One of the quickest ways to travel to Australia is to apply for a visitor visa and a travel exemption to enter Australia.
There are three main subclasses of visitor visas. The country of your passport will determine which visitor visa you can apply:
Electronic Travel Authority (Subclass 601)
- Valid for 12 months
- Permits visits of up to 3 months on each visit
- Passport holders from eight eligible countries can apply for this visa: Brunei, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and the United States.
- Application fee is $20 AUD
- In most cases, this visa is granted almost immediately after lodgement.
E-Visitor Visa (Subclass 651)
- European passport holders can apply for this visa
- Free to apply
- Valid for 12 months
- Visa holders can enter Australia on multiple occasions and are permitted to stay for up to 3 months on each visit
- Current processing times are between 30 days to 7 months.
Visitor Visa (Subclass 600)
- Visitors holding passports from countries other than those listed in the two visa subclasses above will need to apply for a standard visitor visa (Subclass 600).This visa can be granted for a period of 3 months to more than 12 months.
- It may also be granted for a single entry or multiple entries.
- These conditions would be at the discretion of the case officer and would be determined on a case by case basis.
- The Department of Home Affairs is currently prioritising applications for those who have been approved travel exemptions.
Travel exemption
- You would also need to apply for a travel exemption if you are seeking to travel to Australia. The processing times for travel exemptions range from a few days to over a week.
- Recent reports are that visitor visa applications for parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents are being prioritised if a travel exemption has been approved.
