If you are outside Australia

Update: 30 March 2020

Who can enter Australia? 

From 9pm AEDT on 20 March 2020, the Australian government announced that only the following persons can enter Australia:

• Australian citizens
• Australian permanent residents
• New Zealand citizens usually resident 
• Immediate family members of an Australian citizen or permanent resident (Family member can include spouses, dependent children and legal guardians. If the family member holds a temporary visa other than Partner/Child visa they are required to attach proof of relationship and request an exemption prior to travel by filling the COVID-19 enquiry form. Travel must not be undertaken unless confirmation is provided by the Department of Home Affairs) 
• Transiting through Australia
• Travellers who have a compassionate or compelling reason to travel to Australia will need to apply for and be granted an exemption prior to travel.
• Additional exemptions as determined by the Commissioner

Mandatory Quarantine 

From 11.59pm AEDT on 28 March 2020, all travellers arriving in Australia are required to undertake mandatory 14-day quarantine at a designated facility located at the port of first entry to Australia. All travellers will be transported to the designated facility after they clear immigration, customs and enhanced health checks. 

You can find further information on the Department of Home Affairs website.

The information is also available in Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Farsi, Chinese and Arabic.

Medicals outside Australia

Department of Home Affairs has indicated that there are disruptions to overseas services and some clinics have temporarily suspended or reduced operations for the next few months.

VETASSESS offshore assessment cancellations

VETASSESS has decided to cancel all offshore assessments effective immediately, in line with Commonwealth Government guidelines around COVID-19.

Assessments for professional occupations are not affected by this, but it will affect these planned offshore assessments for trades:

• South Africa (27th March to 5th April, 2020) – Electrical, Air Conditioning Refrigeration Mechanic and Plumbing (General).
• Philippines (27 April - 1 May, 2020) - Automotive and Engineering Trades, Mechanical Engineering.
• United Kingdom (13 - 14 May, 2020) - Electrician (General), Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Mechanic.
• India (19 - 22 May, 2020) Electrician (General).

VETASSESS can be contacted on +61 3 9655 4801 or tradeassess@vetassess.com.au for enquiries.

Can you still lodge visa applications for Australia?

Yes, the Department of Home Affairs is still processing visa applications.  However, we do expect that there will be significant delays to visa processing.