Apply for an Australian Tourist visa for your UK/European Girlfriend

If you are an Australian and you have a girlfriend from the UK, Ireland or mainland Europe, at some stage you may want to invite her out to Australia to spend some time with you. For the citizens of some countries it is possible to apply for an Australian Tourist visa to visit Australia relatively easily. This includes the UK, Ireland, and most countries in Western and Central Europe. This is called the Australian eVisitor visa.

However, for most other countries, or if you are a UK, Irish or mainland European citizen but have a criminal record, or have previously been refused an eVisitor visa, then you will need to apply for a different type of Australian Tourist visa where you need to fill in a detailed application and provide a considerable amount of supporting documentation.Unfortunately, it can be a very complicated process and a high percentage of applications are refused.

Below I will explain the rules and broad eligibility criteria so that you can more easily determine whether your UK or European girlfriend might be eligible for a Tourist visa, and which one.

Citizens of the UK and the following countries can apply for an Australian eVisitor visa:

Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Republic of San Marino, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Vatican City.

However, as mentioned above, if an applicant has a criminal conviction(s) where the total sentence(s) added up are12 months or more, they will not be allowed to apply for an eVisitorvisa. Also, the applicant must be outside of Australia when they apply for an eVisitor visa and, if an applicant has ever applied for an eVisitorvisa before and been refused then they will not be able to apply again for an eVisitor visa.

To apply for an eVisitor visa just click on this link: etavisaaustralia.org

On this website it is easy to apply for an Australian eVisitor visa. You just fill in your details, pay the fee, and then you should hear back within 24 to 48 hours. You can also choose a Priority or Express option if you need your visa quickly.

An eVisitor visa is valid for 1 year from the date of grant of the visa. It is valid for multiple entries of up to 3 months at a time.Holders of an Australian eVisitorvisa are not allowed to work.

If you are not eligible to apply for an eVisitor visa then you will need to look at a Visitor visa (Subclass 600) visa to enter Australia for tourism or business purposes. Anyone from any country can apply for this visa. However, as mentioned above, the application is a relatively lengthy one and a lot of supporting documentation is required with an application. There are a lot of eligibility criteria for this visa and, amongst other things, you need to show that you have, or have access to, adequate funds to support your proposed trip to Australia. You also need to show that you are a genuine temporary entrant and not someone that is likely to overstay or breach other conditions that might be attached to the visa. The Australia Subclass 600 Visitor visa is covered in depth in a separate article. 

Apply for your Australia eVisitor visa today!

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