Are you getting married? Need to organise Australian visas for your overseas family members? Here's what you should do.
Which visa should they apply for?
If they hold a passport from the following countries, the cheapest and fastest way would be to apply for an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) or eVisitor Visa. These cost as little as $0 to $20 per applicant, and take as little as a few minutes to a few days to get. Often your travel agent can organise this for you, or you can do it very quickly yourself online.
Eligible ETA countries: Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong (SAR of China), Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, Norway, Portugal, Republic of San Marino, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan (must not be an official or diplomatic passport), The Netherlands, United Kingdom—British Citizen, United Kingdom—British National (Overseas), United States, Vatican City.
If they're not from one of the above countries, the visa they should be applying for is the Subclass 600 Visitor Visa.
Our top tip:
Don't forget to have your relatives demonstrate their 'incentive to return home' in their application. Whilst 'attending a wedding' is a great reason, they are applying for a visitor/tourist visa after all, and 'incentive to return home' is a major requirement for visitor visas.
In addition to including proof of their financial status, we highly recommend that your overseas relatives write strong declarations explaining their incentives to return home after the wedding.
Make sure they cover all the bases, mention that they have significant assets and family members back home, a job to return to etc.
Here's more information about the visa and how to apply: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/600-.
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