As many will know, the Department of Immigration’s Visa Application Charges (VACs) for Contributory Parent Visas are not cheap – particularly the main VACs payable immediately prior to the granting of the visa.
For a single applicant these presently amount to A$43,600; for a couple the VACs total A$87,200.
The Department of Immigration is happy to accept a payment by credit card, but will levy a surcharge for this: presently, the surcharge when paying by VISA or MasterCard is 0.98%.
This means there is an additional cost of A$427.28 when the VAC for a single applicant is paid by VISA or MasterCard, or A$854.56 when using a VISA or MasterCard to pay the VACs for a couple.
Added to this, the rate of exchange if using a credit card denominated in a currency other than A$’s will be to the advantage of the card issuer.
For this reason we suggest that applicants for Contributory Parent Visas consider arranging a bank draft to pay the main VACs.
Rather than obtaining an A$ bank draft through a High Street bank we recommend approaching one of the specialist forex companies to obtain a bank draft denominated in A$’s.
We are aware of the following 3 specialist forex companies in the UK that can arrange bank drafts – we invite those who need to make a payment to the Department of Immigration to make enquiry of one or more of these companies as to how they might help.
- HiFX, T (UK) 01753 752 740
- Halo Financial, T (UK) 020 7350 5473
- Moneycorp, T (UK) 020 3823 0204
The same companies can also assist with the transfer of funds to your bank account in Australia in due course; their rates of exchange when selling £’s to buy A$’s are likely to be a significant improvement on the rates available from the High Street banks.
Please feel able to mention Go Matilda Visas if you are asked how you heard of them!
