Australian Consulate General

Be on the safe side & make an appointment to drop off your renewal passport application or anything passport related! Just phone them & book, they were really nice over phone & the guy @ the counter who took my application today was cool too.
He took my documents, made copies of my b/​cert, swiped my card to pay ($ 209 total) I signed my life away & voila done! Will be delivered to you in the next 6 weeks (perfect coz we don’t fly out till July anyway so I don’t have to pay expedited anything… winning!) Though I was a little iffy about my passport photo (it
.on.point! None of that 2″ x 2″ sh*t, it has to be like 35 mm x 45−46mm) I did mines @ home. He did accept it even though he said it may be a tad small but he was 70% sure it was ok & said he’d give me a call 2moro if there was a problem. If not, no news is good news.
Lastly, now listen up! If you’re frugal & like most people hate to pay for parking — DO NOT park here! (which is the 1^st parking structure on the right after turning into Constellation Blvd from Avenue of the Stars) I did & paid a whopping $ 17 for a memorable 43 minutes. Yep. That’s right. Just park up @ the fancy pancy mall just up the road & leg it if you have the time. Park right here if you have the money ;)
Ps: Don’t park on the P2 — 280’s area. You’re way off & will have to mission it.

Had the photos taken at Photo Boutique, Irvine CA. I told them the photo would be for Australian Embassy and they know all the requirements (they have the template), but I still checked anyway before I paid.
You need to call ahead & make an appointment at the Consulate.
I found parking at Century Plaza was quite steep so I parked at 2040 Century Park East (directly opposite). It was $ 2 every 15mins or max $ 20. You need to get a security card at the security desk before you take the elevator up to 31^st floor.
The lady who helped me at the Consulate was nice & friendly. I arrived 30mins before my appointment & she called me in straight away. And I was done & out from the Consulate in about 20mins.

I went to the office of the Australian Consulate on Monday just before 4pm. When I walked in there were 2 women behind the glass. One was helping a fellow Australian and the other was doing admin. They both would have seen me, even the Australian guy who had his back to me turned around and said hello. I sat and waited my turn. When the man was finished, the woman helping him walked away, and the other woman kept coming over to the window to place files, but did not acknowledge my existence. I thought she must be finishing something up, so I would be patient, and decided to wait a couple mins before I was like «hey, are you going to help me?» Finally the other women comes back out, asks if I’m being helped, «I say no», the other woman is like why didn’t you say anything? (I would have assumed they knew I was there because I had a question or a problem, and wasn’t simply standing there for entertainment value.”) So as I started to explain I was there to renew my passport, the woman who had been helping the man turns and leaves the office, leaving me with the dopey lady who didn’t seem to know anything. I asked her if I had all the necessary documentation to renew my passport. She said she had no idea, and the only person in the whole office that could help me had just left. Again, this was at 4pm and the office doesn’t close until 5pm. I asked the lady if she knew when the woman who could help was coming back, or if she could call her and ask. Again, she was unhelpful — just dopey. But she said to leave all my forms and passport with her and to fill out a payment form, which I did.
I called them yesterday morning to follow up, as I hadn’t had a phone call or email from the office saying that my passport was being processed, but had to leave a message (and I was very clear in my message as to who I was, why I was calling, when I had been in the office and that they needed to call or email me back.) Two days later, I still haven’t heard from them. So I am now currently waiting until 9am to call them once again, and if I get the answering machine again I will have to go back, which may not seem like a big deal, but when you are relying on public transport it ends up cutting a large chunk of time out of your day.
I am just very confused as to why the only person in the entire city would leave the office, of the Australian Consulate, an hour before it’s set to close? What if I had been in a real emergency, and I all I had to talk to was the dopey admin lady? It makes no sense. I would have thought there would be at least one person in the office, at all times, during the office hours, who can assist Australians when they need assistance. Otherwise, what is the point in having the office at all?
UPDATE: After another vm, they phoned me back, so it should work out ok. They just need to train their receptionist better.

I came here first to get some Australian documents notorized and again for a passport application. As suggested by another reviewer I parked in the Westfield Shopping complex and it was a short walk to the building. I also suggest if you need to get photographs done to Australian specifications and you live in Los Angeles to go to their suggested vendor Fed Ex Office, 1925 Century Park E, Century City in the Watt Plaza Building which is just down the road. It seems that passport sizing problems are a common problem, this location is well versed in doing the photos to the correct size. While I was there a couple of other people had to get their photos redone, including myself. I had my photo endorsed (signed on back by Australian citizen), I had to get new photos done but fortunately they were able to use the original photo as evidence of true likeness so that I didn’t have to post the photos back to Australia and make a new appointment. Everyone I have encountered at the consulate has been very professional and pleasant and actually seemed like they enjoy their jobs. Carla who processed my passport application was wonderful even calling me when the fed-​ex shipment was sent to make sure that I could be home to receive it, and I got it back exactly a week later. It can take a few weeks to make a passport appointment so make sure to do this well in advance of any travel.

Very lucky to have this office in North CA, they also have an office in San Fransisco. Driving from SoCal is tiresome but what needs to be done has to be done. There are only about 6 Australian Consultate Offices in America at the moment, so coming from San Diego, I am certainly not complaining about driving (take a break in San Clemente at half way point). If I was in another state I would have to plan a plane trip to get something witnessed by an Australian Government employee. My trip at first was last minute and called to make sure if there was someone there is sign my document, they were very helpful and nice bunch of people.
Parking: My recommendation, DO NOT park in their building or the one next door, go to the Westfield Mall on Streets of the Stars, they have FREE PARKING FOR UP TO 3HRS (more than enough time I needed) and walk about 10mins to the Plaza Towers, which you cannot miss, since it the only two twin buildings in a shape of a triangle… sort of. So, put away that credit card and park there, and use it for shopping when you come back! :D

If you are reading this, then you know exactly how hard it is to get an Australian passport if you live in the States! Luckily for me I live in SoCal and there was this Consulate located in Los Angeles. Here are some tips that will help you stress a little less.
The Picture: Just follow the guidelines that are on the website and just use a Walgreens. Don’t worry about getting the picture cut in the dimensions that they request; the people at the consulate will do it for you. If you’re worried that the picture isn’t the caliber that they are expecting, the consulate has little opaque place-​overs so you can verify that your picture will qualify.
The Forms: Definitely make sure that all the dates are in the correct day/​month/​year format and that your guarantor is an appropriate signing party. If you need to know who qualifies as a guarantor, the consulate does provide you a list.
Alright, so the consulate is located in one of two Century Towers. It’s the one with the numbers 2029! Not 2049; as indicated on this Unilocal address. Parking is available across the street from the towers, but it’s a total rip-​off for what you need to do. It does take credit card; just in case you didn’t bring any cash. The consulate is located on the 31^st floor in room 3150. In order to get to the floor you have to «state your business» with the security on the first floor to get a key card to use the elevator. Strict, I know, but at least you feel safe while you’re picking up your passport! Take the key card and use it to go up the elevator; you don’t need it to go down. Once you get to the consulate, it’s typically pretty empty.
To allow the person who helped me maintain some privacy I will be leaving her name anonymous in the review. She, however, was VERY helpful throughout the entire process and let me know everything I needed to expedite my passport processing. There was a little chink in the chains, but that was entirely on me. Great service overall! Once you’re done at the consulate, leave your key card at the front desk and be on your way.

So my travel partners and I are having a crappy kebab sandwich at tent in Dusseldorf, Germany, at a trade show. A guy walks up to us with his wife and says, «Are you mates from America?»
«Yes, we are»
«We are from Australia. We just wanted to say Thank You for all that your government does to promote wold peace. We are very grateful.»

Had to come here to get some stuff done. WOW the security at the building is now super strict! You have to give the building security downstairs a form of ID which they input into the system, then they give you a keycard which you ‘swipe’ as you are entering the building (and there are security dudes there to make sure you do it) and then you need that swipe card to push the floor for the elevator.
The consulate itself is now much smaller than the one I went to 10 years ago here in LA. Most things are by appointment only. The staff are super friendly and helpful. Everything went very smoothly!
There is parking across the street in a public parking lot. I didn’t check to see how much the parking was at the building itself, but I did see people pulling up and having their cars valeted