Application Document Checklist
Application requirements differ from country to country. Before you lodge a visa application, it is important to familiarise yourself with the application form and document checklist on what needs to be provided. The document checklist is available on the VFS Global website when selecting your visa option. If a visa type or document checklist is not available, you can visit www.homeaffairs.gov.au
You should ensure that you lodge a completed visa application. While the department may ask you to provide more information in order to determine whether you meet the criteria for grant of the visa, a decision on the visa application may be made solely on the information provided at the time of application.
The following information relates to frequently asked questions that the Australian High Commission has received from clients.
Question: I have a visa application ready to lodge but do not have a document checklist. Can I still lodge my visa application?
The idea behind the document checklist is that the department can immediately allocate the application for assessment and look to finalise the application. If the application is incomplete and does not contain all the relevant supporting documentation, you will experience delays in the process. Furthermore, the decision-maker may assess your application based on what is before them.
In such a situation, you should download the document checklist relevant to your visa application and make sure to provide all the necessary supporting documentation listed.
Question: Will the case officer request additional information and/or documents for my visa application?
It is your responsibility to ensure that a complete application is provided to the Department. All cases, including those relying on exceptional circumstances, need to be lodged in full. It should not be anticipated that the case officer will consult you before making a decision. In some rare instances the case officer may want to clarify something on the application, but contact from the case officer after lodgement and in advance of the decision should not be an expectation.
Question: In the past I have lodged applications with less documentation than what is prescribed in the document checklist. Do I really need to provide all the documents in the checklist?
The checklists outline the maximum documents required for a high risk or complicated application. For some, applicants will not need all of the items specified on the checklist. For example, the letter of support supplied by your employer on your employment, qualifications and reason for trip may address more than one item on the checklist.
We suggest that you comment on the checklist where you are not providing a piece of evidence and provide a brief explanation to explain why you believe this evidence is unnecessary in this case. If the case officers believe that the information is necessary, but they believe that the judgement call made by you was reasonable, they will continue to process the application. However if the call made was unreasonable in the case officer’s view the case may be considered incomplete.
Question: Do I need to provide copies of previous international travel from my current and expired passports?
Yes. If copies of travel stamps and visas from your current and expired passports are not supplied it will be assumed that you have never travelled internationally.