Last November 1, Australia welcomed home the fully vaccinated Australian, permanent residents and their immediate family.

Australia’s National Plan is staying on track  last 22 November, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced that more than 200,000 fully vaccinated international students, skilled workers, provisional family, working holiday makers and humanitarian visa holders are eligible to enter Australia.

Below are the eligible visa holders who can travel to Australia without applying for a travel exemption.

Student and Temporary Graduate Visa Holders

• • Subclass 500 – Student Visa
  • Subclass 485 – Temporary Graduate Visa
  • Subclass 476 – Skilled – Recognised Graduate Visa
  • Subclass 580 – Student Guardian visa (closed to new applicants)
  • Subclass 590 – Student Guardian Visa

Skilled Visa Holders

• • Subclass 400 Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) Visa
  • Subclass 482 – Temporary Skill Shortage Visa
  • Subclass 457 – Temporary Work (Skilled) Visa
  • Subclass 494 – Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) Visa
  • Subclass 491 – Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) Visa
  • Subclass 489 – Skilled – Regional (Provisional) Visa
  • Subclass 408 – Temporary Activity Visa
  • Subclass 407 – Training Visa
  • Subclass 988 – Maritime Crew Visa
  • Subclass 403 – Temporary Work (International Relations) visa (other streams, including Australian Agriculture Visa stream)

Provisional Family Visa Holders

• • Subclass 300 – Prospective Marriage Visa
  • Subclass 870 – Sponsored Parent (Temporary) Visa
  • Subclass 461 – New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship Visa

Working Holiday Makers (WHM) Program Visa Holders

• • Subclass 417 – Working Holiday Visa
  • Subclass 462 – Work and Holiday Visa

Humanitarian Visa Holders

• • Subclass 200 – Refugee Visa
  • Subclass 201 – In-country Special Humanitarian Visa
  • Subclass 202 – Global Special Humanitarian Visa
  • Subclass 203 – Emergency Rescue Visa
  • Subclass 204 – Woman at Risk Visa
  • Subclass 449 – Humanitarian Stay (Temporary) Visa
  • Subclass 785 – Temporary Protection Visa
  • Subclass 790 – Safe Haven Enterprise Visa

Vaccination Requirements

Under these additional changes to the international border arrangement, travellers must:

• Be fully vaccinated with a completed dosage of a vaccine approved or recognised by Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)

As of 23 November, these are the accepted vaccines and dosages for travel purposes are:

• • Two doses at least 14 days apart of:
    • AstraZeneca Vaxzevria
    • AstraZeneca Covishield
    • Pfizer/Biontech Comirnaty
    • Moderna Spikevax
    • Sinovac Coronavac
    • Bharat Biotech Covaxin
    • Sinopharm BBIBP-CorV (for 18-60 year olds).
  • Or one dose of:
    • Johnson & Johnson/ Janssen-Cilag COVID Vaccine.

At least 7 days must have passed since the final dose of vaccine in the course of immunisation for you to be considered fully vaccinated. Mixed doses count towards being fully vaccinated as long as all vaccines are approved or recognised by the TGA.

The TGA is continuing to evaluate other COVID-19 vaccines that may be recognised for the purposes of inbound travel to Australia in future. The most up-to-date information on approved and recognised vaccines is available on the TGA website.

Exemptions apply for:

• • Travellers who cannot be vaccinated for medical reasons
  • Children under 12

• Hold a valid visa for one of the eligible visa subclasses
• Provide proof of their vaccination status
• Present a negative COVID-19 Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test taken within three days of departure.

On 1 December, fully vaccinated citizens from Japan and the Republic of Korea. Citizens of Japan and the Republic of Korea with a valid Australian visa will be permitted to travel from their home country quarantine-free to participating states and territories without the requirement to apply for a travel exemption under these terms.

Travellers must:

• • Depart from their home country
  • Be fully vaccinated with a completed dosage of a vaccine approved or recognised by the TGA
  • Hold a valid Australian visa
  • Provide proof of their vaccination status
  • Present a negative COVID-19 PCR test taken within three days of departure.

 Quarantine and Travel Requirements

Travellers may be eligible for reduced quarantine requirements when returning to Australia, depending on the state or territory to which they are travelling.

Travellers need to comply with the quarantine requirements in the state or territory of their arrival and any other state or territories they plan to travel to. Restrictions may change at short notice.

As of 23 November, Returning Travellers to Australia may only enter and travel between NSW, Victoria and the ACT without quarantining.

If you wish to travel to another state or territory, you may not be allowed to enter or be subject to a quarantine period.

Origin Migration highly advised the travellers to check the entry and quarantine requirements, especially when setting a travel plan. Each state or territory is responsible for determining and managing quarantine requirements for people entering from overseas.

To check the quarantine arrangements, and further advice please refer to this website https://www.australia.gov.au/states.