Visa, before and after
Well, my Mom is planning to make a trip to Australia. Now, I did not know that getting a Visitor’s Visa for Australia was such a PITA. There was first the application with all the information and loads of paperwork (financial info etc.) for her and my brother in Australia. Then there was the “medical examination” (to be performed by “specific doctor’s” only). This meant, she had to set aside an entire day to visit the doctor. After the doctor completed the tests, she was required to get the travel insurance. Now, remember, all this with the looming uncertainty that she may not even get the Visa. So, anyway – now she has to go another set of medical tests for the benefit of the medical insurance companies. And then finally, she gets approval for her Visa. Sending the passport to get stamped (she is in Mumbai, India and the Australian Consulate is in Delhi), means another 5-7 business days. And, you have to get the tickets, before you submit the passport. Finally, they would only give her a 3 month Visa ….. I shudder to think if she has to go through all this again!
Flight options
Well, anyway – all’s well that end’s well (I guess). So, she has her passport on the way to get stamped, she has her tickets. Unfortunately, Air India does not fly to Australia (I was surprised to learn about it … I would have thought AI goes to most major countries …… or do they not consider Australia to be a major country 
). The reason I was checking out AI, was primarily for language help on the plane. Well, my Mom know English. Hell, she helped me in my studies when I was young. But, when you do not speak it all the time, then you tend to take time understanding it .. especially with all the various accents. The hope was, with AI, she would be able to communicate more easily with the staff, especially when she has to fill the landing/customs card (or the Passenger Incoming Card, as known in Australia). For most other flights, the crew departing from India may have one or more members who would understand Hindi …. but on the second leg, that is where there could be issues. But, well – currently no India airline (AI, Jet Airways) flies to Australia from India.
Checklist
So, Singapore airlines it is. In order to make life a little easy for her, we decided to make a checklist of items for her.
- Of course her Passport (with the Visa stamp) and tickets. These should be in a zipper pouch, with three compartments (one for the passports, one for the tickets, and one for all the papers she would get in the airport … boarding cards, baggage stubs etc.).
- I found a copy of the Australia Incoming Passenger card that she has to fill, on the web (
http://www.evisastoaustralia.com/section06/customs.pdf). We would prefill this for her, with all the relevant details, so that she can simply copy the information across (or maybe ask a fellow passenger to help her). - Medicines. She has to take her regular medicines from India. While most of them would be found in Australia too … it is a good idea to continue the same brands as much as possible, especially when on a trip. She is planning to go for few months – so the recommendation is to put about 2 weeks worth in her carry on, while the rest can go in the check in. We know what can happen with check in luggage.
- We plan to make sure her seats are preassigned and she gets an aisle seat. It would make it easier for her to get up and stretch her feet during the flight.
- And, while she is decently mobile, considering her age, we still plan to request for wheel chair access. This will ensure that she is fine, in case she has to rush for absolutely any reason, like when reaching the connecting flight. One problem I know with wheel chair access, is that she would be the last ones to be taken off the plan. Sometimes, after a long flight – you just want to get off. But still, the benefits would out weigh these minor inconveniences.