New Zealand citizen travelling to Australia

[mkim054]

Hi everyone,

I am a New Zealand citizen currently living in Singapore and I need to travel to Sydney next month. I've seen the recent travel updates by AU but it seems like they are only applicable for SG passport holders.
Could anyone give me any advice or information on non-SG citizens travelling to AU? I've contacted AU high commission & SG home affairs but they just gave me some links to AU government websites...

It'd be much appreciated if anyone could share some information, thanks!

[MikeJones]

Just taking a look at this myself as I may need to go to Melbourne end of next month and I must say the AU Govt. travel websites are a hot mess.

From this page: https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav ... ions#toc-4 at the bottom of the list of exempt categories list is this: "a fully vaccinated New Zealand passport holder seeking to enter Australia on a Special Category (TY444) visa."
And from here is a description of the above visa category:
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/g ... bclass-444
It says you apply for this when you arrive in Australia and includes for visiting Australia, now I've been to Aus dozens of times to visit and work for a week or two and no-one has ever mentioned this visa before so I can only assume NZ passport holders get it automatically when we arrive in Aus??

So I think NZ passport holders can travel to Australia from Singapore but it is really not clear. In my case it is a work request so I'm just going to punt this back to HR and let them sort it out.

[mkim054]

Thank you @MikeJones for your advice! I totally agree with you, I think AU Govt is still trying to sort out the restrictions.
I think I'm just going to try applying for the TY444 visa since it doesn't cost anything anyway. I'm a DP holder in SG so unfortunately I need to sort this out myself
Hopefully AU'd figure out everything by 21 Feb...

[Lisafuller]

I don’t think there are any restrictions if you are a resident of SG as that would mean you would have been compliant with the relevant restrictions prior to departure.

[mkim054]

Just taking a look at this myself as I may need to go to Melbourne end of next month and I must say the AU Govt. travel websites are a hot mess.

From this page: https://covid19.homeaffairs.gov.au/trav ... ions#toc-4 at the bottom of the list of exempt categories list is this: "a fully vaccinated New Zealand passport holder seeking to enter Australia on a Special Category (TY444) visa."
And from here is a description of the above visa category:
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/g ... bclass-444
It says you apply for this when you arrive in Australia and includes for visiting Australia, now I've been to Aus dozens of times to visit and work for a week or two and no-one has ever mentioned this visa before so I can only assume NZ passport holders get it automatically when we arrive in Aus??

So I think NZ passport holders can travel to Australia from Singapore but it is really not clear. In my case it is a work request so I'm just going to punt this back to HR and let them sort it out.

Looks like the details on the website you mentioned have been updated since 21st; "a fully vaccinated New Zealand passport holder seeking to enter Australia on a Special Category (TY444) visa.' has been removed from the list of exempt categories list... So I guess no need to apply for any visa for New Zealanders?

[Lisafuller]

The site says ALL travelers will need to have an exemption letter and a visa.

[mkim054]

The site says ALL travelers will need to have an exemption letter and a visa.

So you mean New Zealand citizens also need a visa to visit Australia now?

[Lisafuller]

I’m not exactly sure but thats what it appears to be. Would probably be good to double check though.