Aussie embassy imposes stricter visa procedures

Australia said the other day it was instituting stricter visa application procedures at its embassy in the Philippines, which was shuttered for a month late last year due to fears of a terrorist attack.

Applicants for travel papers into Australia will no longer be allowed to enter the mission premises without a prior appointment arranged through a call center, an embassy statement said.

"Persons seeking services from the visa office will not be allowed to enter the embassy without a prior appointment," it said.

Australia shut down its Manila mission on Nov. 28, citing specific and credible threats of a terrorist attack by Muslim militants.

However, it turned out that the basis of the supposed threats was an unverified report from then Manila police intelligence chief Superintendent George Gaddi. Canada and the representative office of the European Union followed suit.

The closures angered Manila. All three missions later announced that they were reopening the embassies in January while not discounting the possibility of moving their operations to more secure premises.

The Australian embassy said that from Jan. 6, applications for tourist or business visas must be lodged by way of a courier service, which will then collect and return the travel papers to them after seven working days.

Previously, applicants were made to line up outside the embassy premises before being ushered into an upper floor waiting room and interviewed. – AFP