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Consular News 4 Sep 2006
National Day Holidays, Passports, and Voting Overseas
Dear Australians in south China
1. Chinese National Day Holidays - Australian Passports and Consulate Closure
This year, the Chinese National Day holidays will take place from Sunday 01 October to Saturday 07 October 2006. During this time, many Chinese organisations will be closed.
The Australian Consulate-General will not close for the entire holiday period, but will be closed from Saturday 30 September and will reopen on Wednesday 04 October.
The lead-up to the National Day holidays traditionally sees an increase in passport applications received at the Consulate as many people wish to travel at this time. I thought it would be useful to remind you of the passport processing turnaround times and other related information - so that you can plan ahead if you require any passport services.
Passport applications are received at the Consulate in Guangzhou, and when correctly completed with all the necessary documentation, the Consulate will scan the details to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra. Further checks are undertaken before the passport is produced at a facility at the Australian Mint in Canberra. From there, the new passport is sent by express courier back to the Consulate in Guangzhou.
Our advertised turnaround time, from the receipt of a correctly completed application form to the delivery of the new passport to the Consulate, is ten (10) working days. Therefore, if you want to pick up your new passport just before the National Day holidays commence (Friday 29 September), you should be aiming to submit a correctly completed passport application by Friday 15 September 2006.
I would also like to advise that from 01-07 October, due to the closure of the Chinese Customs Department, the Consulate is unable to receive any deliveries of new passports sent from Canberra. Therefore if a new passport has not been delivered to the Consulate by Friday 29 September, the next passport delivery will not be received by the Consulate until Monday 09 October. This may also need to be taken into account when anticipating a delivery time for a new passport during this period.
Information about Australian passports can be found at the following websites:
http://www.passports.gov.au
http://www.guangzhou.china.embassy.gov.au/gzho/consular.html
If the website information does not answer your question about Australian passports, the Passport Section at the Consulate can be contacted as follows:
Email: guangzhou.consular@dfat.gov.au
Fax: +86 20 38140112
Telephone: +86 20 38140111 (When considering the telephone option, please be advised that the Consulate receives a large number of calls each day)
2. Australian Electoral Roll – Australians Overseas
My recent advice to eligible Queensland voters about the upcoming Queensland State General Election has prompted some general enquiries from Australian citizens about enrolment while they are overseas.
Given that there will be an Australian Federal Election at some point in the future, I thought that I would put you in touch with some relevant enrolment and voting information from the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC).
The Australian Electoral Commission's (AEC) website has a very informative "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) section about what to do if you are overseas. This can be found at: http://www.aec.gov.au/_content/what/enrolment/faq_os.htm
The FAQs include the relevant forms and give advice on different scenarios - e.g. overseas for less than one year, overseas for more than one year, overseas permanently, etc. The FAQs also include advice on how to check your current enrolment, and provide a facility for you to subscribe to receive notification of the next Federal Election.
If you have any questions that are not covered in the FAQs, then it is best to contact the AEC directly. Their contact details can be found at: http://www.aec.gov.au/_content/what/contacts/index.htm
Why not get in early and confirm your enrolment status now?
Yours sincerely
Kelli-Ann Kerin
Consul