Australia visa application required

Do you intend to travel to Australia for a holiday or business trip in 2024 or 2025? In that case, you have to apply for an Australia visa in advance. The visa requirement applies to all travellers, including tourists and business travellers with UK or Irish nationality. Even children have to possess their own passport and a visa. The visa requirement does not apply to citizens of Australia or New Zealand, nor does it apply to pure transit passengers.

You need to hold a valid visa when you check in for your flight to Australia. Therefore, you should submit your application well before departure. Australian visas are issued in 5 days on average. Urgent applications are approved within 60 minutes in most cases. Nevertheless, immigration authorities recommend that you apply for your visa before you book your trip. The sooner you have a valid visa, the better.

The eVisitor visa and the ETA Australia

Tourists and business travellers may use different types of visas. The eVisitor visa and the ETA for Australia are the two most common visa types. They may be used for activities such as family visits, business trips, for studying or to do a training. The requirements and validity of the two visas are the same.

Are you a citizen of the UK, Ireland, or another country in the European Union?
In that case, you should apply for an eVisitor visa Australia. This also applies to citizens of a number of other European countries, including Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Vatican City and Switzerland. That is because an ETA application is more expensive and more complicated than an application for the eVisitor visa. Therefore, most British and European travellers use the eVisitor visa, for both tourist and business trips.

Are you a citizen of Canada or the United States of America?
In that case, you are not eligible for an ETA application. This website is intended for European travellers. Whenever ‘Australia visa’ is mentioned on this website, it refers to the eVisitor visa type.

Requirements and validity period of the Australia visa

Before applying for an Australia visa, you are advised to check whether you meet all visa requirements. A brief summary of the most important requirements:

• You do not intend to carry out voluntary work that would otherwise be done by a paid employee
• You do not intend to enter into an employment relationship in Australia (this is allowed with a Working Holiday visa)
• You do not intend to provide services to Australian organisations (this is allowed with a work visa)
• You do not intend to provide or sell services or products to Australian consumers
• You and your family members are not in debt to the Australian Government
• You do not pose a risk to the health or safety of the people of Australia
• You can demonstrate that you have sufficient financial resources to pay for your stay and return

Validity of the Australia visa
The visa is valid for 12 months from the date of approval. However, the validity expires immediately if you acquire a new passport. You may enter Australia an unlimited number of times within this validity period. Each stay in the country may last a maximum of three consecutive months. Read more about the validity period.

Submitting an Australia visa application

The application procedure for the eVisitor visa Australia is very simple. You can use the online application form to apply for an Australia visa for yourself, for another person, or for several people at once.

The cost of the Australia visa is £24.95 per person. After completing the application form, you can pay the cost safely and easily with Visa, MasterCard, American Express, PayPal, Google Pay, Apple Pay or Trustly. The next step is to submit a scan or photograph of each traveller’s passport. Your application will be processed immediately after you submit the documents. You do not need to create an account or to go through any other complicated steps. As soon as your Australia visa is approved, you will receive a text message and an e-mail. After approval, you can download and print the visa, or save it on your phone, laptop or tablet. You may be required to present the visa on arrival in Australia, either on a screen or on paper.

In urgent need of an Australia visa?

If you need an Australia visa on a short notice, it is best to submit an urgent application. You can submit an urgent application with the same application form. Simply check the box to indicate that you choose an urgent delivery. This comes at a surcharge of £17.50 per person. In 95% of the cases, urgent deliveries result in an approved visa in 60 minutes, but a fast delivery cannot be guaranteed. One in twenty applications is subjected to a more extensive manual check, which can cause a delay of several days. You can find more information on the page about urgent deliveries.

If you wish, you can submit your Australia visa application for one or more persons right now. Do you have a question or do you have any doubts about whether you are eligible for the eVisitor visa? Find an answer or solution on the page with frequently asked questions.