1.1.4 Visitors and working holiday makers
Objective
- Deliver visa processes and strategies that support the integrity of the broader immigration programme and assist growth in the tourism industry.
Description
Under this component, the department facilitates the entry of genuine tourists, business and family visitors by continually improving grant rates, client services and processing times.
The department also minimises the potential for non-genuine visitors to enter, or remain, in Australia or to contravene their visa conditions.
People who wish to visit Australia can apply for a range of visas, including:
- Electronic Travel Authority (ETA), which enables passport holders from 33 countries and regions to make short-term business and tourism visits to Australia
- Tourist visa (subclass 676) for people seeking to visit Australia for tourism reasons
- Business (Short Stay) visa (subclass 456) and the Sponsored Business Visitor (Short Stay) visa (subclass 459) for people wishing to make a short business visit to Australia
- Working Holiday (subclass 417) and Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visas, which provide opportunities for people aged between 18 and 30 to holiday in Australia and to supplement their travel funds through incidental employment
- Sponsored Family Visitor visa (subclass 679), which is specifically designed for people seeking to visit family in Australia
- Medical Treatment Short Stay visa (subclass 675) and Medical Treatment Long Stay visa (subclass 685) that enable people to travel to Australia for medical treatment or consultations.
As indicated in table 16 and figure 4, tourist and business visa grants have continued to grow during 2006-07. There has, however, been a slight drop in other visa categories, such as the ETA.
Performance
During 2006-07, the department continued to support the tourist industry by facilitating the entry of bona fide visitors to Australia, through:
- improving access to visa services through expanding online services
- maintaining integrity checking to minimise opportunities for non-bona fide visitors to be granted visas
- maintaining and expanding schemes, such as the Approved Destination Status (ADS) scheme and the Preferred Aussie Specialist programme, in important markets to help promote tourism to Australia
- working closely with other government agencies and bodies such as the Tourism and Visa Advisory Group (TVAG)
- continuing to assist entry through the International Event Coordinator Network (IECN) for events such as World Youth Day.
Visitor visas
In 2006-07, there were 3 627 803 visitor visa grants offshore, a record number of grants, increasing by 1.8 per cent over the 2005-06 figure of 3 563 372. The highest number of offshore visitor visas was granted to people from the United Kingdom. The rate of grant for Visitor visas has continued to improve during 2006-07.
Improving access for clients
ETAs are issued through travel agents and airlines, or directly via the Internet. People not eligible for ETAs can apply for visas either over the Internet, through service delivery partners or at Australian diplomatic missions overseas.
The department further streamlined visitor visa arrangements in 2006-07 to encourage emerging tourism markets by making it faster and simpler for people to apply.
A number of initiatives were, for example, implemented to improve visitor visa procedures for nationals from Gulf countries. This included enabling citizens of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to travel on visas with a two-year validity.
Access to Electronic Tourist visas (referred to as e676) was also expanded, with nationals of 48 countries or regions now being able to lodge e676 applications.
During 2006-07 the e676 service was expanded to India in August 2006 and Romania and Bulgaria after they joined the European Union during January 2007. Applications are processed in the Hobart Global Processing Centre, typically within a period of two to five days, unless further information is required. Some visas can be granted in a matter of seconds.
The e676 visa can offer many of the same benefits as the ETA, including electronic lodgement and payment, label-free travel, quicker decision-making and no requirement for applicants to either visit or post their passports to an Australian diplomatic mission, often located in another country.
In 2006-07, 59.3 per cent of eligible subclass 676 applications made offshore were lodged electronically, compared with 43.63 per cent in 2005-06.
In coming years, the department plans to improve electronic visitor access through the implementation of the eVisitor service, which is planned to be a one-stop-shop for all visitors to Australia.
Maintaining programme integrity
During 2006-07, the department improved access to Visitor visas, without compromising programme integrity. The department used tools such as the ‘no further stay’ condition, bonds, safeguards profiles and sponsor sanctions to maintain integrity.
The number of visitor visa holders failing to leave Australia before their visa expired was low in 2006-07, with a non-return rate of 1.23 per cent. Non-return and Protection visa application rates from high-risk countries (that is non-ETA countries) also continued to remain relatively stable.
Only 0.07 per cent of Visitor visa holders (2617 persons) applied for protection visas after arriving in Australia during 2006-07, the same as for the previous year.
Approved Destination Status scheme
The Approved Destination Status (ADS) scheme enables tourists from the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to travel to Australia more easily as part of organised tour groups. Since its inception in August 1999, the number of PRC tourists visiting Australia has increased significantly, providing a substantial boost to Australia’s tourism industry.
The department granted 84 404 ADS visas in 2006-07, compared with 57 405 in 2005-06. Since the start of ADS in August 1999, a total of 305 899 tourists have arrived on ADS visas. The ADS non-return rate in 2006-07 was 0.4 per cent compared to a global non-return rate of 1.23 per cent.
The ADS scheme has been extremely successful, allowing a large number of tourists to visit Australia, while ensuring high levels of integrity and compliance with visa conditions.
Eighty-nine Chinese travel agencies and 57 Australian travel agencies are now participating in the ADS scheme.
Streamlined travel opportunities are now available to all PRC citizens through the ADS expansion to the whole of the PRC.
Preferred Aussie Specialists
Preferred Aussie Specialists are travel agents selected to promote tourism and facilitate the processing of Australian visitor visa applications. The agents are trained by Tourism Australia to promote Australia as a destination and by the department in general visitor visa policy and assessing bona fides. But they do not issue visas.
The Preferred Aussie Specialist scheme enables visas to be processed quickly and with greater integrity. In 2006-07 the programme continued to operate in India and Russia and was extended to Mexico in recognition of their importance as emerging tourism markets for Australia. Further improvements occurred with the introduction of electronic processing by Preferred Aussie Specialist agents in India in August 2006.
Tourism and Visa Advisory Group
The department continues to work closely with key stakeholders in the tourism industry. The Tourism and Visa Advisory Group (TVAG) provides the main forum. TVAG comprises representatives from Tourism Australia, the Tourism and Export Council, Tourism and Transport forum, Qantas, the Board of Airline Representatives Australia, the Australian Hotels Association, state and territory tourism authorities and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources.
European Union short-term visa reciprocity
During 2006-07 the department continued to work closely with the European Commission and other European Union representatives on visa reciprocity issues. This close working relationship has resulted in Romania and Bulgaria gaining access to e676 visas in January 2007. On 1 July 2007 the requirement for European Union visitors travelling to Australia for periods of three months or less to pay visa application charges on 456 and e676 visas was removed.
Business visitors
Short Stay Business Visitor visas support Australian businesses, including export industries, and are an integral part of the department’s operations. They enable business people to visit Australia for business negotiations, signing of contracts, inter-company business activities and attendance at conferences.
In 2006-07, 404 795 Short Stay Business Visitor visas were granted, an increase of 9.9 per cent over 2005-06 (368 333 visas). Almost half of these were issued electronically, as indicated in table 20.
Sponsored family visitors
The Sponsored Family Visitor programme allows Australian citizens and permanent residents to formally sponsor their relatives to visit Australia. To strengthen the integrity of this programme a security bond may be required from the sponsor. The programme has been successful in allowing those applicants about whom there may be some residual concerns to be granted a visa to visit family in Australia.
In 2006-07, 14 123 Sponsored Family Visitor visas were granted, a large increase of 35.7 per cent from 10 405 grants in 2005-06. In 10 405 cases where a bond was requested, the visa holders met all visa conditions, including departing within the validity of the visa period and the bond was refunded.
International Events Coordinator Network
The department’s International Events Coordinator Network (IECN) continued to increase the number of incoming international visitors by promoting Australia as a destination for major events and facilitating the issue of visas to event participants.
The IECN’s coordinators work with event organisers and immigration staff to streamline visa processing for events. They also help with integrity matters to maintain the well-managed entry of international event participants.
IECN helped with 902 events in 2006-07, compared to 790 in 2005-06. The workload will continue to increase as more event organisers become aware of the benefits that IECN provides.
Major IECN-facilitated events in 2006-07 included the Pan Pacific Master Games at the Gold Coast involving an estimated 10 000 visitors; the G-20 meetings in Melbourne that were attended by key international finance and economic representatives; the 12th FINA World Swimming Championships attended by around 2500 international competitors; the Seventh Day Adventist Pathfinder Camporee with 2500 participants; the World Police and Fire Games with 15 000 participants; and CeBIT 2007 with 25 000 participants.
Other events included the Dalai Lama 2007 Australian tour and APEC non-accredited meetings.
The IECN comprises a team of four staff in Canberra and event coordinators based in each state and territory office. It will be establishing a special taskforce to oversee the entry in 2008 of the estimated 135 000 international pilgrims who are expected to attend World Youth Day.
Working Holiday visas
Australia has 19 reciprocal working holiday arrangements and is actively negotiating arrangements with new countries.
The Working Holiday programme has both social and economic benefits. It supports the Australian economy by providing supplementary labour for industries needing short-term casual workers and is an important source of revenue for the Australian tourist industry. It promotes better understanding between countries by encouraging cultural exchange and allowing young people to have extended holidays, supplemented by incidental employment.
In 2006-07, 128 608 Working Holiday visas were granted to offshore applicants, 14.86 per cent increase over the 111 973 visas granted in 2005-06.
The main source countries for Working Holiday visas are shown in table 22.
Key changes to the Working Holiday programme
On 1 July 2006, the length of time working holiday makers can work for the same employer was extended from three to six months. This change has been welcomed by employers who can now retain trained staff for longer and by working holiday makers who can apply for a broader range of jobs. Study entitlements for working holiday makers were also extended from three to four months. This change has benefited working holiday makers such as nurses wishing to undertake further study or upgrade their skills to Australian standards.
The second Working Holiday visa, which was introduced on 1 November 2005 for working holiday makers who have done three months of seasonal work in regional Australia, has been well received by primary producers, the tourism industry and visa holders. In 2006-07, 7692 second Working Holiday visas were granted.
eWHM
In 2006-07, 98 per cent of all Working Holiday visas were lodged electronically and 75 per cent of these were approved automatically. The high take-up rate reflects the success of this facility, which provides clients with easy access and faster decisions.
Work and Holiday visas
Australia’s Work and Holiday visa programme provides opportunities for young people from a number of higher risk countries to travel and experience different lifestyles and cultures. It is designed for tertiary-educated people aged 18 to 30, with functional English, who are interested in working holidays of up to 12 months in Australia.
Due to the higher risk, in addition to the educational and English qualifications, applicants are required to have support from their government.
Currently there are Work and Holiday visa arrangements in place for people from Chile, Iran, Thailand and Turkey. An arrangement with Bangladesh is expected to come into effect in 2007-08.
New Health Services Australia contract
The department has signed a $140 million five-year contract with Health Services Australia (HSA) to undertake onshore medical screening of about 100 000 visa applicants a year. HSA was chosen as the preferred provider of the services under a new contract to run from May 2007 until 2012. The new contract will reduce the overall expense to visa applicants by $16.5 million, making the visa application process more affordable for the department’s clients.
