Australian Government to Ease Border Restrictions

Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech)

It is a known fact that the journey has been long since Australia shut its international borders in May 2020 and allowed only restricted numbers of citizens, permanent residents, and other exempt categories to enter the country in a bid to curtail the spread of COVID-19. The Australian Government recently relaxed the quarantine requirements for Australian citizens, permanent residents, their immediate family members, and other travellers who fall into one of the automatically exempt categories or are eligible to apply for and have been granted an exemption to travel here.

According to the Government, travellers may be eligible for reduced quarantine requirements when returning to Australia depending on the state or territory to which they are travelling. Travellers returning to Australia may only enter and travel between NSW, Victoria, and the ACT without quarantining. They will need to comply with the quarantine requirements in the state or territory of your arrival, and any other state or territories that you plan to travel to.

In a further step to restart international travel, from December 1, fully vaccinated eligible visa holders can travel to Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption. Additional visa subclasses may be added over time. However, exemptions will still be required for other visa categories until further notice.

The eligible Visa Holders are as follows:

The immigration profession is waiting on clarification as to the status of Bridging Visa holders.