We have already had a few little tables in New Zealand and as we are "ass-restless", we are already thinking about leaving ... although we still have, huh? Neither more nor less than the whole south island! But the plane tickets for our next destination are already in our e-mail ... Checking them we realized something ... we have a 14-hour Australia stopover!! Will we need a special visa?
Looking for information on the net came the downturn ... YES! Apparently, if you are in transit in Australia for a considerable time you need at least the transit visa… Although there are an alternative, simpler and cheaper, to be able to make this scale without problems ... We tell you! Let's go by parts:
When is a visa needed for stops in Australia?
Basically when your scale is more than 8 hours. If you go without a valid visa having a larger scale, they probably won't even let you embark.
What visa do you need for transit in Australia?
The first one that will come to mind, like us, will be the transit visa, which allows you to be up to 72 hours in Australian territory ... This visa is free, although it cannot be applied online. The only way to do it is through some travel agency or through the official visa offices in Australia. The cost in the office is NZ $ 32 (in New Zealand) and we assume that something else in the agencies. To apply you will only need to submit the completed form, passport photo, copy of the passport (and the original to check it), and the itinerary of your trip, in which both flights appear, the one of arrival to Australia and the one of departure (within 72 hours, remember). For more information look here.
Lack care, just to curse at an airport !! So we are looking for (or rather presented to us) an alternative. The solution was to take out the ETA (Electronic Travel Authority), a tourist visa that allows you to enter Australia as many times as you want for a year and stay up to 3 consecutive months. Cool right? The bad thing is that only a few countries can apply online, so you will have to go to a travel agency or to some Australia visa office for get It. The price is 20 AUD in the latter (in agencies it would cost less than NZ $ 30). The documents you need to apply are few ... just a copy of the passport with the original for verification and the New Zealand visa (if you apply from this country, of course!). The latter we are not sure, but we took it and it was what they stayed ... For more information click here.
Eye, now there is an e-Visitor that can be obtained directly online and free, we will tell you at the end of the article!
How to receive the visa?
For both cases the confirmation is received through e-mail. They don't keep your original passport or anything. It is computerized, so when you get to passport control in Australia they will get it into the system.
Here you have a little board with the summary:
The address is: Level 1, West Plaza Building, 1-3 Albert Street. Auckland CBD. And his web.
Now there is also a visa that can be taken online, this is the e-Visitor (subclass 651). Like the ETA, this visa allows you to be in Australia for a maximum of 3 months, in a period of one year. It is free and you can apply online on this website.
It is a multiple entry visa, which means you can leave and enter Australia as many times as you want without having to apply for a new visa, provided you are within the valid year. You cannot stay more than three months after each entry.
More information about Australia's e-Visitor
The difference between the eVisitor and the ETA? Well, apparently he has the same conditions, but only the country of the applicant changes. Depending on your origin you will have access to one or another visa. For example, the Spanish will have access to the eVisitor.
What visa do I need depending on my nationality?
If you have made a stopover in Australia or some other country and have needed to process a visa in advance, tell us!
