Australia hates me...

[Thrak]

I had to do a Supplemental Info form for my Australian Visa application. It's a simple form but... Once it's filled out it has to be attached to the application and it bombs every time. It says the form is "encrypted" and denies it. I have saved it with a new name. Nope. I have "printed to pdf". Nope. I have emailed it to myself and saved the attachment. Nope. The stupid government form can't be attached to the other stupid government form. What's up with that???

[Ozwoody]

56 minutes ago, Thrak said:

I had to do a Supplemental Info form for my Australian Visa application. It's a simple form but... Once it's filled out it has to be attached to the application and it bombs every time. It says the form is "encrypted" and denies it. I have saved it with a new name. Nope. I have "printed to pdf". Nope. I have emailed it to myself and saved the attachment. Nope. The stupid government form can't be attached to the other stupid government form. What's up with that???

😄As most Assies have never filled out an Australian Visa application, so not sure how much help we can give you, but two suggestion I might make.

1. Have you tried contacting your local Australian consulate?

2. have you tried a jpg instead of a pdf, some times I find that helps.

 

Best of luck with a solution.

Regards

[LittleFish1976]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

I had to do a Supplemental Info form for my Australian Visa application. It's a simple form but... Once it's filled out it has to be attached to the application and it bombs every time. It says the form is "encrypted" and denies it. I have saved it with a new name. Nope. I have "printed to pdf". Nope. I have emailed it to myself and saved the attachment. Nope. The stupid government form can't be attached to the other stupid government form. What's up with that???

 

Surely there's a link somewhere on whatever website you're using to request assistance directly from the government agency?

 

Are you using an official Australian government website?

 

[Thrak]

Actually I finally got it done. I printed it out, scanned it and saved it as a new PDF. That was accepted. The process is crazy. Sorry for venting - I was just insanely frustrated and worried that the looooooooooong process was going to simply bomb out completely as it was taking so long to get the final piece done. In 1971 I was convicted of possession of marijuana. A very small amount and I was 17 years old but the cautions in the forms were very explicit about any issues - even if they had been sealed. The Australian government doesn't want any hardened criminals of my ilk to just sashay into the country. (A bit ironic considering the history of the early "settlers" 🤪) We've met a lot of Aussies on cruises and they've all been good folks.

 

We've been trying to get a cruise in the area for several years but they have all been cancelled due to Covid. It looks like this time we may actually make it - as long as the visa is approved. We're booked for a B2B2B - 14 days, 4 days, and 14 days - all in the same Caribe deck cabin on Grand Princess. My wife is now making noises about cancelling our flight to Melbourne and, instead, boarding Grand Princess in San Francisco. That would mean 24 days to Sidney, 2 days to Melbourne, 5 days to Adelaide and back to Melbourne and then doing the 32 days we already have booked. I'm not too sure about spending 63 days on Grand Princess though. It seems like a long time on a ship.

[bazzaw]

Please dont insult my GGGGrandfather - it was only a small sheep that he stole in Ireland 😞  BTW - It is no longer compulsory to have a criminal record to come to Australia 🙂 

[cheznandy]

2 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

Please dont insult my GGGGrandfather - it was only a small sheep that he stole in Ireland 😞  BTW - It is no longer compulsory to have a criminal record to come to Australia 🙂 

and mine only stole some money from the Parson for food, 10 years hard labour in Tassie🥰

To the OP, we also have restrictions entering your country with a criminal record.

[Over from NZ]

Australia is over-rated anyhow.. 😁

[OzKiwiJJ]

50 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Actually I finally got it done. I printed it out, scanned it and saved it as a new PDF. That was accepted. The process is crazy. Sorry for venting - I was just insanely frustrated and worried that the looooooooooong process was going to simply bomb out completely as it was taking so long to get the final piece done. In 1971 I was convicted of possession of marijuana. A very small amount and I was 17 years old but the cautions in the forms were very explicit about any issues - even if they had been sealed. The Australian government doesn't want any hardened criminals of my ilk to just sashay into the country. (A bit ironic considering the history of the early "settlers" 🤪) We've met a lot of Aussies on cruises and they've all been good folks.

 

We've been trying to get a cruise in the area for several years but they have all been cancelled due to Covid. It looks like this time we may actually make it - as long as the visa is approved. We're booked for a B2B2B - 14 days, 4 days, and 14 days - all in the same Caribe deck cabin on Grand Princess. My wife is now making noises about cancelling our flight to Melbourne and, instead, boarding Grand Princess in San Francisco. That would mean 24 days to Sidney, 2 days to Melbourne, 5 days to Adelaide and back to Melbourne and then doing the 32 days we already have booked. I'm not too sure about spending 63 days on Grand Princess though. It seems like a long time on a ship.

Only 63 days? Nah, not long enough! 🤣🤣🤣 We're booked on the Aussie world cruise next year. It's 110 days! 😯

[LittleFish1976]

57 minutes ago, Thrak said:

The process is crazy.

 

Rest assured you won't be finger-printed like a criminal suspect when you get here.

[cruiser3775]

48 minutes ago, Thrak said:

I'm not too sure about spending 63 days on Grand Princess though. It seems like a long time on a ship.

The other consideration is that you are only seeing Australian ports, and nothing of the inland. There is much more to Australia than that.  Would you advise someone wanting to see the US to do a cruise only along the coasts?   I would arrive 2-3 weeks earlier into Sydney or Melbourne and do a trip around the countryside and inland before the cruise.

Here's some ideas: https://australianairsafaris.com.au/news/top-40-australian-outback/

https://northernterritory.com/articles/top-10-things-to-do-in-the-nt

https://www.bookmundi.com/t/best-places-to-visit-in-southern-australia

 

You can plan this trip yourself, or there are plenty of companies that will have an organised trip that suits you.

 

[possum52]

52 minutes ago, bazzaw said:

Please dont insult my GGGGrandfather - it was only a small sheep that he stole in Ireland 😞  BTW - It is no longer compulsory to have a criminal record to come to Australia 🙂 

 

39 minutes ago, cheznandy said:

and mine only stole some money from the Parson for food, 10 years hard labour in Tassie🥰

To the OP, we also have restrictions entering your country with a criminal record.

One of mine was a smuggler (transported for life) and his two sons for petty thieving. Another father and son were transported for stealing a hat (he was a hatter) and his son for stealing two sacks of potatoes. All five transported to Tasmania. One of my husband's female ancestors was transported for stealing a handkerchief.

[cheznandy]

5 minutes ago, possum52 said:

 

One of mine was a smuggler (transported for life) and his two sons for petty thieving. Another father and son were transported for stealing a hat (he was a hatter) and his son for stealing two sacks of potatoes. All five transported to Tasmania. One of my husband's female ancestors was transported for stealing a handkerchief.

Hey Leigh, you get less for murder these days.

One G Grandfather came over on the Tortoise in 1852 to Hobart, the other G Grandfather was free settler to NZ, died on the ship and was buried at sea near Wellington, Grandmother and daughters got off in Picton alone, so I am half OZ half NZ haha!

Always wondered why I had a love of the sea, bittersweet🥲

Oh well, not quite off topic, OP named the thread Australia hates me🤣

[clairebearinaus]

3 hours ago, Thrak said:

Actually I finally got it done. I printed it out, scanned it and saved it as a new PDF. That was accepted. The process is crazy. Sorry for venting - I was just insanely frustrated and worried that the looooooooooong process was going to simply bomb out completely as it was taking so long to get the final piece done. In 1971 I was convicted of possession of marijuana. A very small amount and I was 17 years old but the cautions in the forms were very explicit about any issues - even if they had been sealed. The Australian government doesn't want any hardened criminals of my ilk to just sashay into the country. (A bit ironic considering the history of the early "settlers" 🤪) We've met a lot of Aussies on cruises and they've all been good folks.

 

We've been trying to get a cruise in the area for several years but they have all been cancelled due to Covid. It looks like this time we may actually make it - as long as the visa is approved. We're booked for a B2B2B - 14 days, 4 days, and 14 days - all in the same Caribe deck cabin on Grand Princess. My wife is now making noises about cancelling our flight to Melbourne and, instead, boarding Grand Princess in San Francisco. That would mean 24 days to Sidney, 2 days to Melbourne, 5 days to Adelaide and back to Melbourne and then doing the 32 days we already have booked. I'm not too sure about spending 63 days on Grand Princess though. It seems like a long time on a ship.

 

I hope you feel better for unleashing your frustrations on us.

 

Are you aware of how your own government treats visa applicants, especially those with criminal records?

[korky1]

So happy to hear you finally got your visa paperwork sorted out. I hope you have a wonderful time on your Australian cruise and I'm sure you will meet heaps of us nice Aussies on board.  We just got off a 14 day cruise on Majestic yesterday,  in Sydney where we live.  We chatted with quite a few Americans on the cruise and they were all having a wonderful time here.  I'm sure you will too.  Look forward to reading on here about your experiences in "the land down under".

[SinbadThePorter]

7 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

Australia is over-rated anyhow.. 😁

 

Too true. It barely even beats New Zealand!

[JeffroK]

63 days on the Grrand??

We did 13 days over Christmas and were not impressed, she's seen better days.

 

No convicts in my family, jumped ship and went to the Ballarat Goldfields!!

[Gwendy]

9 hours ago, LittleFish1976 said:

 

Rest assured you won't be finger-printed like a criminal suspect when you get here.

Fingerprinted every time I enter US, you would think they would keep them on file.  Last time in NY took forever.

[arxcards]

10 hours ago, Thrak said:

Actually I finally got it done. I printed it out, scanned it and saved it as a new PDF. That was accepted. The process is crazy. Sorry for venting - I was just insanely frustrated and worried that the looooooooooong process was going to simply bomb out completely as it was taking so long to get the final piece done. In 1971 I was convicted of possession of marijuana. A very small amount and I was 17 years old but the cautions in the forms were very explicit about any issues - even if they had been sealed. The Australian government doesn't want any hardened criminals of my ilk to just sashay into the country. (A bit ironic considering the history of the early "settlers" 🤪) We've met a lot of Aussies on cruises and they've all been good folks.

 

We've been trying to get a cruise in the area for several years but they have all been cancelled due to Covid. It looks like this time we may actually make it - as long as the visa is approved. We're booked for a B2B2B - 14 days, 4 days, and 14 days - all in the same Caribe deck cabin on Grand Princess. My wife is now making noises about cancelling our flight to Melbourne and, instead, boarding Grand Princess in San Francisco. That would mean 24 days to Sidney, 2 days to Melbourne, 5 days to Adelaide and back to Melbourne and then doing the 32 days we already have booked. I'm not too sure about spending 63 days on Grand Princess though. It seems like a long time on a ship.

Yes, the processes between countries are overbearing, but there are reasons they want all of the boxes ticked. The same sort of issues arise for Australians travelling to other countries, including the US. Glad you got it sorted.

 

63 days is a long time on a ship but it is in our blood, given the history of our early settlers. I also prefer 26 days on the water than 17 hours in the air.

[Thrak]

13 hours ago, clairebearinaus said:

 

I hope you feel better for unleashing your frustrations on us.

 

Are you aware of how your own government treats visa applicants, especially those with criminal records?

 

Yep. The US isn't the "most friendly" place to visit. It's a pretty odd country in many ways. While Canada and Australia are huge countries they both contain vast areas that are "mostly" uninhabited. The US is also huge but has tooooooo damn many people. (California has more people than Canada.)

 

I'm not saying the Australian government is "unfair". I just get frustrated with any government forms. (US tax forms make me crazy.) They are always a huge pain to me and stress me out. All governments are "picky" about who can visit. Every year a lot of US citizens are surprised when they are denied entry to Canada. If they have had a DUI it has to be 10 years since they have completed any incineration or even probation before they are allowed to cross the border.

[Thrak]

15 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

The other consideration is that you are only seeing Australian ports, and nothing of the inland. There is much more to Australia than that.  Would you advise someone wanting to see the US to do a cruise only along the coasts?   I would arrive 2-3 weeks earlier into Sydney or Melbourne and do a trip around the countryside and inland before the cruise.

Here's some ideas: https://australianairsafaris.com.au/news/top-40-australian-outback/

https://northernterritory.com/articles/top-10-things-to-do-in-the-nt

https://www.bookmundi.com/t/best-places-to-visit-in-southern-australia

 

You can plan this trip yourself, or there are plenty of companies that will have an organised trip that suits you.

 

 

I'm well aware of the limitations of a cruise. It would be great to spend  month or more in Australia and New Zealand but it's just not in the budget. We cruise but we also take multi-week long camping trips here in the US. There's so much to see here at home and most people see very little of what there is. We did a great 7 week camping trip up to Fairbanks, AK which, of course, included camping our way through 3 Canadian provinces - Alberta, British Columbia, an Yukon Territory. It was nice to see a bunch of Canada that wasn't something you got on a cruise.

 

As a point of info when I say "camping" I don't mean luxury travel in a huge motor coach. Here is a picture of our "big rig".

 

 

 

 

[Thrak]

Visa granted. w00t!!!

 

It's unfortunate that the US government feels they have to be so "careful" with folks. I don't think I've ever heard of any Australian terrorists trying to enter the country. After the 911 event they have gotten really picky. Of course we seem to have a zillion folks coming across the southern border and we have a large variety of homegrown crazy wackos. Too many crazies with guns in this country. Too much interference with other countries as well. The only thing the politicians care about is being reelected, holding onto power, and making a bazillion dollars. No wonder other countries look at us and shake their heads. It can be quite embarrassing sometimes to be from the US.

 

Note: My wife asked me to ask a question: What is the best Australian beer to drink when we are there? Good beer - not the Aussie equivalent of Budweiser or Coors. (Bleh....)

[arxcards]

35 minutes ago, Thrak said:

Visa granted. w00t!!!

 

It's unfortunate that the US government feels they have to be so "careful" with folks. I don't think I've ever heard of any Australian terrorists trying to enter the country. After the 911 event they have gotten really picky. Of course we seem to have a zillion folks coming across the southern border and we have a large variety of homegrown crazy wackos. Too many crazies with guns in this country. Too much interference with other countries as well. The only thing the politicians care about is being reelected, holding onto power, and making a bazillion dollars. No wonder other countries look at us and shake their heads. It can be quite embarrassing sometimes to be from the US.

 

Note: My wife asked me to ask a question: What is the best Australian beer to drink when we are there? Good beer - not the Aussie equivalent of Budweiser or Coors. (Bleh....)

Lots of good beers, depending on what your taste is. Also, lots of microbreweries around, I gather you will be in Dunedin, NZ at some stage. Speight's brewery is worth doing a tour of, or Cascade brewery in Hobart. 

 

Funny enough, a couple of the best beers I have tasted are from the US. Correct, not Bud or Coors, but at Alaskan Brewery in Juneau AK.

 

For easy cruise drinking, I will usually opt for Tooheys Extra Dry or Crown Lager. Lots of IPA's down here, but they are not my style.

[lyndarra]

My go to draught beer, pubs and clubs, is Tooheys Old. It's a dark beer. Has been around for yonks.

 

 

[Kangakid]

Great Northern is a firm favourite in our household..

[NSWP]

3 hours ago, lyndarra said:

My go to draught beer, pubs and clubs, is Tooheys Old. It's a dark beer. Has been around for yonks.

 

 

99% sugar free these days, so the more you drink the healthier you get.

 

Was  always my favourite brew. Carlton Black was also good.

 

 

 

Edited March 9, 2023 by NSWP