jamiefrod

Hi,

We made a 175 offshore application but are now in Australia on a sponsored visa. We have to leave Australia to validate when we are hopefully granted, just wondered if anyone else has had to do this and if you can go to any country. We are in Perth and are thinking the nearer the better cost wise, so maybe singapore

lovelyshine

Check out Jetstar or Tiger Airways for affordable flights to Singapore. Sometimes tickets are as low as AUD$300.

Pollyana

Good thread on the subject HERE

jamiefrod

thanks for the link

slippery30

Pollyana,

Can i pls ask you to give ur comments on visa stamping...my visa was approved last week...but i havent got the grant letter in post...

Pollyana

Maybe its still in the post Its only Monday you know Unfortunately not being psychic, not knowing where you live or how long the mail takes to get to you I haven't a clue.

slippery30

Hi,

Well its been more than 10 days since visa grant...i am confused as some guys on the forum have reported that visa grant letters are not issued these days..and visa grant emails are considered sufficient..
Just wana check with u if grant letters are posted by DIAC or not?..
many thanks,

Pollyana

I'm a moderator, not an agent. I didn't get a grant letter because my visa was granted over the counter.
I suggest you ask an agent, cos I don't know, sorry

louie

As I understand it, it's "either or".

You either authorise DIAC to communicate with you by email, in which case you get an email and nothing further, or you don't, in which case you get a letter. You don't get both an email and then a letter, it is one or the other.

elmao

We've just gone and done this (for 176 visa, which is similar to 175 except we were sponcsored by a relative): went to NZ (christchurch) for a few days from Melbourne.

You may like to know that its not actually necessary to get the visa stickers in your passport. You can just wait for the visa grant email, print it out and use that instead. Quote from DIAC email after questioning if we had to go to the embassy for the sticker via the online query thingy:

"Dear Sir/Madam,

Thank you for your e-mail about your visa application under Australia’s
General Skilled Migration programme.

I can confirm Region 3 have received your travel details and the case
officer has your file waiting your departure from Australia.

Skilled migrant applicants can only be granted visas once they are outside
Australia.

In our visa grant letters we recommend visa holders have their visas
evidenced in their passport before entry to Australia by an Australian
mission overseas. However, the Migration (1994) Regulations themselves do
not require a visa to be evidenced before arrival in Australia.

If you wish, once you have a visa grant letter, simply approach the
airline check-in counter for your return journey and present the visa
grant letter and the passports for those listed in the letter. The airline
staff will then contact the Department’s Entry Operations Centre in
Canberra to confirm the visa details and permit your uplift to Australia.
Upon arrival in Australia a Departmental official will remind you of the
visa grant(s) and advise you to approach any Immigration office in
Australia to have the visa labels endorsed in your passport(s).
"

We decided to do this as the cheapest flights we could get were with jetstar who only fly to Christchurch (where there is no embassy.)
Had absolutely no problems getting back into australia:

Checking in with Jetstar on the way home last Friday, they just scanned our passports in some machine and handed us our boarding cards...didn't even ask to see our visa grant letter.

Going through Immigration in Melbourne was the same. I started to route around in my bag for the visa grant letter to be told all they needed was our passports - They just stamped at "arrived Melbourne 08/8/08" in them and sent us straight through to baggage collection!

We got the stickers in our visa back in Australia at the DIAC Melbourne office yesterday! So can really fly to any country and don;t need to go to embassy!