Department Publishes Service Standards for Processing Times

The Immigration Department has published service standards for the processing of every document it issues. The standards state, for each document type, the number of working days within which the Department undertakes to reach a decision on a complete application.

A visitor visa carries a standard of five working days, a member staff visa ten working days and a work visa fifteen working days. A first passport carries a standard of twenty working days and a renewal ten working days. An emergency travel document is issued within one working day of the applicant's identity being confirmed.

The standards measure the time from the working day after a complete application and fee are received to the day the decision is issued. Time during which the Department is waiting for information it has requested from the applicant is not counted. The Department will report its performance against each standard every quarter, beginning in December 2026.

The full table of standards, together with an explanation of how time is counted and what may lengthen it, is published on this site under Processing Times.