World Youth Day Visa Application Deadline Nears

World Youth Day Deadline Nears

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) today called on prospective World Youth Day pilgrims from overseas to immediately lodge their visa applications.

'Tens of thousands of applications are still expected and my department can only guarantee that applications lodged before June 1 will be finalised in time for World Youth Day,' a departmental spokesman said.

'This date is rapidly approaching and now is the time for pilgrims who haven't yet applied for their visas to act.

'Although the department will do its best to finalise late applications in time, it would be disappointing for pilgrims to miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity because they left their visa application too late.'

DIAC has now issued more than 30 000 visas to World Youth Day participants from around the world.

The number of visas issued for pilgrims has tripled in the past six weeks.

The department also has 5600 applications under assessment and organisers are expecting about 4000 pilgrims from New Zealand who do not normally need to apply for a visa before they travel.

'To put this in perspective, World Youth Day now rivals the 2006 Commonwealth Games in terms of international visitors and the applications continue to flow in,' the spokesman said.

World Youth Day pilgrims who are eligible for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) may choose to apply for their visa at the same time as registering to attend World Youth Day.

The first step for pilgrims from other countries is also to register for the event but, in addition, they will need to complete a paper application form and send it to their nearest Australian Immigration office.

ENDS

Latest World News | Top World News | World Digest | Archives | RSS

© Scoop Media