Unspun

Its been a bitch to deal with the Australian Embassy in Jakarta since September 2004, when terrorists set off a bomb in front of the building. For good reasons the building is protected tighter than Fort Knox and trying to speak to an officer about your visa requirements is almost next to impossible.

Help, however is at hand. According to a circular of the Indonesian Australian Business Council the Australian Embassy is seeking to improve its service to visa clients. New Australian Visa Service Delivery arrangements will take effect in mid November.

Australia recently tendered for a Service Delivery Partner, to provide a ‘shop front’ for dealing with the Immigration Section, which will open in mid November. The Centre will provide improved access to visa services including longer opening hours than the embassy, a telephone enquiry service, and it will be available to the public as well as travel and student agents.

Visa decisions will continue to be made in the embassy. Immigration expects that all applications for tourist and student visas will be made at the Visa Application Centre and passports will be returned via the Centre.

This is good news indeed as Australia is a pretty fun place to visit, as Unspun rediscovered in a recent visit.