I’ve just been told by my Thai partner that in order to get her second visa to visit Australia, she has to again go to Bangkok to have a retinal scan, even though she had one only 10 months ago when she got her first visa.  And to make it worse, there’s only one place in Thailand to have this scan done...Bangkok.

 

So she has to spend a day, about 6,000 baht for taxis and flights, and create a whole lot of unnecessary greenhouse gasses in travelling from Phuket to Bangkok and return...for what? Has her retina changed in 10 months!

 

This is ridiculous and the Australian government - the laughable Home Affairs superministry run by Potato-head Dutton - should be held accountable and compelled to explain themselves. Has anyone else come across this ridiculous example of bureaucratic overreach?

The requirement is for fingerprints & digital photo of face, not a retina scan. Next time if your wife is intending to visit multiple times within 12 months, ask for multi-entry visa so only once for biometrics.

 

http://www.vfsglobal.com/australia/thailand/pdf/Visitor-Visa-Tourism-Stream-Checklist.pdf

They want to check that she is the same person who applied before if you are using her history of visas to get another..