Subclass “651″ eVisitor visa has been introduced for those with an eligible passport from European Union countries, to allow those with a genuine interest in visiting Australia as either a Tourist or on Business. This visa is a Temporary visa for multiple entries to Australia for up to 12 months, with each visit duration of no more than 3 months.

Subclass “488″ Superyacht Crew visa is a Temporary visa which has been introduced by Senator Evans to back up his commitment to this growing industry around our shores. It has been designed to cope with the specific requirements of the Superyacht crews. Some of the conditions of this visa are:-

• must be a member of the crew of a Superyacht
• must be Sponsored by either the Captain or the Owner of the Superyacht on which they are working
• can stay and work for up to 12 months
• can apply for a further “488″ visa on-shore.
• those already on a “456″ Business (short stay) visa do not have to apply immediately for this new visa, but must apply anytime before the expiry of their current “456″ visa.

Subclass “485″ – prior to 27th October 2008, it was permissible for the applicant of the 485 visa to just provide evidence they had only made arrangements to sit an English examination (IELTS). As from 27th October 2008 it is MANDATORY that the applicant has successfully taken the IELTS test.

Subclass “417″ Working Holiday and “462″ Work and Holiday visas – eligible applicants with DEpendent children may be eligible to apply for either of the above visas, providing the Dependent children do not accompany them during their stay in Australia.

As mentioned in a previous article, DIAC has increased their fees for on-shore application for the “TR” “676″ Tourist visa from $215.00 to $240.00.

Furthermore, as mentioned in a previous article, all Contributory Parent visas have had a 3.7% increase in fees also.

The Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC), has made an announcement with regard to eVisitor Visas.

As from 27th October 2008, applicants with a current Passport from the Countries listed below, which are all EU countries, plus Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, Switzerland and the Vatican City, will be able to apply for eVisitor Visas for either tourist or business purposes.

The Eu countries are: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

DIAC have also announced that those applying on-line may do so free of DIAC fees.

Once the application has been approved, this visa will allow the holder to enter and stay in Australia as often as they like, for periods of up to 3 months at a time, with a maximum period of 12 months.

The applicant is not permitted to work.