In Which I Learn Things About One-Worldness

[serinde]

sweh was, as usual, right. You do have to apply for a visa in advance to go a-holidaying in .au. Happily, in these magic modern times, you can do it online in about three minutes.

(I'd assumed it was like visiting .uk, where you just fill out a little card while your flight is descending, and then they grill you for a few minutes on the ground and *bam* you're done. Not so much.)

Comments

[damned-colonial.livejournal.com]

After all the annoyances I've had with INS, I am feeling unreasonable glee at hearing this.

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

I do not blame you one tiny bit.

[must-sew-faster.livejournal.com]

Brings to mind the time I took our exchange student from Kazakhstan up to the school board to register for high school. For some dumb reason, she had a J1 visa instead of the standard F1.
After fussing and fighting with me that it wasn't right, I asked the lady with the paperwork, "What, do you want me to just send her back?"

At least you found out before the plane was landing. :)

[syringavulgaris.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't'a done, if I hadn't had a super-cautious, always-planning-ahead person in my life!

Though I have to suspect they must have some way of dealing with that situation, since your average American traveller just will not think about this stuff.

[arkham1010.livejournal.com]

yeah, thy don't let you onto the plane. :p

[nancaurelia.livejournal.com]

Yes, arkham1010 is right. (ouch! It hurts to say that!)

They would not have let you on the plane. No joke.

And some countries won't grant you a visa until they see that you've paid for a return ticket!

Fortunately, even before the Interwubs, most visas can be obtained very easily here in NYC where you can walk up to the consulate and take care of it in person.

[erinfinnegan.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I remember when I was in 8th grade and had to get an Australian Visa. In 1992 (or '93?) it was more of a pain in the butt... especially with one's mom driving one to city hall and the like.

[querldox.livejournal.com]

Yep, had to get one before my Oz trip a couple of years ago.

The real fun in that area though is New Zealand; you have to pay a, as I recall, $20-25 fee to leave the country, even if you're not a citizen. I did wonder what happened if you refused (what, you have to keep me here if I don't pay), but figured they probably got that question constantly and so didn't bother.

[must-sew-faster.livejournal.com]

Maybe that's their secret plan to someday have the people actually outnumber the sheep?!?

[xlerb.livejournal.com]

And also not like Schengen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schengen_zone)-land, where I just got on the plane, and then got off the plane N hours later. (To go there. To return, of course, there were forms and a checkpoint and such.)