Migrants applying for an Australian visa can now apply for their police check online.

The new internet service came into effect on June 18 and has already helped to alleviate waiting time for those applying.

It is expected to be of particular benefit to those applying for the national police check from overseas, as police checks are a necessary element to certain Australian visa subclasses.

The new service is available here. Before it was introduced, police checks had to be sought by post.

A spokesperson for the Australian Federal Police (AFP) told the Irish Echo the motivation behind the change in procedure was to provide a speedier service.

“The system is an important step forward which will eliminate postal delays in submitting application forms and streamline the application process while maintaining the security of applicants personal information,” a spokeperson for the AFP said.

The spokesperson said the online application process aims to allow easier access to the service, particularly for people submitting applications from overseas.

“It will alleviate risks that applications will get lost in the postal system,” the continued.

Other advantages include being able to makle easier payment by applicants via credit card rather than use of money orders and cheques.

The new system also allows applicants to enter their own personal information into the AFP system, removing potential keying errors by data entry staff.

Another benefit, the AFP claim, is that it will help applicants by automatically checking that all mandatory information is submitted, reducing processing delays caused when applicants need to be contacted, or the application returned.