Print1.1.4 Visitors and working holiday makers
Objective
Assist the entry of genuine tourists, business, family visitors and working holiday makers while minimising non-return rates and contravention of visa conditions.
Description
Under this component, the department facilitates the entry of genuine tourists, business and family visitors, working holiday makers and attendees at major international events in Australia by improving client services and processing times.
Another major role is to minimise the potential for non-genuine visitors to enter, or remain in, Australia or to contravene their visa conditions. Under this component, the department also collaborates with the Department of Health and Ageing to develop policy advice on the administration of health requirements for temporary entrants as well as migrants.
People who wish to visit Australia can apply for a range of visas, including, but not limited to:
- Electronic Travel Authorities (ETAs) (subclasses 976, 977 and 956), which enable passport holders from 33 countries and regions to make short-term tourism and business visits
- Tourist (subclass 676) visas for people seeking to visit Australia for tourism
- Sponsored Family Visitor (subclass 679) visas, which are specifically designed for people seeking to visit family in Australia
- Business (Short Stay) (subclass 456) visas and Sponsored Business Visitor (Short Stay) (subclass 459) visas for people wishing to make a short business visit to Australia
- Working Holiday (subclass 417) visas 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 short-term employment
- Medical Treatment (Short Stay) (subclass 675) visas and Medical Treatment (Long Stay) (subclass 685) visas that enable people to travel to Australia for medical treatment or consultations.
Table 14: Visitors and working holiday visas—performance information
| Measures | Results | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005–06 | 2006–07 | 2007–08 | |
| Quantity1 | |||
| 975 000 applications (persons) finalised | 848 245 | 964 781 | 1 095 064 |
| 3 321 000 ETA applications (persons) finalised | 2 824 574 | 2 818 142 | 2 713 131 |
| Quality | |||
| Percentage of visitors that apply for protection visas remains low or declines | 0.07% | 0.07% | 0.06% |
| Percentage of applications finalised within service standard | N/A | N/A | See Table 15 |
- Applications processed in Taipei are not reflected in the applications (persons) finalised quantities.
Table 15: Visitors and working holiday visas—performance against the service standards
| Category | Onshore | Offshore | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low risk | High risk | Low risk | High risk | |
| Sponsored visitors | ||||
| Target | N/A | N/A | N/A | 75 per cent finalised in 1 month |
| Result | N/A | N/A | N/A | 59.13% |
| Non-sponsored visitors (short stay) | ||||
| Target | 75 per cent finalised in 1 day | 75 per cent finalised in 1 month | 75 per cent finalised in 1 day | 75 per cent finalised in 1.5 months |
| Result | 47.46% | 48.82% | 99.07% | 93.25% |
| Sponsored business visitors | ||||
| Target | N/A | N/A | N/A | 75 per cent finalised in 1 month |
| Result | N/A | N/A | N/A | 82.77% |
| Non-sponsored business visitors | ||||
| Target | N/A | N/A | 75 per cent finalised in 1 day | 75 per cent finalised in 1 month |
| Result | N/A | N/A | 98.32% | 98.03% |
| Working holiday (initial) | ||||
| Target | N/A | N/A | 75 per cent finalised in 6 days | N/A |
| Result | N/A | N/A | 66.80% | N/A |
| Working holiday (second) | ||||
| Target | 75 per cent finalised in 21 days | N/A | 75 per cent finalised in 21 days | N/A |
| Result | 20.59% | N/A | 75.52% | N/A |
N/A—not applicable
Table 16: Visas granted to offshore applicants by categories| Categories | 2006–07 | 2007–08 | Percentage variation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) Visitors (subclasses 956, 976, 977) | 2 892 904 | 2 776 386 | –4.03% |
| Tourist (non–ETA) (subclasses 676, 686) | 518 035 | 604 188 | 16.63% |
| Business Visitors (non–ETA) (subclasses 456, 459) | 199 516 | 207 054 | 3.78% |
| Sponsored Family Visitors (subclass 679) | 14 123 | 19 686 | 39.39% |
| Medical Treatment (subclasses 675, 685) | 3 225 | 2 614 | –18.95% |
| Total visitor visas | 3 627 803 | 3 609 928 | –0.49% |
| Working Holiday and Work and Holiday (subclasses 417, 462) | 130 106 | 148 742 | 14.32% |
Figure 8: Trends in Visitor and Working Holiday offshore visa grants, other than ETAs
Table 16 details the following results on visas granted offshore from 2006–07 to 2007–08:
- Tourist visas have increased by 16.63 per cent to over 600 000 grants
- Sponsored Family Visitor visas have increased by 39.39 per cent to nearly 20 000 grants
- ETAs have decreased by 4.03 per cent, but are still the most popular form of grant with over 2.7 million grants
- Business visas have increased by 3.78 per cent and are now over 200 000 in total
- Medical Treatment visas have decreased by 18.95 per cent to 2614 grants for the year
- Working Holiday and Work and Holiday visas have increased noticeably by 14.32 per cent.
Performance
During 2007–08, the department continued to support the tourism industry by facilitating the entry of genuine visitors to Australia, through:
- improving access to streamlined visa processing by expanding access to autogrant facilities for online applications
- reviewing integrity checks to minimise the risk of non-bona fide visitors being granted visitor visas
- promoting tourism to Australia through targeted schemes such as the Approved Destination Status scheme and the Preferred Aussie Specialist program
- working cooperatively with other Commonwealth and state government agencies and peak industry bodies
- providing assistance to the International Event Coordinator Network for key events such as World Youth Day.
Visitor visas
In 2007–08, there were 3 609 928 visitor visas granted offshore, a small decrease of 0.49 per cent from the 2006–07 figure of 3 627 803. The highest number of offshore visitor visas were granted to people from the United Kingdom. Both Tourist visas and Sponsored Family Visitor visas have increased on the previous period. The number of grants of ETAs has decreased by 4.03 per cent. Visitor visa approval rates have dropped slightly from the previous period.
Improving access for clients
The Central Movement Alert List (CMAL) was introduced to the Electronic Travel Authority System (ETAS) on 21 April 2008. The CMAL changes to ETAS have been designed to strengthen the security and integrity of Australia’s borders as well as provide a more streamlined application facility for airlines and the travel industry. Under the new process, ETA applications are referred back to the department for security analysis and processing. Highly trained and specialised departmental analysts have been recruited to process and analyse this data.
The rollout of ETAS continued on track, with all ETA nationalities being added to the CMAL system. By 29 June 2008, 61 883 ETAs were processed through CMAL with only 140 resulting in client referrals to an Australian Embassy, less than 0.5 per cent. This is a much lower referral rate than under the previous Movement Alert List checking arrangements in ETAS.
Table 17: Countries where highest number of offshore visitor visas granted| Country | 2006–07 | 2007–08 |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 674 771 | 631 900 |
| Japan | 556 453 | 464 878 |
| United States of America | 385 384 | 400 906 |
| People’s Republic of China | 239 061 | 261 016 |
| Republic of Korea | 235 186 | 197 450 |
| Germany | 138 230 | 144 852 |
| Malaysia | 126 030 | 134 819 |
| Singapore | 128 422 | 129 364 |
| Canada | 101 276 | 114 457 |
| France | 101 505 | 112 143 |
| India | 75 121 | 88 994 |
| Taiwan | 75 025 | 67 933 |
The e676 visa (the subclass 676 Tourist visa applied for online) can offer many of the same benefits as the ETA, including electronic lodgement and payment, quicker decision making and label free travel. This removes the requirement for applicants to either visit or post their passports to an Australian diplomatic mission, often located in another country.
Some countries are also eligible for e676 autogrant access. This allows the majority of applications from eligible passport holders, where the e676 application does not indicate that further assessment is required, to be granted their visas within a matter of minutes. During 2007–08, e676 autogrant access was extended to a number of additional countries including Cyprus, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.
In 2007–08, 48.29 per cent of offshore granted e676 Tourist visas were autogranted compared with 46.45 per cent in 2006–07. In coming years, the department plans to explore opportunities to improve electronic visitor access for all visitors to Australia.
Table 19 shows the countries with the highest eVisa take-up rates.
Table 18: Trends in visitor visa approval rates| Visa category | Approval rate 2006–07 | Approval rate 2007–08 |
|---|---|---|
| Offshore visitor visas | 98.57% | 98.07% |
| ETA applications | 99.98% | 99.91% |
| Non-ETA applications | 93.36% | 92.40% |
Table 19: Countries with high eVisa take up rates
| Country | Percentage of 676 visa applications through eVisa |
|---|---|
| Slovenia | 97.89% |
| Estonia | 96.07% |
| Kuwait | 94.85% |
| Latvia | 93.68% |
| Czech Republic | 91.59% |
| Lithuania | 88.76% |
| Malta | 86.82% |
| Switzerland | 85.94% |
| Bulgaria | 81.82% |
| Slovakia | 80.60% |
| Finland | 80.12% |
| Netherlands | 80.12% |
Note: Countries have a minimum of 100 visas granted.
Maintaining program integrity
During 2007–08, the department improved access to visitor visas without compromising program integrity. The department used tools such as the ‘no further stay’ condition, bonds, safeguard profiles and sponsor sanctions to maintain integrity.
The number of visitor visa holders failing to leave Australia before their visas expired was 1.31 per cent in 2007–08. Only 0.06 per cent of visitor visa holders (2169 persons) applied for protection visas after arriving in Australia during 2007–08,down on the previous year.
Approved Destination Status scheme
The Approved Destination Status (ADS) scheme enables tourists from the People’s Republic of China to travel to Australia more easily as part of organised tour groups. Since its inception in August 1999, the number of Chinese tourists has increased significantly, providing a substantial boost to Australia’s tourism industry.
In 2007–08, 94 503 tourists arrived under the ADS scheme, compared with 81 495 in 2006–07 and 55 487 in 2005–06. Since August 1999, a total of 399 005 tourists have arrived on ADS visas.
The ADS non-return rate decreased from 0.40 per cent in 2006–07 to 0.29 per cent in 2007–08 due to increased integrity measures in the ADS scheme. This compares to the total visitor non-return rate of 1.31 per cent.
The scheme has been extremely successful, allowing a large number of tourists to visit, while ensuring high levels of integrity and compliance with visa conditions.
There are 89 Chinese travel agencies and 54 Australian travel agencies now participating in the ADS scheme.
Preferred Aussie Specialists
Preferred Aussie Specialists (PAS) are travel agents located in developing tourist centres, 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. PAS agents do not issue visas.
The PAS scheme enables visas to be processed quickly and with greater integrity. In 2007–08, the program continued to operate in India and Russia and was extended to Mexico and Vietnam in recognition of their importance as emerging tourism markets for Australia.
The department has also been approached by Indonesia and countries in South America to consider expanding PAS into these regions.
Figure 9: Trends in Approved Destination Status scheme grants
Tourism and Visa Advisory Group
The department continues to work closely with key stakeholders in the tourism industry. The Tourism and Visa Advisory Group provides the main forum and comprises representatives from Tourism Australia, the Tourism and Export Council, the Tourism and Transport Forum, Qantas, the Board of Airline Representatives Australia, the Australian Hotels Association, state and territory tourism authorities, and the Department of Resources, Energy and Tourism.
European Union short-term entry reciprocity
During 2007–08, the department continued to work closely with the European Commission and other European Union (EU) representatives on short-term entry reciprocity issues. This close working relationship has resulted in the extension of the e676 autogrant facility to Cyprus, Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria and Poland. On 1 July 2007, the requirement for EU visitors travelling to Australia for periods of three months or less to pay visa application charges on Business (Short Stay) (subclass 456) and e676 Tourist (subclass 676) visas was removed.
There was continued development of a new electronic service, eVisitor, for tourists and business visitors across all EU countries. The eVisitor service will offer the convenience of an online application with limited questions, but will also deliver advanced screening for travellers who present a security or immigration risk. This improved capability will better uphold the integrity of Australia’s border and the safety of both visitors and Australian citizens.
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 2007–08, 418 250 short stay business visitor visas were granted, an increase of 3.32 per cent over 2006–07 (404 795 visas), with more than half of these issued electronically. The major source countries for short stay business visitors for the year were the People’s Republic of China and the United States of America.
Table 21 shows the main source countries for short stay business visitor visa grants.
Sponsored family visitors
The Sponsored Family Visitor program allows Australian citizens and permanent residents to formally sponsor their relatives to visit Australia. To strengthen the integrity of this program, a security bond may be required from the sponsor. The program 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 2007–08, 19 686 Sponsored Family Visitor visas were granted, a large increase of almost 40 per cent from the 14 123 visas granted in 2006–07.
Table 20: Types of short stay business visitor visas granted in 2007–08| Visa category | Visas granted in 2007–08 | Percentage of total Business Visitor (Short Stay) visas granted |
|---|---|---|
| ETA business visitor visas | 211 196 | 50.50% |
| Non-ETA business visitor visas | 207 054 | 49.50% |
Table 21: Main source countries for short stay business visitor visa grants
| Country | 2005–06 | 2006–07 | 2007–08 |
|---|---|---|---|
| People’s Republic of China | 76 084 | 83 539 | 81 481 |
| United States of America | 52 836 | 59 073 | 58 145 |
| United Kingdom | 29 754 | 33 433 | 35 283 |
| India | 23 651 | 23 761 | 25 175 |
| Japan | 21 874 | 24 103 | 23 998 |
| Singapore | 12 045 | 15 180 | 15 423 |
| Indonesia | 10 820 | 11 708 | 12 806 |
| Malaysia | 9 420 | 10 993 | 12 627 |
| Thailand | 12 703 | 10 961 | 12 521 |
| Germany | 10 329 | 11 404 | 12 421 |
| Canada | 9 580 | 10 571 | 11 405 |
International Events Coordinator Network
The International Events Coordinator Network (IECN) has grown significantly since its formation in 1999 with 1012 events facilitated in 2007–08, an increase of 82 per cent since 2002–03. Highlights for the year include IECN facilitation of the XII FINA World Master Championships, 58th FIFA World Congress and the Beijing Olympic Torch Relay.
Working Holiday visas
Australia has 19 reciprocal working holiday arrangements and is actively negotiating arrangements with new countries.
The Working Holiday program is a cultural program that 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.
The program promotes better understanding between countries by encouraging cultural exchange and allowing young people to have extended holidays, supplemented by short-term employment.
In 2007–08, 154 148 Working Holiday (subclass 417) visas were granted, a 14.51 per cent increase over the 134 612 visas granted in 2006–07. The main source countries for Working Holiday visas are shown in Table 22, while Figure 10 highlights gradual increases in grants from one year to the next, with Japan the only main source country decreasing.
Key changes to the Working Holiday program
Changes to the regional definition for the Working Holiday visa made during the 2007–08 program year have helped more regional areas fill their seasonal labour needs. A large percentage increase in the program shows that these changes and various promotional strategies have had a significant effect on the program overall.
Electronic Working Holiday visas
In 2007–08, 98 per cent of all Working Holiday visas were lodged electronically and 75 per cent of these were approved automatically. The continuing high eVisa take-up rate reflects the success of this facility, which provides clients with easy access and faster decisions.
Work and Holiday visas
Australia also has Work and Holiday visa arrangements with four countries: Thailand, Turkey, Chile and the USA. The visa provides opportunities for tertiary qualified nationals to travel to, and work in, Australia for up to 12 months. Nationals with a lower visa compliance level have limited places.
Participants must be aged 18 to 30, have functional English and the support of their home government (except applicants from the USA).
In 2007–08, 3426 Work and Holiday visas were granted, an 89.28 per cent increase over the 1810 visas granted in 2006–07. A total of 60 per cent of Work and Holiday visas were lodged electronically.
New Memorandum of Understanding on migration health issues
The department signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) in September 2007. The MOU defines the cooperative arrangements and respective roles and responsibilities of the two departments in relation to the administration of the health requirement of the Migration Act 1958. It also allows the department to seek technical advice from DoHA on a range of health-related issues. The MOU has been operating successfully since its inception.
Table 22: Working Holiday (subclass 417) visas granted to applicants by top countries| Country | 2006–07 | 2007–08 |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 29 815 | 34 145 |
| Republic of Korea | 26 832 | 32 635 |
| Germany | 15 290 | 17 438 |
| Ireland | 12 802 | 17 120 |
| France | 7 955 | 11 005 |
| Japan | 10 820 | 10 599 |
| Canada | 6 876 | 8 090 |
Figure 10: Working Holiday (subclass 417) visas granted to applicants by main source countries
