The Department of Home Affairs has advised that onshore visa holders who would like to extend their stay in Australia must apply for an 'appropriate' visa. A number of visa pathways are available to temporary visa holders that are existing employees.
Current travel bans due to COVID-19
On 18 March 2020, all Australians were advised not to travel overseas to any destination. This advice was given at the highest level (level 4 of 4) and is an indefinite ban.
The entry ban took effect from 9pm AEDT Friday, 20 March 2020, and remains in effect, with exemptions for Australian citizens, permanent residents and their immediate family, including spouses, legal guardians and dependents.
New Zealand citizens who live in Australia as Australian residents are also exempt, as are New Zealanders transiting to New Zealand. Exemptions for Pacific Islanders transiting to their home countries will continue to apply.
Travel exemption
Travellers who have a compassionate or compelling reason to travel to Australia must apply for an exemption from the Australian Border Force Commissioner (ABF) to enable them to do so. These exemptions must be granted prior to travel and may be considered by the Commissioner in the following situations:
- foreign nationals travelling at the invitation of the Australian Commonwealth Government for the purpose of assisting in the COVID-19 response or whose entry would be in the national interest
- critical medical services, including air ambulance and delivery of supplies, that regularly arrive into Australia from international ports
- people with critical skills (for example, medical specialists, engineers, marine pilots and crews) by exception
- diplomats accredited to Australia and currently resident in Australia, and their immediate family
- case-by-case exceptions for humanitarian or compassionate reasons.
All travellers arriving in Australia must undertake a mandatory 14-day quarantine at designated facilities (for example, a hotel), in their port of arrival.
Please note that travel restrictions are subject to change and are frequently updated.
Temporary visa holders in Australia
The Department has advised that onshore visa holders that would like or need to extend their stay in Australia must apply for an 'appropriate' visa.
Employers should be aware of a number of visa programs and schemes that provide pathways for employees to remain in Australia and gain permanent residency (in addition to the standard Subclass 482 Temporary Skill Shortage and Subclass 186 Employer Nomination Scheme pathway). These programs include:
- A suite of new regional visas
- Labour Agreements, the Global Talent Employer Sponsored scheme and Designated Area Migration Agreements (DAMAs) under which employees can be granted employer sponsored visas
- Global Talent Independent program
- Family visas including new Parent visas
Visas which have 'No Further Stay' conditions
'No Further Stay' conditions on visas (Conditions 8503, 8534 and 8535) prevent visa holders from applying for most temporary and permanent visas while they are in Australia. Most commonly these conditions are applied to visitor visas.
'No Further Stay' conditions can be waived by the Minister where, since the person was granted the visa that is subject to the condition, compelling and compassionate circumstances have developed:
- Over which the person had no control; and
- That have resulted in a major change to the person's circumstances.
The current travel restrictions are beyond the control of visa holders and as such may be considered to constitute 'compelling and compassionate circumstances'. Accordingly, applicants from countries who have been affected by travel restrictions as a result of Covid-19 may be able to successfully apply for a waiver of the 8503 condition.
