heatyf

Thanks! Fingers crossed.

Hi Steph - can you let us know how long it takes to get his passport/visa back? Trying to gauge processing times as my partners appointment was moved from 6 Oct to 10 Nov and I'm worried he will now miss Thanksgiving.

For anyone reading this - DO NOT PAY THE FEE for spousal immigration visas. The site is SO CONFUSING! We needed to reschedule your interview and there was no clear information on how to do it other than being referred to the ustraveldocs site. Because it gave every indication that an interview could not be schedule without the fee we paid it. Turns out it is for fiancé visas only and is COMPLETELY NON-REFUNDABLE. To reschedule you have to email via the link called 'feedback'. That makes total sense - thanks for there being instructions ANYWHERE as to how to reschedule. Hope you enjoy me extra $300. ?

I have just been through this experience with my 2 year old Chihuahua. I originally thought I could probably save some $$ making the arrangements myself as I come from a legal background and am used to red tape. I was SO wrong. Please please go through a pet travel booker!! The paperwork is a lot more extensive (on BOTH ends) then a health check, medical certificate and Rabies vaccination. An appointment needs to be made with DFAT within 48 hours of flying to have all the export documentation certified (the rabies will need to be checked and stamped ahead of that) and then you will have to physically attend a customs office (offsite from the Airport) before you can collect your dog from cargo (also outside the main airport) if you haven't engaged a company to do it for you. I had a company do it electronically and it still took an extra 3 hours past when we landed before they could clear and release my dog. There is no ability to ship your dog as checked baggage from AU to US - I called everywhere. They have to go as cargo and the only airline that will allow you to book direct is Qantas ($1100 was my quote vs $1700 to go via a pet booker) and Qantas will give you NO help with the paperwork. They will not even explain how to set up the kennel to regulation - they expect you to have researched it and for it to comply with standard when dropped off. I ended up using Dogtrainers because they were willing to meet me at the airport the morning of our flight from SYD rather than kennel out anxious dog overnight. Pets have to be lodged 3-4 hours prior to the international flight so be sure to leave no earlier than 12 pm or cargo won't be open! In the end the process was huge expensive and stressful - I can't recommend using a professional strongly enough. I have a friend who works in transport and he says they get people all the time who try to 'do it themselves' but have no concept of how much paperwork is actually involved and expect him to help with it. When you ship yourself the export documents are your problem - otherwise that is what you are paying the pet booker that extra $$ for. Money well spent in my opinion. I was very worried about how my high strung dog would fare but he was fine in the end. Extremely happy to see us on the other end but suprisingly resilient.