A little bit background how I came up going to Australia - my college schoolmate is already an Australian citizen since he left the country way back 2011 and manage to live here with his mom and stepdad. To make the long story short, this schoolmate is now the loml and he invited me to visit him in Brisbane Australia.
Here's how I process my application:
1. I created an Immi account - all you need to do is to follow the steps carefully in creating an account. You need to provide all your information since this is your ONLY way to communicate with the Australian Embassy.
2. Once you already have an account, you need to choose the visa that you're applying. I chose TOURIST STREAM (apply outside Australia) subclass 600. There are questions that you need to answer and please answer them truthfully. At the end of the questions, you will ask to provide your supporting documents.
Documents that I've provided:
- Birth certificate
- Passport
- Updated photo with white background - size requirement is on the Immi website
- 3 months payslip
- Certificate of Employment
- Bank Certificate - I only have around A$1000
- Invitation letter
- Sponsor's payslip - this is very important since this will determine if your sponsor can support your stay in Australia
- Sponsor's Certificate of Citizenship
- Sponsors's Certificate of Employment
- Some of your photos with your sponsor
Note: If you cannot finish answering the questions, hit SAVE and do not submit, so the next time to log in, you can just continue answering.
I also read other blogs and they mentioned that you can also submit a cover letter - but for my case, I already submitted my application before I found those blogs so I didn't submit one.
3. Once the documents are all completed and you're done answering all the questions, you will receive an acknowledgement email that the embassy received your application. Your answers in the questions will determine if you need to undergo a medical assessment. For me, YES because I choose the 3 month stay. You need to arrange the medical exam within 22 days you received the email. I went to Nationwide Health Systems Aux Inc. in Makati. I paid less than 8000 pesos for the whole process of the medical exam.
4. Once you're done, wait for 3-5 days as the clinic will forward the result to the embassy.
5. You can always check your Immi account to see the progress of your application.
Note: I submitted my application September 12, 2019, did the medical exam September 24, 2019 and received my APPROVED tourist visa on October 9, 2019.
Note: excuse my haggard face. I'm freaking tired of my 13-hour flight but finally, I arrived in Brisbane Australia safely.
PPS: Please note that this is my personal experience applying the tourist visa - my experience and your experience maybe different.
