All foreigner travellers* will be banned from entering Australia from Friday night at 9pm AEDT
Key points:
- All non-residents will be banned from arriving in Australia from 9:00pm AEDT on Friday
- It replaces earlier travel bans on foreigners coming from China, Iran, Italy and South Korea
- Australians who return from overseas will still need to isolate themselves for a fortnight
Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced the enhanced border measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
It applies to all people who are non-citizens and non-residents* such as temporary visa holders and visitor visa holders.
Australian passport holders and permanent residents will still be able to return from overseas but they will be required to self-isolate for 14 days.
Mr Morrison said he had consulted New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern about Australia's new travel ban prior to announcing it.
"The New Zealand arrangement, in the same way as it has in the past, doesn't apply to Australians living in New Zealand as New Zealand residents," he said.
"Equally for New Zealanders living in Australia as Australian residents, these are the same rules that apply in both countries.
"We have worked today to align what we're doing and I appreciate that openness."
What does this mean for HR Managers?
Plan A - If you have visa holders who are overseas such as 482, 457,400, 417 (working holiday) and business visas (ETA’s) and they will not be able to arrive in Australia by 9pm AEDT (Australia Eastern Time) they will not be cleared in their home country (country of departure) to arrive so we suggest that you delay their travel.
Plan B – If your business has visa holders who are in Australia and their visa such as 482,417,457 or ETA is expiring and they cannot or don’t wish to depart Australia then they may able to apply for a visitor visa which will enable them to remain in Australia.
Please contact the team at Visa Executive to discuss the options that your employees may have in order to remain in Australia until the travel ban is lifted.
