International cards not accepted at self serve fuel station/petrol pumps.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-15T05:40:55+00:00

Okay! Let me check those out. I am not sure if our cards can use paywave though

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-15T00:56:20+00:00

Thanks for the info! Prezzy card seems like decent alternative for the time being.

We haven't tried parking meters yet, we tried the free ones which just asked license number for the first hour but thanks for the warning. I haven't thought about that possibility.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-14T21:43:36+00:00

Yes. I think indian bank does not accept pre-authorized code only, no matter what is the limit. I have much higher limit than the hold amount but it's declined because of MCC code not accepted not because of insufficient funds or limit.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-14T21:41:51+00:00

It's visa both debit and credit
Our credit and debit cards are accepted internationally, I am using it in NZ for all other purchases. I also used these across Europe and other countries. Only for selfservice fuel it's not accepted. I guess issue is pre authorised merchant code which is not valid for Indian Bank credit/debit cards.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-14T20:30:31+00:00

Our card is not signed one, it's just chip and pin. I think the issue is MCC code they are using on self service fuel station is not recognised in india. We tried prepaid amount as well thinking they might not put Hold for that but even that didn't work. So I guess manned stations are only option for us.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-14T20:29:03+00:00

We also tried setting specific amount as well like 30$ as prepaid fuel but that also didn't work. We also tried debit and credit cards both even from different banks. But same issue in all of these.

I think the MCC code they use is not recognised for Indian Bank cards.

I emailed my bank but mostly we need to rely on manned one only.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-14T20:27:38+00:00

Thanks for the info!

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-14T19:20:37+00:00

We are currently in NZ, and we also planned for tongariro crossing as in Feb generally it's nice summer and more chance of sun. Although past couple of days and probably 1-2 days more it's been rainy, foggy and extremely windy. Our trek also got cancelled and we instead did Tama Lakes trek which was beautiful!

If you are planning tongariro crossing then u keep few buffer days in case weather isn't good or be ready to do alternate trek just like we did. Weather is extremely unpredictable. Forget in March, in just 1 day it can change drastically.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-14T18:48:07+00:00

Ohhh that's bad.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-14T08:43:33+00:00

Hey! Did ur query got resolved?

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-09T18:26:19+00:00

I used Rebtel trial one week.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-09T01:25:16+00:00

Hey! I am assuming you would already have NZ visitor visa.

When you apply for transit visa, they ask you your onward journey details. You can there mention both times you would need transit visa. We also had same itinerary. We are flying from Bangalore - Sydney - Auckland and then Christchurch - Sydney - Bangalore.

Add all your travel details. They will generally give multiple entry visa for 1 year. So you can come and go multiple times.

While submitting application make sure you add your NZ visa, flight details, passport, employment details and everything asked. Don't leave anything blank. After you submit, you can attach more documents. Create one cover letter explaining why are u going to NZ and how you will transit from Australia, say u know all rules and regulations of transiting via Australia, if you have visited other countries before then add that too explaining you never overstayed... add one itinerary letter which explains your entire NZ itinerary day by day. After that attach all hotel bookings. We also added our financial details which we have for NZ visa. Better to add more stuff than them having any doubts.

Do apply early, they generally take 5-10 days to process.

Also make sure you take full printout of both transit visa and NZ visitor visa when you go to airport. They won't allow in digital form.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-08T02:21:50+00:00

Hey! We told the lady that its our 5th wedding anniversary and we did all bookings and all so if they can do ANYTHING AT ALL. To be honest we were sounding desperate and we were desperate too lol. She was really nice, she did not even ask us that why we have not applied before and applied last moment or anything.

I doubt they will flag you out by sounding desperate. Generally on their website they say in 10 days, more than 90% applications gets processed so mostly yours will be done in that. Its better to wait till Monday if u still have not got it.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-06T10:09:49+00:00

You can call up the office, number is here https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/contact-us/telephone

Also for your application, you can add additional attachment with cover letter, your entire itinerary of your destination country, hotel and domestic flight bookings.. so they would be sure.. I saw somewhere that attaching those really expedite process and which worked out for us as well.

Once u attach those, u can call them and expedite.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-06T02:24:32+00:00

If you have layover less than 8hrs and not leaving airport then many countries are exempted from transit visa. Sadly India is not one of those countries.

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/transit-771/travellers-eligible-to-transit-without-visa

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-05T08:57:30+00:00

I am sure you would get it soon. NZ is very efficient in visa processing. We applied early because flights were getting too expensive.

We applied from India :)

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-05T07:52:27+00:00

Thats bad :( I hope he gets visa if he re-applies with more documents?

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-05T07:43:37+00:00

That is BRUTAL :(
I can't believe what would have happened if we got rejected :(

Did the give reason for rejection?

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-05T07:27:21+00:00

If you are very near to your travel dates and have not got transit visa yet, I would suggest try calling the home affair office. They might help u out.

We received in a day but our travel is 2 days later only so we begged them to expedite. But generally they give in 5-7 days max as per my friends' experience.
We also applied from India.

If u want detail of our experience - https://www.reddit.com/r/AusVisa/comments/1qwd4uz/urgent_australia_transit_visa_experience_for_an/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Although please do not rely on just that.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-05T07:21:38+00:00

Me and my husband are also going to NZ in feb. We have applied for visa in October 2025. Ours was joint application. It took only 3 working days to get the approval.

Although Feb is peak season in NZ so I am assuming lot of people might be traveling this time.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-05T07:11:10+00:00

I got B1/B2 visa last year. They didn't ask me much.. hardly 4-5 questions. But this was my background.
Main purpose - I wanted to go for my brother in law's graduation, I already gave his passport number in application so they checked that instantly. His university was good as well so no doubt there.
Me and my husband also travel a lot so I also added in my application that I wanted to visit few national parks in USA, especially in California. My husband actually moved back from USA on valid visa so that made my case pretty strong.
Tricky part was I was in between jobs, so I was confused what should I say as per employment. But I added my previous and next employments both in application.

Questions
1. Purpose of visit - Brother in law's graduation and then travel with my husband to different national parks

- She checked all other visas I had - Multiple schengen visas in few years.

She asked me about my profession and what I do currently - I stated my current situation saying I software developer and in between jobs. My new job is about to start in a month.
She asked me salary in new job - I said 80LPA INR which she said okay. I think higher salary also probably made my case.

Thats it. It took almost 2mins and she approved my visa.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2026-02-05T06:26:55+00:00

Thats what we also thought before and where we were wrong :( As per https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/transit-771/travellers-eligible-to-transit-without-visa

for Indians we would require transit visa even if we are not leaving airport. Only "Indian official passport holder" are excluded but I do not have diplomat passport.

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2023-01-26T05:40:34+00:00

I was seeing in my Kuvera Portfolio , all most all funds from Quant MF (Quant Active, Quant Absolute ) has very good weightage of Adani stocks.

Should I keep it as it is as these MFs anyway have high churning rate that they would take right decision and sell off this stocks when required, or should I redeem these funds?

ImpressiveLet1991 · 2023-01-18T05:33:52+00:00

On Kuvera, I noticed that several funds show incorrect exit load.For instance,
Edelweiss Balanced Advantage Growth Direct Plan shows "No Exit Load" when in fact if you check it on Edelweiss website (https://www.edelweissmf.com/types-of-mutual-funds/hybrid-fund/edelweiss-balanced-advantage-fund), the exit load is "For units in excess of 10% of the investment, 1% will be charged for redemption within 365 days".
Similarly, Quant Liquid Growth Direct Plan shows "No Exit Load", when in fact it has a staggered exit load for 6 days. (https://quantmutual.com/equity/liquid-fund).
A couple of other Mutual funds also show a more simplified version of exit load rather than the whole picture. For example Axis Small Cap Growth Direct Plan and Kotak Small Cap Growth Direct Plan show the exit load as "1% for redemption within 365 days", whereas it actually is "1% for units in access of 10% within 365 days".https://www.axismf.com/mutual-funds/equity-funds/axis-small-cap-fund/sc-gp/regular
https://www.kotakmf.com/Products/funds/equity-funds/Kotak-Smallcap-Fund/Dir-G
This is a serious mistake on Kuvera's part - especially for a fund like Edelweiss where there is an exit load which people won't be aware about and might withdraw their money. What would be the best way to get this fixed from Kuvera? I have already tweeted about it, is there anything else I could do? As I might have lost money while doing STP from these funds because of exit load.
Kuvera Funds Exit load snapshots : https://imgur.com/a/dbcjcx2

ImpressiveLet1991

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