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.

[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. :)

[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.

[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.)