Highlights
- Australia charges nearly $400 for extending tourist visas during Covid-19
- India has granted free visa extensions to all tourists stranded there
- Indian tourists in Australia feel a developed nation should be 'considerate'
With international border closures, tourists in most countries have been stuck wherever they were at the time of this announcement.
Their visas or stay stipulations had to be extended to enable them to remain wherever they were. While Australia has charged its tourists for extending their visas, India has provided extension on gratis basis, i.e. free of charge.
Speaking with SBS Punjabi, such tourists stranded in Australia and India compare their thoughts about the visa extension process they had to undergo, especially its financial aspect.
The cost of compulsion
Avtar Singh Kalsi and his wife, Paramjit Kalsi came to Melbourne from Punjab’s capital city, Chandigarh, earlier this year to spend time with their daughter on a three month-visitor visa.
“Our return flight was on March 21, and our visa expiry date was March 27. But due to the lockdown in both countries, we had no choice but to stay on in Australia. To do this, we had no choice but to get a visa extension,” says Mr Kalsi.
This compulsion cost the couple a significant amount of money.
“In addition to the visa extension fee of $375, we had to pay $340 for a mandatory medical check-up. Then came a local insurance policy, and the migration agent’s fee of $300. This process, which was not of our making, cost us $1150 per person,” says Mr Kalsi, who had to pay over $2200 for himself and his wife.
Aside from the money, the couple spent a month-and-a-half waiting for their visa to be extended by three months.
“They granted us a granted bridging visa during the waiting period. The cost of remaining in Australia is unnecessary and too high,” he rues.
“We are retired people with no source of income in Australia. For us, $2200 means over 100,000 Indian rupees,” Mr Kalsi adds.
'If India can, why can't Australia?'
“On the other hand,”, says Mr Kalsi, “the Indian government has given free visa extensions to tourists and an additional 30-days free-of-cost to leave the country after the international flights resume”.
He juxtaposes the tourist visa policies of both countries during the coronavirus crisis, based on their global socio-economic status.
“India is a developing nation, whereas Australia is a developed nation. Australia could have spared tourists this extra burden. They should have been more considerate about tourists,” he comments.
Chipping in, Mrs Kalsi says, “If India could be considerate despite being a developing nation, what stops Australia? This situation was not in the hands of tourists.”
Free visa extension plus 30 days to leave
Like many such tourists, Di Ball from Brisbane is currently stranded in India. And like every other tourist whose visa is approaching its expiry date, she needs an extension too.
But she says she has not paid anything to get that done.
“As soon as commercial international travel starts, foreigners have 30 days to return to Australia before the Indian government asks us to pay for a visa extension,” Ms Ball says over the phone from the southern Indian state of Kerela.
When told about Australia’s visa extension process and fees, Ms Ball exclaims, “thank heavens, I’m not a foreigner in Australia during the Covid-19 crisis”.
Di Ball is stranded in India. Source: Supplied
However, Ms Ball explains that the Indian tourist visa extension policy isn’t automatic.
‘You have to apply online with the Foreigner Regional Registration Office (FRRO),” she adds.
'Tourists should be accommodated'
Analysing this situation, Melbourne-based migration adviser Navjot Singh Kailay says that because the Covid-19 outbreak created compelling circumstances “tourists had no choice but to cough up this money”.
“Many tourists stuck in Australia right now are parents of Australian-Indians. They weren’t even prepared for this expense, which is quite high,” says Mr Kailay.
“The offshore visa extension fee is around $140 while onshore, it rises to around $365. In addition, the cost of the government’s compulsory medical check-up and a migration agent’s fee has made this extension tedious and expensive,” he adds.
Further, Mr Kailay says, “the Australian government, should have waived off the no-further stay condition, 8503, automatically from tourist visas and extended them for free like New Zealand and India have done”.
Navjot Singh Kailay is a Melbourne-based migration adviser. Source: Supplied
This, he explains, “would have spared the immigration department the extra work of processing such requests and tourists, the expense of visa extension.”
“Migration advisers like myself have reduced their fees by half these days because this is a financially stressful time for almost everyone. When the community is supporting each other, if the government could give some relief to those on visitor visas, it would have been appreciated,” he adds.
However, he adds that while Australia has launched a free-of-charge visa in the current coronavirus scenario, called the Temporary Activity visa (subclass 408), everyone doesn’t meet its criteria.
“As far I know, it hasn’t been granted to anyone so far. Many people have applied for it while on a visitor visa. That is not the most appropriate application for visitor visa holders because subclass 408 is for applicants ineligible for any other visa,” he signs off.
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