New Oz online visa scheme clicks with PNG
19 July 2013
AUSTRALIAN PUBLIC SERVICE NEWS
NEW ONLINE VISA lodgement arrangements have been implemented to benefit Papua New Guinea visitors to Australia.
The PNG online visitor initiative will mean visitor visa applicants may apply online from their home or office, or alternatively authorise a third-party agent to lodge an application on their behalf.
Supporting documents that are required with an application, such as a passport, may also be scanned and lodged online directly to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship.
Minister for Immigration, Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship, Tony Burke said the new arrangements would improve services to visa applicants.
“The goal is to ensure we can offer greater convenience to PNG nationals seeking to visit Australia for tourism or business visits, and also to make things simpler for those applicants who have been fully compliant when they have previously been granted a visa,” Mr Burke said.
“The PNG online visitor initiative recognises the uniquely close historical ties between our two countries and Australia's desire to offer as much as we can to our nearest neighbour.
“The number of PNG nationals visiting Australia has been increasing year on year, with 15 656 visitor visa grants in 2011-12, and we expect this initiative will facilitate more people to travel to Australia.”
PNG's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration, Rimbink Pato, said the process was now simplified.
“One of the greatest frustrations for Papua New Guineans has been the amount of documentation required to be provided each time they wanted a visa,” Mr Pato said.
“Australia has agreed that Papua New Guineans who have held a valid Australian visa within the last two years will now only need to provide a form, fee and copy of their passport personal details page.
“Proof of finances, employment and family composition will no longer be required for this group.''
Although PNG is of strategical importance to Australia geographically and in regional politics, for so long Australia has bean treating PNG with unnecessary misgivings on many fronts including PNG'eans wanting Australian visas.
Recently things are beginning to change in favour of PNG.
This is not a surprise. Certainly PNG's 'Look North' policy and the increasing influences of communist China in the region have raised the eyebrows of Canberra.
Posted by: Francis Sina Nii | 19 July 2013 at 07:40 AM