COVID-19 UPDATE: Changes on Travel Exemptions Outbound

Due to COVID-19, the Australian government has implemented strict border controls to protect the public’s health. Travel restrictions are in place, and Australian citizens and permanent residents are only permitted to travel under certain conditions with travel exemptions.

What is a Travel Exemption?

If you need to travel out of Australia for compassionate and compelling reasons, the Commissioner of the Australian Border Force may give you an exemption. Compassionate and compelling grounds include, but are not limited to, the necessity to travel due to a close family member’s death or urgent medical treatment.

If you are traveling outside Australia for three months or longer, you may be eligible to apply for an exemption.

What are the changes?

• Travel exemptions submitted on or after February 9, 2021 have a three-month travel validity from the date of approval and are valid for one outbound movement within that time. If no movement is needed at the end of the validity period, the traveller will need to apply for another travel exemption.
• Unless it is a specified multiple use exemption, a travel exemption is only applicable for one outbound movement.
• Prior to February 9, 2021, travel exemptions did not have a validity period and were valid as long as the cause for travel remained the same.

Travel Exemptions outbound requirements

COVID-19 limitations prevent Australian citizens and permanent residents from leaving the country unless they get a travel exemption. You can apply online, but at least one of the following requirements must be met:

• Your travel is as part of the response to the COVID-19 outbreak, including the provision of aid;
• Your travel is for your business/employer;
• You are traveling to receive urgent medical treatment that is not available in Australia;
• You are traveling outside Australia for a compelling reason for three months or longer;
• You are traveling on compelling or compassionate grounds;
• Your travel is in the national interest.

Still not sure how this can affect you? Speak to us, we are here to help!

We understand that applying for a travel exemption is complex. It is even harder during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Our visa specialists at ONEderland Consulting will help you assess your visa options. We have a 98% success rate and are one of the most highly recommended migration agents in Australia. Read our 4.9* score customer reviews.

We are the complex visa specialists. As registered Australian migration agents with the Migration Agents Registration Authority (MARA), we are regulated in our professional practice and bound by the profession’s Code of Conduct issued by the Migration Agents Registration Authority.

Take the first step and get in touch with us. Our team members are professional, honest and speak various languages such as Mandarin/ Chinese, Bahasa Indonesia, Arabic, Japanese, Polish, German and Russian. Contact us through email at [email protected] or via phone at 1300 827 159. Alternatively, you may book your consultation online, and it is 100% refundable if you become our client.