Visa requirements for Australian citizens

The Australian Government has signed bilateral visa waiver agreements with a number of the individual countries who are Schengen signatories, which allow Australian citizens to spend up to three months in the relevant country, without reference to time spent in other Schengen signatory states. Since these agreements continue to remain valid despite the implementation of the Schengen agreement, the European Commission has confirmed that in practice if Australians visit Schengen countries which have signed these types of bilateral agreements with Australia, then the terms of these agreements override the conditions normally imposed as a result of the Schengen visa exemption agreement.[380] However, amendments are under consideration to restrict exit from the Schengen area only through the territory of the Member State which is a Contracting Party to the bilateral agreement and the authorities of which have extended the stay.[381]

Australia has individual bilateral visa waiver agreements with the following Schengen signatories:

Consequently, Australian citizens can visit the above Schengen member states visa-free for periods of up to three months in each country. If, however, an Australian citizen then visits another Schengen state not included in the list above, the restriction of no more than three months out of a six-month period in the Schengen area as a whole applies. Therefore, if an Australian citizen has already spent three months in one or more of the above Schengen countries, any visits to another Schengen country without a bilateral visa waiver agreement with Australia may lead to difficulties with local law enforcement agencies (e.g. being accused of having overstayed upon leaving a Schengen country which is not in the list above).

Australian citizens are classified as 'Annex II' foreign nationals, and so are permitted to stay visa-free in the 26 member states of the Schengen Area as a whole — rather than each country individually — for a period not exceeding 3 months every 6 months.

During the visa exemption period, Australian citizens are permitted to work in Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovenia and Sweden.[397] In addition, Australian citizens intending to stay and work in Estonia for up to 90 days can do so without a visa as long as the employer has completed a 'registration of short-term employment'.[398]

In general, any person who is not a European Union, European Economic Area or Swiss citizen and who wishes to stay in a Schengen member state for more than 3 months is required to obtain a national long-stay 'D' visa and/or a residence permit. Australian citizens aged 18–30 (or 18–35 in some cases) are able to obtain a national long-stay 'D' visa and/or a residence permit from some Schengen member states on the basis of a working holiday (see below). Schengen member states also issue national long-stay 'D' visas and residence permits for other reasons to those fulfilling criteria laid out in their national immigration policies (e.g. skilled workers, students, au pair).

In general, the national long-stay 'D' visa/residence permit needs to be obtained in advance through the member state's embassy/consulate. However, some Schengen member states offer exceptions for Australian citizens.

 Austria allows Australian citizens to enter the country without a visa and to apply for a temporary residence permit or a 'Red-White-Red Card' (issued to permanent immigrants) after arrival, rather than in advance through an Austrian embassy/consulate.[399][400]

The  Czech Republic allows Australian citizens to apply for a work visa under a special scheme known as a 'Green Card' (rather than a 'Blue Card' or work permit which is required by most non-EU citizens). The application for a Green Card can be lodged at any Czech embassy/consulate (or, in some circumstances, within the Czech Republic if the applicant is already resident there) and is usually processed within 60 days.[401] Note that 'Green Cards' are no longer issued after 24 June 2014.[402]

 Germany permits Australian citizens intending to stay in the country for over 3 months to enter without a visa and to apply for a residence permit after arrival (whilst for many other non-EEA and Swiss citizens, a residence permit and visa for a stay over 3 months must be applied for in advance at a German foreign mission).[403][404]

 Estonia permits Australian citizens to stay and work in Estonia for more than 90 days but less than 6 months as long as they obtain a category 'D' long-stay visa at a cost of €80 in advance at an Estonian foreign mission after the employer has completed a 'registration of short-term employment'.[405] Australian citizens intending to stay and work in Estonia for more than 6 months can apply for a temporary residence permit for employment after arrival in the country.[406]

 Hungary allows Australian citizens who wish to stay for more than 90 days in the country to apply for a residence card from the regional directorate of the Office of Immigration and Nationality within 90 days of arrival and do not need to obtain a residence permit prior to arrival in Hungary (unlike most other non-EEA and Swiss foreign nationals).[407]

 Latvia permits Australian citizens intending to stay in the country for over 3 months as self-employed persons or as businesspersons to enter Latvia without a visa and to apply for a residence permit after arrival (whilst for many non-EEA and Swiss citizens, an application for a residence permit must be lodged in advance at a Latvian foreign mission).[408]

 Netherlands exempts Australian citizens from the requirement to obtain a Schengen category "D" visa (the visa issued for long term stays in The Netherlands of over 90 days, known in Dutch as the "MVV" visa) - an exemption which goes beyond the visa waiver afforded to most other non-EEA and non-Swiss foreign nationals who are usually only given a visa waiver of up to 90 days in a 180-day period.[409]

 Norway permits Australian citizens who have qualifications as a skilled worker to stay in the country without a visa for up to 6 months to seek employment as a skilled worker or a specialist (except as a religious leader/teacher or an ethnic cook), as long as they register with the police within 3 months of arriving in Norway.[410]

Australian citizens are able to visit the United Kingdom for up to 6 months (or 3 months if they enter from the Republic of Ireland) without the need to apply for a visa as long as they fulfil all of the following criteria:

• they do not work during their stay in the UK
• they must not register a marriage or register a civil partnership during their stay in the UK
• they can present evidence of sufficient money to fund their stay in the UK (if requested by the border inspection officer)
• they intend to leave the UK at the end of their visit and can meet the cost of the return/onward journey
• they have completed a landing card and submitted it at passport control unless in direct transit to a destination outside the Common Travel Area[411]
• if under the age of 18, they can demonstrate evidence of suitable care arrangements and parental (or guardian's) consent for their stay in the UK[412]

However, even though, strictly speaking, they are not required to apply for a visa if they satisfy all of the above criteria, an Australian citizen who falls into any of the following categories has been strongly advised by the UK Border Agency (replaced by UK Visas and Immigration) to apply for a visa prior to travelling to the UK if they:

• have any unspent criminal convictions in any country
• have previously been refused or breached the terms of any entry to the UK, or been deported or otherwise removed from the UK
• have previously applied for a visa and been refused one
• have been warned by a UK official that they should obtain a visa before travelling to the UK

Australian citizens who were born before 1983 and qualify for the right of abode are able to live and work in the United Kingdom indefinitely.

Australian citizens with a grandparent born either in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands or Isle of Man at any time or in the Republic of Ireland on or before 31 March 1922 can apply for UK Ancestry Entry Clearance, which enables them to work in the UK for five years, after which they can apply to settle indefinitely.

Australian citizens aged 18 to 30 can apply for a Youth Mobility Scheme visa which allows them to pursue a working holiday in the UK for two years.

By virtue of the Trans-Tasman Travel Arrangement, Australian citizens are exempt from the requirement to hold a permit on arrival in New Zealand and may reside or work for an indefinite period as long as:[413]

• they present a valid Australian passport OR hold a foreign passport showing their Australian Citizen Endorsement or Australian Citizen Declaratory Visa (either with a label or a confirmation letter) as evidence of their Australian citizenship
• they have no criminal convictions
• they have no untreated tuberculosis
• they have not been deported, excluded or removed from any country

It is an offence for Australians to travel or remain in Declared Areas. Those are currently parts of northern Iraq and parts of northern Syria.

Many countries require a minimum number of blank pages to be available in the passport being presented, typically one or two pages.[531] Endorsement pages, which often appear after the visa pages, are not counted as being available.

An International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis is required to prove that someone has been vaccinated against yellow fever

Many African countries, including Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of the Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia, require all incoming passengers to have a current International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis, as does the South American territory of French Guiana.[532]

Some other countries require vaccination only if the passenger is coming from an infected area or has visited one recently.[533]

In the absence of specific bilateral agreements, countries requiring passports to be valid for at least 6 more months on arrival include Afghanistan, Algeria, Anguilla, Bahrain,[534] Bhutan, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cambodia, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Curaçao, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Fiji, Gabon, Guinea Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Israel,[535] Jordan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kuwait, Laos, Madagascar, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Myanmar, Namibia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tokelau, Tonga, Turkey, Tuvalu, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Venezuela, and Vietnam.[536]

Countries requiring passports valid for at least 4 months on arrival include Micronesia and Zambia.

Countries requiring passports valid for at least 3 months on arrival include Albania, Honduras, North Macedonia, Panama, and Senegal.

Countries requiring passports with a validity of at least 3 months beyond the date of intended departure include Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Nauru, Moldova, and New Zealand. Similarly, the EEA countries of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, all European Union countries (except the Republic of Ireland) together with Switzerland and the United Kingdom also require 3 months validity beyond the date of the bearer's intended departure unless the bearer is an EEA or Swiss national.

Bermuda requires passports to be valid for at least 45 days upon entry.

Countries that require a passport validity of at least one month beyond the date of intended departure include Eritrea, Hong Kong, Lebanon, Macau, the Maldives[537] and South Africa.

Other countries require either a passport valid on arrival or a passport valid throughout the period of the intended stay. Some countries have bilateral agreements with other countries to shorten the period of passport validity required for each other's citizens[538][539] or even accept passports that have already expired (but not been cancelled).[540]

Some countries, including Australia, Canada, Fiji, New Zealand and the United States,[541] routinely deny entry to non-citizens who have a criminal record.

The government of a country can declare a diplomat persona non grata, banning their entry into that country. In non-diplomatic use, the authorities of a country may also declare a foreigner persona non grata permanently or temporarily, usually because of unlawful activity.[542]

Israeli border control Entry Permit (issued as a stand-alone document rather than a stamp affixed in a passport)

Kuwait,[543] Lebanon,[544] Libya,[545] Sudan,[546] Syria,[547] and Yemen[548] do not allow entry to people with passport stamps from Israel or whose passports have either a used or an unused Israeli visa, or where there is evidence of previous travel to Israel such as entry or exit stamps from neighbouring border posts in transit countries such as Jordan and Egypt.

To circumvent this Arab League boycott of Israel, the Israeli immigration services have now mostly ceased to stamp foreign nationals' passports on either entry to or exit from Israel (unless the entry is for some work-related purposes). Since 15 January 2013, Israel no longer stamps foreign passports at Ben Gurion Airport. Passports are still (as of 22 June 2017) stamped at Erez when passing into and out of Gaza.

The Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage claims that having an Israeli stamp does not disqualify someone from visiting Saudi Arabia.[549]

Iran refuses admission to holders of passports containing an Israeli visa or stamp that is less than 12 months old.

Entry Permit to Nagorno-Karabakh issued in Yerevan as a stand-alone document rather than a visa affixed in a passport

Due to a state of war existing between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the government of Azerbaijan not only bars entry of Armenian citizens, but also all citizens and nationals of any other country who are of Armenian descent, into the Republic of Azerbaijan.[550][551]

Azerbaijan also strictly bans any visit by foreign citizens to the separatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh[552] (the de facto independent Republic of Artsakh), its surrounding territories, and the Azerbaijani exclaves of Karki, Yuxarı Əskipara, Barxudarlı, and Sofulu which are de jure part of Azerbaijan but under the control of Armenia, without the prior consent of the government of Azerbaijan. Foreign citizens who enter these territories will be permanently banned from entering the Republic of Azerbaijan[553] and will be included in their "list of personae non gratae".[554] As of 2 September 2019, the list mentioned 852 people.

Upon request, the authorities of the largely unrecognised Republic of Artsakh may attach their visa and/or stamps to a separate piece of paper in order to avoid detection of travel to their territory.

A fingerprint scanner at Dulles International Airport collects biometric data on visitors, which can be used for confirming identities.

Several countries mandate that all travellers, or all foreign travellers, be fingerprinted on arrival and will refuse admission to or even arrest travellers who refuse to comply. In some countries, such as the United States, this may apply even to transit passengers who merely wish to quickly change planes rather than go landside.[555]

Fingerprinting countries include Afghanistan,[556][557] Argentina,[558] Brunei, Cambodia,[559] China,[560] Ethiopia,[561] Ghana, Guinea,[562] India, Japan,[563][564] Kenya (both fingerprints and a photo are taken),[565] Malaysia upon entry and departure,[566] Paraguay, Saudi Arabia,[567] Singapore, South Korea,[568] Taiwan, Thailand,[569] Uganda[570] and the United States.

Many countries also require a photo be taken of people entering the country. The United States, which does not fully implement exit control formalities at its land frontiers (although long mandated by its legislature),[571] [572] [573] intends to implement facial recognition for passengers departing from international airports to identify people who overstay their visa.[574]

Together with fingerprint and face recognition, iris scanning is one of three biometric identification technologies internationally standardised since 2006 by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) for use in e-passports[575] and the United Arab Emirates conducts iris scanning on visitors who need to apply for a visa.[576][577]