Australia Visa Requirements

The Electronic Travel Authority is the standard route for the largest group of visitors. It is electronically linked to your passport (there is no label or stamp), valid for 12 months or until your passport expires, and lets you visit as many times as you like for up to three months each visit, for tourism, visiting family or business visitor activities such as meetings and conferences. Paid work for an Australian business is not allowed.

ETA-eligible passports are those of Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong (SAR), Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Vatican City. Europeans on this list can choose the ETA or the free eVisitor; most choose the eVisitor.

You apply only through the AustralianETA app on iOS or Android, which reads the chip in your passport and takes a live photo of your face, so you must be physically present (an agent or family member can use their phone, but your face and passport must be there). You answer health and character questions and pay the AUD 20 service charge by card. Many ETAs are granted within minutes, but some are referred for checks that take days, so apply at least a week before you fly and do not book non-refundable flights on the assumption of an instant grant. You must be outside Australia when you apply. If you renew your passport, your ETA does not transfer, so apply for a new one.

The eVisitor is free and covers passport holders of all 27 EU member states plus Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Vatican City. Like the ETA it lasts 12 months with multiple entries of up to three months each, for tourism or business visitor activities, and it cannot be extended. Apply online through an ImmiAccount on the Home Affairs site; there is no app and no fee. Most applications are decided within a few working days, though a minority are referred for further checks, so apply two to three weeks ahead. The grant notice is emailed to you; print or save it, though airlines check it electronically. As with the ETA, you must be outside Australia to apply, and a new passport needs a new eVisitor.

Everyone not eligible for the ETA or eVisitor, including passport holders of India, China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, South Africa, Brazil and most of Latin America, the Middle East and Africa, needs a Visitor visa (subclass 600). It is also the visa for ETA or eVisitor holders who want to stay longer than three months. The Tourist stream is the main one; there are also Business Visitor, Sponsored Family, Approved Destination Status (for Chinese tour groups) and Frequent Traveller streams, the last giving up to 10 years of multiple entries for eligible passports such as China.

The Tourist stream applied for from outside Australia costs about AUD 250 ($165) since the July 2026 fee rise; applying from inside Australia costs considerably more. Apply online in ImmiAccount with a passport scan, evidence of funds (bank statements for the last three months are the usual proof; our Australia travel costs guide shows what a realistic budget looks like), your travel plans, and evidence that you will return home, such as an employment letter, study enrolment or property. Applicants may be asked for biometrics at a visa centre or a medical examination for longer stays. Processing ranges from a few days to several weeks and spikes before Christmas, so apply six to eight weeks ahead. Most grants allow three months per visit, enough for Sydney, the Great Barrier Reef and Uluru in one trip; six or 12 months is possible on request with stronger evidence, sometimes with a “no further stay” condition (8503) that stops you applying for another visa while in Australia. Some grants carry a condition requiring adequate health insurance for the whole stay.

New Zealand citizens travelling on a New Zealand passport are the one exception: there is nothing to apply for. You are granted a Special Category Visa (subclass 444) automatically when you pass through immigration in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast or any other international airport, which lets you visit, live and work in Australia for as long as you remain a New Zealand citizen. You still fill in the Incoming Passenger Card, pass biosecurity and must meet the character requirements, and anyone with a serious criminal record can be refused. Permanent residents of New Zealand who are not citizens need an ETA, eVisitor or Visitor visa according to their own passport.

ETA and eVisitor stays cannot be extended as such, but an ETA holder can apply inside Australia for a Visitor visa (600) before the three months run out, at the higher onshore fee and with evidence of funds and a reason for the longer stay. eVisitor holders can usually do the same unless their grant carries a no-further-stay condition. Apply at least three to four weeks before your current stay ends; you are normally given a bridging visa that keeps you lawful while the application is decided. Leaving and re-entering, for example on a trip to New Zealand or Bali from Perth or Darwin, resets the three-month clock on an ETA or eVisitor, but border officers can question visitors who spend most of a year in Australia on back-to-back stays.

Overstaying is serious. The moment your permitted stay ends you become an unlawful non-citizen and can be detained and removed, and anyone who overstays by more than 28 days and then leaves is normally barred from getting a new visa for three years. Removal and detention costs can be charged to you as a debt to the Commonwealth, which must be paid before any future visa. If illness or a cancelled flight will push you over the date, contact Home Affairs before it passes.

Australia has no digital nomad visa. Visitors working remotely for an overseas employer on a visitor visa or ETA is generally tolerated where the work is incidental to a holiday, but you cannot take any job with an Australian business. The real long-stay route for younger travellers is the Working Holiday Maker program: the Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) for passport holders of countries such as the UK, Ireland, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries, and the Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) for countries such as the United States, Chile, Argentina, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, China and Spain, many of which have caps and education or English requirements. Both cost about AUD 840 for a first application since July 2026 and allow 12 months of travel and work, for applicants aged 18 to 30 (18 to 35 for Canada, France, Ireland, Italy, the UK and a few others). Most nationalities can extend to a second and third year by doing three or six months of specified work such as farm, fruit-picking or tourism work in regional areas, which covers towns such as Cairns and Airlie Beach and most of Queensland, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and Western Australia; UK citizens are exempt from that requirement. For costs, cities and coworking, see our Australia digital nomads guide.

Every arriving passenger completes an Incoming Passenger Card, handed out on the plane or ship, which asks about your stay, your health and criminal history, cash of AUD 10,000 or more, and the items you are bringing in. On some flights a digital Australia Travel Declaration can replace the paper card; your airline will tell you if it applies. The card is a legal document: a false answer is an offence.

Australia’s biosecurity rules are the strictest most visitors ever meet, because the country is free of many pests and diseases that would devastate its farms and wildlife. You must declare all food (including snacks from the plane, packaged noodles, spices, tea and confectionery), plant material, seeds, wooden souvenirs, feathers, shells, animal products, medicines and any soil or mud on hiking boots and tent pegs. Declaring is not the same as giving up the item: most packaged food is inspected and handed back. The penalty is for not declaring. Detector dogs work the baggage halls, every bag can be X-rayed, and undeclared items bring on-the-spot infringement notices of several thousand dollars, prosecution in serious cases and possible cancellation of your visa. Fresh fruit, meat, eggs and most dairy are generally seized. Bring prescription medicines in their original packaging with a doctor’s letter, and no more than three months’ supply.

Most e-passport holders from eligible countries, including the US, UK, Canada, the EU, Japan and Singapore, can use the SmartGates at arrival, then go on to collect bags and pass through the biosecurity exit with the card. Expect the whole process to take 30 to 90 minutes at Sydney in the morning international wave, less at Cairns, Adelaide or Perth. For the airports themselves see our Australia airports guide.

Every visa, including the ETA and eVisitor, asks whether you have ever been convicted of a crime. Australia’s character test is strict: a sentence of 12 months or more in prison (including suspended sentences and multiple shorter sentences added together) is a substantial criminal record, and that alone can lead to refusal. Convictions for drink-driving or minor offences do not automatically disqualify you, but they make you ineligible for an instant ETA; answer truthfully and apply for a Visitor visa (600) instead, with court records and a police certificate, months ahead. Lying about a conviction is worse than the conviction and can bring a 10-year ban. Officers can also refuse entry or cancel a visa at the airport for unpaid debts to Australia, past overstays or visa breaches.

Your passport must be valid for the whole of your stay; Australia does not impose a six-month rule, but airlines on your route sometimes do, so six months is the safe margin. Have proof of onward or return travel and enough money for your stay; officers ask. There are no required vaccinations unless you have been in a yellow fever country in the last six days, in which case bring your certificate. Health insurance is not a condition of the ETA or eVisitor but is essential: Medicare does not cover tourists, except limited reciprocal cover for visitors from the UK, Ireland, New Zealand and a handful of European countries.

Children need their own ETA, eVisitor or Visitor visa, applied for by a parent. A Visitor visa application for an under-18 travelling without both parents usually needs a consent form from the non-travelling parent (Form 1229), and Australia does not otherwise require a consent letter at the border, though your airline may. Transit passengers who stay airside for up to eight hours can transit without a visa if their nationality is eligible; others need a free Transit visa (subclass 771).