Visa policy of Australia
The visa policy of Australia deals with the requirements that a foreign national wishing to enter Australia must meet to obtain a visa, which is a permit to travel, to enter and remain in the country. A visa may also entitle the visa holder to other privileges, such as a right to work, study, etc. and may be subject to conditions.
Since 1994, Australia has maintained a universal visa regime, meaning that every non-citizen in Australia must have a visa, either as a result of an application, or one granted automatically by law. Australia does not issue visas on arrival except for New Zealand citizens. As of 2015 there was no intention to provide visa free entry for any country.
Visitors holding passports from certain countries may apply for a visa using a truncated process:
- citizens of New Zealand using a New Zealand passport may apply for a Special Category Visa on arrival pursuant to the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement. There is no application form or fee payable.
- nationals of 36 countries may apply for a eVisitor visa online without fee
- nationals from 34 countries and territories may apply for Electronic Travel Authority using a mobile app on payment of a nominal fee
Nationals of all other countries will need to apply for the Visitor visa online.
Since 1 September 2015, Australia ceased to issue visa labels on visa holders' passports, and all visas are issued and recorded on a central database. Visa records can only be accessed through Visa Entitlement Verification Online, a digital verification service provided by the Department of Home Affairs.
Visa policy map
History
Visa formats in Australia have changed over the years. Australia was possibly one of the first countries to replace ink-based stamps with more secure stick-on labels in the 1970s.In 1987, the then-Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs initiated a scheme which saw the utilization of computers to process visitor visa applications in overseas Australian missions for the first time.
In 1990, a second generation of the Immigration Records and Information System was introduced as a replacement of the original 1987 scheme. At the time, IRIS II was the most advanced visa processing system in the world, simplifying immigration clearance processes at airports and enabling across-the-counter visa issue at the Australian diplomatic missions. This resulted in the rollout and use of a simplified generic 'Arrival' stamp for all arrivals - citizens or non-citizens by September 1990. This same general design is in use today, albeit by request only.
In 1996, the Electronic Travel Authority system was launched. The system allows visas to be issued electronically and linked to the applicant's passport, eliminating paper application forms. Australia was the first country in the world to launch electronic visas.
By 1997, the Department of Immigration and Ethnic Affairs became known simply as the Department of Immigration, and this resulted in a slight design change of the departure stamp which would ready 'Immigration Australia' instead of 'Immigration and Ethnic Affairs'.
By 1998, a new smaller arrival and departure card format was introduced and simultaneously the cessation of stamping these documents once processed by an officer also ceased.
In 2012 the Department of Immigration put out a notice on their website that they were going to trial the cessation of stamping passports on departure from Australia. Legislation was required to be changed first and this then resulted in the move becoming permanent by 2013. This resulted in the removal of stamps from the front line desks, However, the website has always stated you can always request one if evidence of travel is required from a Border Officer. This was all in-line with the rollout of Automated Border processing gates.
Australia officially ceased the issuance of visa stickers on 1 September 2015, and all visas are issued and recorded electronically.
2016 was the last year in which foreign passports were automatically stamped on arrival. This resulted in the removal of stamps from the front line desks bringing this into line with the similar moves regarding stamping passports on departure in 2013. However, the website has always stated you can always request one if evidence of travel is required from a Border Officer. This was all in-line with the rollout of Automated Border processing gates.
From July 2017, the use of outgoing departure cards ceased. Passengers were previously required to complete paper declarations upon departing Australia. Instead, the same information is now sourced automatically through electronic systems.
Image:DefunctOutgoingPassengerCardAU.jpg|600px|none|The Departure card - used from the 1960s until July 2017
By the end of 2017, all wet-ink passport stamping had ceased as a matter of course at the primary line for arrivals and departures at staffed counters. Evidence of travel stamps can still be requested at a secondary staffed counter typically immediately after the primary line.
Physical arrival cards were replaced with a Digital Passenger Declaration mobile phone app in February 2022. In July 2022 physical paper cards were brought back and the app was scrapped due to poor user experience and difficulties it created for the travellers who were unable to use a suitable electronic device.
Legal authority
Visa rules are set out in the Migration Act 1958 and the Migration Regulations, which are administered by the Department of Home Affairs.Visa exemption
Special purpose visa
A special purpose visa is a visa exemption given by operation of law to certain foreign nationals in Australia to whom standard visa and immigration clearance arrangements do not apply. It effectively exempts certain persons from the normal processes for entry into Australia. These include members of the Royal Family and the members of the Royal party, guests of Government, Status of forces agreement forces members including civilian component members, Asia‑Pacific forces members, Commonwealth forces members, foreign armed forces dependents, foreign naval forces members, airline positioning crew members and airline crew members, eligible transit passengers, persons visiting Macquarie Island, eligible children born in Australia and Indonesian traditional fishermen visiting the Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands.Transit without a visa
Some travelers do not need a Transit visa if they depart Australia by air within 8 hours of the scheduled time of their arrival, hold confirmed onward booking and documentation necessary to enter the country of their destination and remain in the transit lounge at an airport.Holders of passports of the following countries can transit without a visa:
- Holders of diplomatic passports, except nationals of Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bahrain, Comoros, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Morocco, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Taiwan, Tunisia, Yemen, Zimbabwe, and Arab Non-National Passport Holders.
Torres Strait
Residents of thirteen coastal villages in Papua New Guinea are permitted to enter the 'Protected Zone' of the Torres Strait for traditional purposes. This exemption from passport control is part of a treaty between Australia and Papua New Guinea negotiated when PNG became independent from Australia in 1975. Full list was determined in 2000 and includes the following 13 villages – Bula, Mari, Jarai, Tais, Buji/Ber, Sigabadaru, Mabadauan, Old Mawatta, Ture Ture, Kadawa, Katatai, Parama and Sui. They can make traditional visits as far as 10 degrees 30 minutes South latitude. Australian traditional inhabitants come from the following villages – Badu, Boigu, Poruma, Erub, Dauan, Kubin, St Pauls, Mabuiag, Mer, Saibai, Ugar, Warraber, Iama and Masig. They can make traditional visits to the Papua New Guinea Treaty Villages and travel north as far as the 9 degrees South latitude. Vessels from other parts of Papua New Guinea and other countries attempting to cross into Australia or Australian waters are stopped by the Australian Border Force or the Royal Australian Navy.Electronic visa
All Australian visas are electronic visas since 2015, with details stored only in the Australian immigration database. Visa details are electronically linked to passport details. Physical labels or stamps are no longer needed. Nearly all Australian visas can be applied for online.Short-term travelers with certain passports benefit from reciprocal visa waiver agreements with Australia. These travelers still technically require a visa but obtain them through a streamlined online process, when staying for 3 months or less. Eligible visitors apply online for an Electronic Travel Authority or eVisitor visa depending on their nationality. Visitors eligible for an ETA may also apply through some travel agents, airlines and specialist service providers. Many applications are granted in minutes, whereas others require further checking of information.
eVisitor (subclass 651)
The eVisitor was introduced on 27 October 2008, replacing an older eVisa system, to create a reciprocal short stay travel arrangement for nationals of Australia and the European Union, while still maintaining the universal visa system. On 23 March 2013 the business and tourist purpose visas were merged into a single application.The eVisitor is issued free of charge and allows the holder to visit Australia for unlimited times, up to 3 months per visit, in a 12-month period for tourism or business purposes. Applicants must also satisfy the health and character requirements as for other visas.
Holders of passports of the following countries may apply for eVisitor:
The grant rate of eVisitor has been consistently high over the years, never dropping below 98.5%. In the second quarter of 2024 the lowest approval rates for tourism applications were for the nationals of Romania, Croatia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Latvia with all other countries having a grant rate above 95%. There is still a major difference in approval rates between these 5 countries and the rest even 10 years after the European Commission was notified.
The eVisitor in the last quarter of 2013 was granted automatically to 85.8% of applicants but the rates differed significantly among countries. The lowest automatically granted rates in the 4th quarter were for nationals of Bulgaria, Romania, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Latvia and Slovakia with all other countries having an automatic grant rate above 70%.
In 2014, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Romania notified the European Commission that they considered that Australia required a visa for their nationals. The notification was dismissed in 2015 after Australia lifted a transit visa requirement for Bulgarians, Cypriots and Romanians and made some clarifications.
The European Commission ruled that the eVisitor's 'autogrant' treatment is not an equivalent to the Schengen visa application procedures. Applications for countries deemed high risk, i.e. not ETA, are routinely processed manually rather than via 'autogrant' and they are subject to additional documents prior to arrival, which is typical for a proper visa.
Australia's SmartGate entry system for automatically processing through passport control can only be used for countries on ETA list, not by countries on eVisitor list.
According to HPI methodology pre-departure government approval, like eVisitor manual processing is not considered as visa free.
In 2018, the European Union planned to introduce their own electronic travel authorisation, called ETIAS, needed for visa-exempt countries like Australia.