Australia Visa Requirements

The Australia visa requirement depends on which country you travel from, the purpose of your visit and the length of your stay.

This page outlines the visa requirements for the Australia Travel or Tourist Visa and for the Working Holiday Visa.

Australia Visa Requirements - Australia Travel Visa

The easiest form of Australian visa to apply for is the Electronic Tourist Visa (ETA: Electronic Travel Authority).

Here is a list of countries eligible for an ETA.

If you are eligible and only want to stay in Australia for up to 3 months you can lodge your application online, or get your travel agent to do it for you when you book the ticket. It doesn't get much easier than that.

If you're country is not on the list, or if you want to stay for more than 3 months, you have to get a visa the conventional way, using a paper application form and paying the applicable charges.

For more information on Australia Visa requirements read or print this form from the Australian Government website: 983i: Visiting Australia general requirements.

The health requirements for temporary entry to Australia are listed in form 1163i.

If you want to extend a Travel Visa (not possible for the ETA) you might be asked to prove that you have sufficient funds.

(I had a problem there when extending a Travel Visa, because as usual I was broke. I got around it by getting a family member to transfer a sizeable sum into my account, print an account balance, and cancel the transaction. And then the government never even asked for it! I probably shouldn't be giving you tips like that...)

Read more about the Australia Travel Visa.

Australia Visa Requirements - Australia Work Visa

Requirements to apply for an Australia Working Holiday Visa (WHV):

You need to be between 18 and 30 years of age, have no dependent children and come from one of the following countries:

United Kingdom, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, Republic of Ireland, Republic of Korea, Malta, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) of the People's Republic of China, Finland, the Republic of Cyprus, France, and Italy, Belgium, Estonia and Taiwan.

In addition you may be required to attend an interview. You may also have to prove that you have sufficient funds for a return or onward ticket, as well as for the initial stage of your holiday.

(People often ask about this clause. I actually don't know anyone who ever had to prove they had money, but I still wouldn't take any chances. See my tip above, under Travel Visa Requirements.)

The WHV allows you to stay in Australia for up to 12 months and to do any kind of temporary or casual work. You can stay with one employer for up to three months. (Update: this has now been extended to 6 months.)

The same general requirements and health requirements apply as for Australia Travel Visas.

A fairly new regulation is that you can extend the Australia Work Visa for a second year. Details about that are on the Work Visa page.

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More information on getting a visa for Australia

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