Trouble free welcome from immigration
Media Release - DPS 17/2000
A Slovakian Olympic team representative has given the thumbs up for Australia's entry procedures saying the team was in the Olympic Village within two hours of touchdown when at Atlanta it took two and a half hours just to complete entry formalities at the airport.
So good is the system, said a Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs (DIMA) spokesperson, the Department has been approached by the Canadian immigration service for information about the Olympic Travel Authority system which it would like to adopt if successful in its bid to host the 2008 Olympic and Paralympic games.
"At midnight on Monday 11 September nearly 25,000 Olympic and Paralympic family members had arrived in Australia," said the spokesperson.
"Only minor problems have occurred, mostly a result of simple data entry errors provided by Olympic organisations applying for accreditation. This information conflicts with information on travel documents. However, in 99 per cent of cases problems are solved in a number of minutes.
"The Israeli team said that within 15 minutes the whole delegation was already outside the airport having been through the various stages of accreditation and immigration entry procedures," the spokesperson said.
"A Time Magazine journalist said he spent more than an hour and a half at Atlanta airport going through Olympic accreditation procedures and over an hour at immigration clearance while in Sydney it was less than ten minutes in accreditation and even less time at immigration clearance.
"An Argentinian Olympic family member had to wait for a minor data check and when the immigration Airport Inspector apologised for the short delay the man responded that he had attended many games and this was the best entry procedures he had ever witnessed."
Members of the Spanish and Chilean media also concurred that the process of accreditation and immigration clearance was simple and quick, commenting on the fact that the same processes in Atlanta had taken the best part of the day.
With around 15,000 more family members to arrive DIMA is anticipating a smooth and hassle-free entry for Olympic and Paralympic family members.
12 September 2000
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