Ok I got my visa in my passport and am really looking forward to going to Oz with my wife, but I have suddenly become paranoid that the visa in my passport isnt real and that when I get to Oz they will say "Sorry Sir thats not genuine"..Anyone else had these thoughts?

no

I did, stupid thoughts really

No just you

Maybe its because its all gone smoothly up to now I really cant believe its been this easy

The sticker isn't the visa. It's the evidence of the visa. The visa is an electronic record in the DIMIA computer.

You're losing it, Fenton.

Actually, I used to get worried when faced with passport control that they'd discover my criminal past and arrest me. Instead they said 'Welcome to Australia' and pushed me through.

When I went to live in America, I landed at JFK airport and the immigration official asked me if I 'was know or had ever been a member of the communist party' - and I said, 'No, comrade officer'. And the ****ers interrogated me for four hours. Lesson learned there.

When I was in the police I used to precede all ranks with 'Comrade'. It quite ammused me. I also had a Lenin tie pin.

I don't think that Comrade Superintendent Stripp was so keen on it though.

S

You were in the police?!! Cool.













I was looking for someone in finance though.

Hey,

Australia operates an "Advanced Passenger Movement System", which means that before you fly to Australia, the airline must electronically input your passport details into their system, with the system telling them whether you have a visa. So, if they let you get on the plane, you know that the visa is genuine!

We've already got our visa and been out to validate it.

But last night, out on a walk, my husband says that he has this fear that when we get to Oz this time (after having sold the house and shipped all our belongings), the customs officer will scan our passports and then say: "Hmm, there seems to be a problem, Sir" .... and then we'll find ourselves on a plane back to the UK.

So, Fenton, you're not the only one having those thoughts.

Gina

I have dreams that I will be on my way back to Aus from the UK sometime, and the Immigration guys will tell me my visa is invalid and I have to stay in the UK......and they're dreams not nightmares

Actually, here's a funny thing. When we arrived at the airport and checked in to passport control, we were told by the man at the gate that the children's new Australian passports weren't valid.
Apparently, because they hadn't been used, they were suspect.
My heart absolutely sank and my panic rate shot up...
So then I got really bolshy, and asked how the hell anyone went travelling when they got a replacement passport. The guy answered that because the children weren't travelling from Australia with their Australian passports, they weren't allowed to do it from Heathrow.
At this point a supervisor took a glance at them and just waved us through. I have no idea to this day what happened, as there was no adequate explanation given, but it made the 'leaving' of the UK very horrid for a few minutes.