new2forum Posted November 1, 2014 Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 Greetings All, Apologies if this has been asked before. I have some family members in sa who applied for a holiday visa to come to australia for a visit.They applied via flight centre on the 6th of september 2014. Flight Centre told them 21 days is the normal turnaround period for processing.They have not received their visas yet. Each time they call flight centre, they tell them to just be patient.Has anyone had any experience with this issue?Is there anyway I can make enquiries on their behalf from australia?thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magenta Posted November 1, 2014 Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 This is way too long. They should have a visa ref and a number they can phone or email address. Flight Centre must be able to provide this. A visa can take up to a month but almost 2 is far too long. Is it possible that the travel agent did not submit it on 6 Sept? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2forum Posted November 1, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2014 thanks for the reply.thats what i was thinking. they applied for it at flight centre amanzimtoti. (kzn). in the past relatives have applied for it and it arrived within a month, also with flight centre, but different branches. Who can they contact, is it worth following it up over here?has anyone else had recent holiday visa applications approved? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magenta Posted November 3, 2014 Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 I think VFS might still be doing the Ozzie visa. Maybe check on their website. Or contact another flight centre and ask of it it done through VFS. It is very rare that a big consulate like Oz will handle visa applications themselves - it is often out sourced and VFS do the UK visas, so there is a good chance that they will do Oz too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2forum Posted November 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2014 thanks for replying. the issue is that they have already paid a few thousand rand to flight centre...who then handed it to a 3rd party.Its frustrating to say the least because its been about 57 days with no response.could it be the postal strike that caused the delay?has anyone else used flight centre in sa for visas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkz Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 I'm not sure when the direct online applications opened up for S Africa, but we did ours about the 3rd week in October online and received the visa grant notification 12 days later through an email. It's active till October 2017 with stay period of up to 12 months at a time.We contemplated doing it through the agency that we bought our tickets from in June already (for December) but when they mentioned to us that we can now do it online, we opted for that route.My advice is for your parents to go and see the people at flight centre directly and insist that they find out what has happened to their visa applications. Normally they get sent by courier, not by post. There were 2 VFS centres (Cape Town and Johannesburg) but I think the Cape Town one has closed for the Aus visas since it has gone online.Maybe they can just redo it online and get it quickly. Our travel agency does it online for their customers, but obviously have a fee for that, which one can save by doing it yourself. It's pretty straight forward.Good luck and I hope you sort it out soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magenta Posted November 5, 2014 Report Share Posted November 5, 2014 I would try contact Flight Centre's head office. 57 days with absolutely no response in completely unacceptable. FC has charged a fee to handle the visa - they must work for their money!! Can your folks not get in contact with the 3rd party? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2forum Posted November 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 Thanks all for the replies.It is damn frustrating. Its like they are being taken for a ride. I month is understandable, but not 2 months with no reply. Dirkz, are you able to give me the link to which one can apply for a holiday visa online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigvan07 Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 N2F,That is outrageous, I did my in-laws' application online myself, From date of submission to visa grant letter was exactly 12 days, so something is definitely not sitting right here. Tell them to go speak to them face to face and find out what happened, unfortunately there is nothing you can do from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkz Posted November 6, 2014 Report Share Posted November 6, 2014 We did it this way (battled a bit with Safari browser initially but got it done):Start at https://www.immi.gov.au/Visas/Pages/600.aspx and read the info. Then select the tab on top right: "Online services"Now select in the box on the left "Apply for a visa" and in the menu under that select "Visitor"On this page you will find the link to "Visitor visa (subclass 600)" in blue which you follow after reading the info on this page.Good luck ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2forum Posted November 7, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2014 thanks again for the replies. they, or flight centre have referred their application to a 3rd party called : Republic Service of Excellence (ROSE). has anyone dealt with them before?I think its time flight centre take the blame for this, because its now 58 days that their application was submitted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new2forum Posted November 10, 2014 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2014 they finally got it approved after 60 days! thanks for the suggestions though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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