given the uncertainty around timings for approvals I'd be minded to get the ball rolling, but obviously don't want to do that only for the exemption/visitor visa to expire before they need to be used! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moliere19 Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 20 minutes ago, bowbow said: Hi - does anyone know how long a travel exemption and visitor visa is valid for prior to using it? E.g. could my mother start the process now even if she didn't actually want to fly until say March? Given the uncertainty around timings for approvals I'd be minded to get the ball rolling, but obviously don't want to do that only for the exemption/visitor visa to expire before they need to be used! My suggestion would be to apply for the visa immediately as even the E visitor visa is valid for 12 months. You can’t apply for the travel exemption until 2 months before the date of travel but these seem to come through in a few days in our experience. Make sure you include the visa application reference number on the travel exemption request. There is a drop down box on the form asking about visa. Tick applied and add the visa reference and hopefully you should be ok. Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill G Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 On 12/01/2022 at 11:46, moliere19 said: Hi Jill, The email address we used, as shown in the post, is: evisitor.helpdesk@homeaffairs.gov.au Good luck Andrew Visas issued today!! Followed Andrew's advice, emailed evisitor.helpdesk@homeaffairs.gov.au. received a reply within 24 hours Thank you SO much Andrew. The chat page is sooo helpful. Flights booked for next week. Cant see family after two long years. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moliere19 Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 3 hours ago, Jill G said: Visas issued today!! Followed Andrew's advice, emailed evisitor.helpdesk@homeaffairs.gov.au. received a reply within 24 hours Thank you SO much Andrew. The chat page is sooo helpful. Flights booked for next week. Cant see family after two long years. Woo Hoo Jill! Well done, brilliant news and great that it worked. Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Culterguy Posted January 14, 2022 Share Posted January 14, 2022 Fantastic result, well done Andrew for sharing. I don’t know where you found the email address, I looked everywhere on Immi site. Have a good trip Jill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowbow Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Hi again all, I'm just helping my mother with her travel exemption (her eVisitor visa has been granted). It asks for intended travel date. Does it matter if, in reality, she ends up travelling a week or two later? From the above I assume not, but it's always dangerous to assume! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavers Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 1 hour ago, bowbow said: Hi again all, I'm just helping my mother with her travel exemption (her eVisitor visa has been granted). It asks for intended travel date. Does it matter if, in reality, she ends up travelling a week or two later? From the above I assume not, but it's always dangerous to assume! You need to apply for an exemption at least two weeks, but not more than two months, before your planned travel. That is the official line on the exemption, I got one for my mother in law mid Nov with a travel of date of 10th Jan, she is now flying 31st Jan so I applied for a new exemption last week just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Culterguy Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Confirmation of this advice has been recorded in Australia’s electronic visa system. You do not need to re-apply for an exemption if flight details change. Our exemption document says above in the first section, so seems you do not need to re-apply. The Travel Declaration is much more definitive about date of travel, in that it has to be filled our within 72 hours of travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavers Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 28 minutes ago, Culterguy said: Confirmation of this advice has been recorded in Australia’s electronic visa system. You do not need to re-apply for an exemption if flight details change. Our exemption document says above in the first section, so seems you do not need to re-apply. The Travel Declaration is much more definitive about date of travel, in that it has to be filled our within 72 hours of travel. Yeah I noticed that, just reapplied just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucasC Posted January 19, 2022 Share Posted January 19, 2022 Hi all, I've been following this forum for advice on my own situation so thanks to everyone for sharing. I thought I would share my own situation with you. I am an Australian citizen trying to return home from the UK for a visit with my Greek wife and infant son who is British. I applied for both evisitor visas on 9th Jan and my son's was immediately approved. I applied for exemption on the 10th Jan using the TRN from both visa applications and received approval of exemption for both on the 11th Jan. We are still waiting for my wife's evisitor to be approved. I have since tried sending an email to the evisitor heldesk email address that someone kindly provided but after 48 hours the application hasn't moved. I had no idea that the evisitor visa would take so long and given that it's been 8 days following a successful exemption I can only assume that we've slipped through the net into the 7 month processing pile :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavers Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 So you got my 2nd exemption back and it came back as duplicate request, another exemption not needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip1 Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 (edited) 20 hours ago, LucasC said: Hi all, I've been following this forum for advice on my own situation so thanks to everyone for sharing. I thought I would share my own situation with you. I am an Australian citizen trying to return home from the UK for a visit with my Greek wife and infant son who is British. I applied for both evisitor visas on 9th Jan and my son's was immediately approved. I applied for exemption on the 10th Jan using the TRN from both visa applications and received approval of exemption for both on the 11th Jan. We are still waiting for my wife's evisitor to be approved. I have since tried sending an email to the evisitor heldesk email address that someone kindly provided but after 48 hours the application hasn't moved. I had no idea that the evisitor visa would take so long and given that it's been 8 days following a successful exemption I can only assume that we've slipped through the net into the 7 month processing pile It seems it’s very hit and miss. I applied for an evisitor on 27th December and I’m still waiting. The exemption came through within two days but still no visa. I have sent two emails over the last 10 days but still nothing. Very frustrating. I just hope it comes through in time for my trip. I don’t have the luxury of putting the trip off by a few weeks or until the visa comes through. At work we have a strict one person off at a time policy and if I miss the time off I’ve secured I’ve had it. Fingers crossed we both hear soon, good luck. I’m tempted to do another visa application but I’m not sure if that will mess up my existing one and the TRN wouldn’t match what I put on my exemption application. Edited January 20, 2022 by Tulip1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbaragilloran Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 2 hours ago, Tulip1 said: It seems it’s very hit and miss. I applied for an evisitor on 27th December and I’m still waiting. The exemption came through within two days but still no visa. I have sent two emails over the last 10 days but still nothing. Very frustrating. I just hope it comes through in time for my trip. I don’t have the luxury of putting the trip off by a few weeks or until the visa comes through. At work we have a strict one person off at a time policy and if I miss the time off I’ve secured I’ve had it. Fingers crossed we both hear soon, good luck. I’m tempted to do another visa application but I’m not sure if that will mess up my existing one and the TRN wouldn’t match what I put on my exemption application. Yes. I think its arbitrary. My husband and I got travel exemptions really quickly. (Parents of permanent residents) My visa came through 2 days later on 24 December. My husband is still waiting. We have tried the email address to ask for help but no reply. We edited his visa application to add in exemption confirmation. Again no response. So frustrating. Cant think of anything else to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucasC Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 3 hours ago, Tulip1 said: It seems it’s very hit and miss. I applied for an evisitor on 27th December and I’m still waiting. The exemption came through within two days but still no visa. I have sent two emails over the last 10 days but still nothing. Very frustrating. I just hope it comes through in time for my trip. I don’t have the luxury of putting the trip off by a few weeks or until the visa comes through. At work we have a strict one person off at a time policy and if I miss the time off I’ve secured I’ve had it. Fingers crossed we both hear soon, good luck. I’m tempted to do another visa application but I’m not sure if that will mess up my existing one and the TRN wouldn’t match what I put on my exemption application. Thanks for sharing. So long as you're confident you entered all the details correctly I wouldn't reapply. We added a PDF of the confirmation of the exemption to the visa application but it makes no difference since it's linked to the TRN. It's disappointing that even though the exemption is granted and the TRN is linked to it that the visa isn't then automatically granted. It's bizarre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucasC Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 27 minutes ago, barbaragilloran said: Yes. I think its arbitrary. My husband and I got travel exemptions really quickly. (Parents of permanent residents) My visa came through 2 days later on 24 December. My husband is still waiting. We have tried the email address to ask for help but no reply. We edited his visa application to add in exemption confirmation. Again no response. So frustrating. Cant think of anything else to do. Do you mind me asking if you are both the same nationality? I'm thinking that because my son's was approved immediately (he's British) and my wife's (Greek) is still on the processing pile that they process nationalities in an order of priority. We're due to travel on 29th Jan but that's totally not happening. Lucky my employer is being flexible and my bookings can all be moved 2 weeks into the future. But how long can I keep doing that?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbaragilloran Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 1 hour ago, LucasC said: Do you mind me asking if you are both the same nationality? I'm thinking that because my son's was approved immediately (he's British) and my wife's (Greek) is still on the processing pile that they process nationalities in an order of priority. We're due to travel on 29th Jan but that's totally not happening. Lucky my employer is being flexible and my bookings can all be moved 2 weeks into the future. But how long can I keep doing that?? Hi, yes we're both the same nationality - UK. Even more arbitrary! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip1 Posted January 20, 2022 Share Posted January 20, 2022 I hope no ones planning to go to Perth as it’s just been announced they aren’t opening borders now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip1 Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 My 651 visa has been granted. Oh the irony. The day I find out I can no longer visit family in Perth I get my visa approved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucasC Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 2 hours ago, Tulip1 said: My 651 visa has been granted. Oh the irony. The day I find out I can no longer visit family in Perth I get my visa approved. That's great news but such a shame about about the restrictions in WA. They were meant to open up on 5th Feb. Very disappointing they went back on their word. I bet a lot of travel plans are disrupted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbaragilloran Posted January 21, 2022 Share Posted January 21, 2022 3 hours ago, Tulip1 said: My 651 visa has been granted. Oh the irony. The day I find out I can no longer visit family in Perth I get my visa approved. Such a roller coaster. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulaMJ Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 Hi everyone. Thank you for all the information. Myself and husband are hoping to go to Australia in March to see our children and meet new grandchildren. We applied for the visa and exemption last week and I was beginning to really worry that we hadn't heard about either but having read these comments, it's put my mind at ease a little ......I'll start panicking in a couple of weeks!! Can't wait to go and hope we don't have to move our dates. I hope all of you who are still waiting, receive your visa/exemption soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Culterguy Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 Paula, Outcome of applications all over the place. I talked a friend through the process a few days ago. Pointing out the best otcome resulting when you apply for visa first. Then putting TRN from visa application into Exemption. She called me back, within the hour said she had visa approved!! Go figure! She still needs her Exemption of course, but everyone seems to get that within a few days good luck John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.