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  • 15 Immigration Law
  • Types of Australian Visas
  • Temporary Visas -Visitor and Transit
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Handbook

Temporary Visas -Visitor and Transit

Visitor Visas

There are several classes of visitor visa available for people seeking to enter Australia for tourism or family/friend visiting purposes. Broadly speaking, tourist visas allow visitors to come to Australia to visit friends or family, or to travel and visit Australia. The four visa options are ETA(Visitor) visa, eVisitors, Tourist visa, or Sponsored Family Visitor visa. For information on each of these, visit the Home Affairs website section on visitor visa options.

The main requirement to qualify for a tourist visa is to meet the genuine visitor requirement. Migration regulations empower decision-makers to consider the following in granting or denying a visitor visa:

  • personal circumstances that may encourage the applicant to leave Australia at the end of the proposed visit;
  • the applicant’s immigration history (e.g. previous travel, compliance with immigration laws of Australia or other countries, previous visa applications/compliance action);
  • personal circumstances in the applicant’s home country that may encourage them to remain in Australia (e.g. military service commitments, economic situation, civil disruption);
  • conditions that may encourage the applicant to remain in Australia;
  • the credibility of the applicant in terms of character and conduct (e.g. false and misleading information provided with visa application);
  • whether the purpose and proposed duration of the applicant’s visit, and proposed activities in Australia are reasonable and consistent (e.g. the period of stay is consistent with tourism); and
  • information contained in statistical, intelligence and analysis reports on migration fraud and immigration compliance developed by Home Affairs about nationals from the applicant’s home country. Such information, compiled as a “profile”, may assist assessing officers in determining whether closer examination of an application is required to ensure the integrity of the visitor visa program.

There are options for some tourists to lodge an online application. For example, the electronic travel authority or ‘eVisitor’ visa is available as an online application, and the application process costs nothing. There are restrictions on this visa – it is not for repeat visits, or for stays longer than 3 months.

Transit Visas

Transit visas are applicable for people transiting through Australia for 72 hours or less. Any period over 72 hours (3 days) will require a different visa, such as a tourist visa. Some non-citizens do not require a visa in transit. Non-citizens who require a Transit visa can apply for one free of charge.

Page last updated 20/09/2021

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