Practical Issues
How to get a visa
Electronic visas (ETA’s) are available to nationals of 32 countries and are issued by selected airlines/travel agents for tourism or short term business needs, generally with stays of 3 months on any one visit. No label is inserted in the passport, permission to enter Australia being validated through passport scanning on arrival in Australia.
For nationals from countries not included in the 32 ETA countries, applications must be made at an Australian Embassy overseas.
Combined applications
Permanent visas and long term temporary visa applications can be completed and lodged on a family basis with one fee payable. One adult person must meet the threshold criteria and is termed the ‘principal applicant’. The remaining accompanying family members included in the application are known as ‘secondary applicants’. Secondary applicants do not have to meet the threshold criteria, but must prove their relationship to the principal applicant.
Children up to 18 years can be included in combined applications automatically. For children aged between 18 & 25, dependency on the principal applicant has to be proven.
