Introduction - Australian Immigration

Only Australian citizens (or New Zealand citizens) have the right to travel to and from Australia without a visa. All other persons wishing to come on a temporary or permanent basis must apply for a visa. Even Australian permanent residents must have a visa to re-enter Australia if they have been overseas.

There are in excess of one hundred different types of Australian visas, each with their own rules for eligibility. The rules that govern immigration in Australia are contained in three main places: The Migration Act, the Migration Regulations and Department policy. If these rules or requirements are not met, the visa cannot be granted. Many of the rules are highly complex and subject to change frequently. It is therefore important that visa applicants are aware of these requirements, or seek advice from experienced registered migration professionals who have the requisite qualifications and knowledge, to ensure that these requirements are met in order to be successful.

Visiting Australia on a Temporary basis

Temporary visas are for people who wish to come to Australia on a temporary basis. The main types of temporary visas include (but not limited to): work visas, visitor visas and student visas.

Migrating to Australia on a Permanent basis:

Permanent visas are for people who wish to live permanently in Australia. If they are already in Australia on a temporary visa, they apply to change their status to permanent resident.

If you want to migrate to Australia permanently, there are four main visa categories:

• the Family Stream - eg spouse, prospective spouse, child, parent etc.
• the Skilled Stream - eg skilled independent/sponsored, employer sponsored, business skills
• the Special Eligibility Stream - eg former citizens/residents, resolution of status
• the Humanitarian (Refugee) Program

The most common categories of visas people living overseas apply for are the visas under the the Family and the Skilled Streams. The Family visas are based on familial relationships. In recent years, the Australian migration program has been expanded to supplement work skills. Economic criteria are therefore important in most of these categories.

Abacus Visa's services focus on the Skilled and Family Streams of visas. We have endeavoured to provide basic and up-to-date information on some of the most common Family and Skilled visas. Please click through the Visa Information for this information.

Should you wish to obtain further information regarding temporary and permanent visas in Australia, please contact us for detailed information, or click here for a free assessment.