eVisitor Visa 651 for Australia (UK Citizens)

Key aspects

Key aspects

Cheapest and fastest visa to obtain.

Visa Duration

Visa Duration

12 months total, up to 90 days each visit.

Approval time

Approval time

95% of visas granted within 24 hours.

If you are a UK citizen who is planning to come to Australia for a non-employment purpose for a temporary time period, Australia’s e-visitor visa is most likely the best way for you to gain entry into the country.

As a matter of fact, you can apply for an eVisitor visa independently on the reason for your travel (holiday or on business) and quickly obtain the visa for a low cost.

Your eVisitor visa will then be valid for 12 months, during which you can travel to Australia freely, staying in Australia for up to 90 days in each visit. As a matter of fact, eVisitor visas are multiple entry visas, valid for one year from the date of issue.

Applying for an eVisitor “e-visa” to Australia is easy, and you can get your visa very quickly: you will often get your visa within one day.

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eVisitor: the Most Requested Australian Visa by UK Citizens

eVisitor is sometimes referred to among British citizens as Australia’s British citizen electronic travel authorization. The reason why this specific kind of visa is often used as a synonym for Australian visas in general that it is definitely the most common visa type among UK travellers visiting Australia.

As explained above, an eVisa is an electronic document that is linked to your UK passport to allow entry into Australia for tourism or business purposes. Australian evisitor visas for UK citizens encompass a broad range of travel purposes, and essentially only restrict British citizens from working in Australia.

As far as UK citizens are concerned, eVisitor requirements are essentially limited to having a valid British passport and satisfying a few restrictions, and you can obtain the visa directly online.

The advantages of an online application such as this one is that you don’t need to scan your passport, send it away to an embassy or queue in line in any consulate. You also will not receive any visa labels at home, or have to stick anything to your passport: you will receive an email once your evisitor visa is approved. You are not required to bring that email to Australia, but we recommend you print it out and bring it with you to the airport.

Your evisitor visa permit will be stored digitally in the Australian Immigration databased, electronically matched to your passport number, and when you travel through the airport to reach Australia, the airline, airport and immigration staff will be able to access your Australian travel authorization through your personal British passport number. These are the reasons that made eVisitor visas the most requested type of Australian visa by UK citizens.



eVisitor rules, details and FAQs

If you are not sure whether eVisitor visas match your needs, keep reading to learn more about this Visa released by the Australian government:



Australia’s e Visitor pass: What it is and How it Works

“eVisitor” is an Australian travel authorization allowing UK citizens (and other European citizens) to enter Australia to spend a holiday, visit friends or family, perform limited volunteer work, attend business conferences or for any tourism purpose.

This visa, also known as a visa 651 Australia (or the “visa e651” – basing on the subclass of travel authorizations that this e-visa belongs to) is an “electronic document” that follows the individual’s passport, and is required to pass through customs at any airport before entering Australia as a non-citizen.

With an evisitor visa to Australia, visitors may stay in Australia for a maximum of 90 days at a time. However, evisitor subclass 651 travel authorizations allows you to visit Australia multiple times within one year – but always to stay up to 90 days at once. The multiple entry option characterizing evisitor visas for Australia means that UK evisitor holders can leave and re-enter Australia multiple times, also visiting neighbouring countries or UK in between, as long as the evisitor pass is still valid.

However, an important condition to keep in mind about Australia’s evisitor subclass 651 is that it is strictly not valid for any employment activities that you intend to engage in while staying in Australia.

IMPORTANT: if you are a UK citizen and you think you might be eligible for the 651 visa, then we recommend you apply for the evisa 651 as your first choice, without attempting to gain entry to Australia under additional visitor permit. As a matter of fact, applying for Australia’s evisitor 651 option along with another temporary visa option could result in an evisitor visa refusal, or may delay the processing time of your evisitor subclass 651.

(Additional Australian Government’s eVisitor requirements and details are discussed in detail in the following sections.)



Evisitor Visa Australia: Countries Allowed

Australia’s evisitor subclass 651 travel authorization is only available to certain eligible countries, thanks to a special agreement they established with the Australian government. More specifically, the e651 visa is available to citizens of 35 countries – including the UK.

Apart from the United Kingdom, eVisitor visa’s eligible countries also include:

(If you are not a citizen of the UK or one of the above Australian government evisitor 651 eligible countries, then a different option from Australian immigration e-visa may still be available, such as an ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) visa – still an e-visa but different from eVisitors.)



Applying for an Australian Evisitor Class 651 Visa as a Tourist

eVisitor tourist visas for Australia (full official name “Australia e visitor class tv evisitor subclass 651 visa”) allow UK tourists to come into the country to visit relatives and friends or stay in Australia for a temporary time for any type of tourist activity.

Within this context, Australia’s evisitor visa is a “multiple entry visa”, also available for tourists willing to enter and leave Australia several times within 12 months – still under an evisitor subclass 651 tourist authorization.

Notice that while a tourist evisitor is technically valid for up to 12 months, it should not be used as a way to stay in the country for an extended period of time. You can study for a short period of time up to three months on the Australia tourist visa 651, but you cannot remain in a class beyond that 90-day limit.

In case you plan to stay in Australia for holiday longer than 3 months, we recommend considering a working holiday visa. You can also find more information on alternative solution on our page dedicated to Australian tourist visas.



Australia’s Evisitor as a Business Visa

Australia’s eVisitor authorizations also permit travel to Australia for business purposes. However, the evisitor business visas does not permit the holder to engage in employment activities while in Australia, or earn an income from Australia entities.

With an eVisitor Business Visa you may attend a business conference, a seminar or hold business and commercial meetings.

Also in commercial contexts, Australia’s business visas of Subclass 651 allow their holders to stay in the country for up to 90 days at a time, and are multiple entry visas. Also in this case, the visa will be valid for 365 days.

In our dedicated section, you can find more information and alternatives on Australian business visas, but in case you are planning to travel to Australia not for business but (also) for work, an alternative form of electronic visa which may be suitable for you is the Working Holiday Visa.

In case you want to visit Australia for both business and tourism, an eVisitor visa will allow you to both go on business trip and holiday. However, if you are going to do business you will still need need to select the “Business” option in the application form. Apart from this, the application is exactly the same as for “Holiday” eVisitor visas. To sum up, if you select “Business” as your purpose, you can do both business and have holiday – while if you choose “Holiday” you can only do holiday and tourism-related activities.



Evisitor Visa Requirements and Restrictions

When applying for an e-visitor visa, it is important to know there are several visa conditions specific to evisitor 651 visas, that you must abide by in order to gain lawful entry into Australia and remain there without incidents during your intended stay.

First of all, in order to obtain an Australian eVisitor visa, you must be a citizen of one of eVisitor’s eligible countries, such as the United Kingdom.

You must also possess a valid passport, which should not expire between the visa application date and the date you plan to leave from Australia for the last time. Also, notice that several airlines require your passport to be valid for a minimum of six months upon your arrival in Australia in order to accept you on board, so we recommend complying to this “extra” requirement to avoid any issue at the moment of departure. Some people also worry about visa-related age-limits, but there is no Australian evisitor age limit.

Apart from these basic requirements, there are also two main health and character requirements: as far as health is concerned, you must be free from tuberculosis – while as far as character requirements are concerned you may not have been convicted of a crime that resulted in a sentence of 12 or more months in jail (even if you did not end up actually serving that entire sentence).

You may also not pass the character requirements for eVisitor visas if you have been convicted of immigration detention in the past, you are a known gang / criminal organisation member or affiliate, or in case the Australian Immigration may legitimately suspect you were involved in crimes such as people smuggling, trafficking, genocides, torture or slavery – in this case independently on whether or not you were convicted for it. Luckily, these are of course extremely rare cases.

These conditions will be clearly outlined at the moment of submitting your request, and upon completion and submission of your evisitor online application form you will be required to certify to the Australian government that you have read all of the conditions and restrictions that apply to your travel authorization to Australia and agree to follow them all.

Once your visa is granted, the electronic “eVisitor Australia – UK passport” link is how customs and officials at the airport can confirm that you are permitted to enter the country.

You may bring with you the printed email confirmation of your 651 permit release, but above all you will need to travel with the evisitor eligible passport the permit is matched to. Your evisitor passport number will be listed by the Australian Government in all evisitor-related documents, and tied to your passport validity.

Once you will have entered Australia with your travel visa, the most important evisitor-specific condition imposed by Australian Immigration is that you must not stay for longer than three months at a time.

Am I allowed to work in Australia with an eVisitor visa?” is what many UK travellers wonder. An eVisitor visa allows you to attend business functions, such as company meeting, negotiations, conferences and so on. However, you are not allowed to work (i.e. be employed in Australia).
In some cases, volunteer work can be allowed. It can’t be the main purpose of your travel to Australia though, and it cannot be any kind of volunteer work that otherwise would have been done by an Australian citizen for a salary. If you intend to work in Australia, you should apply for other types of visas, e.g. Working Holiday Visas.

The above rules are strictly enforced by the Australian Government, so always remember: once an Australian eVisitor visa has been granted in your name, you cannot engage in any paid work while in Australia. Work prohibition is an especially important restriction to keep in mind.

Considering all the above, having an Australia evisitor eligible passport (and taking it with you in your travel to Australia) is the most important Australian requirement for getting your visa and entering and staying in the country without any issue.

Because of this, and considering the relation between eVisitor visas and the passports they are tied to, notice that if for any reason you obtain a new passport before your travel, you will have to update your Australian evisitor with new passport information in order for the permit to remain valid. Essentially, you will need to apply for a new eVisitor visa, using the new passport number.

If you are found to have violated any of the conditions or restrictions on your visa, you are at risk of being forced out of the country and denied re-entry on any other type of visa ever again. It is a serious offense to have been found guilty of violating any travel restrictions imposed by the Australian government.



What if I am not eligible for an eVisitor visa?

If you are not eligible to apply for an eVisitor visa, there might be a number of other possibilities for you. Select your nationality in the dropdown menu above or in our international homepage to see which options are available for you. If you don’t find your nationality listed, please contact our customer support for a list of options.

In some cases, you might need to submit a paper application to the nearest Australian embassy. If so, we can also help you with that process.



Evisitor Visas for Children and Families

Also children are required to obtain an evisitor visa before traveling to Australia.

Compared to grown-ups, there are no additional evisitor Australia child requirements for the application, and you may complete the Australia evisitor baby, child or family member application online on their behalf – as long as you have all their required identification information. Notice that children who are on their parents’ passports also need their own visas: in this case the information from their parents’ passport should be used when filling in the visa form.

You may submit all of your evisitor Australia family members’ applications at once for your convenience: they will all receive separate evisitor travel identification numbers once approved.

Will all applicants be approved at the same time?”, you may wonder. Even if you apply for many people at once, applications will not necessarily be approved at the same time. Each application is handled separately, independently from all others. Some applicants will most likely be granted a visa very quickly, while others might need to wait for a few days.



Differences Between Evisitor (Visa Subclass 651) and ETA (Visa Subclass 601)

The Electronic Travel Authority visa, also known as ETA (subclass 601), is an alternative to “off-line” visitor visa options available to US citizens: it is essentially an Australian eVisitor for US citizens.

If you are considering the choice of Australia visa 601 vs 651 application options, the authorization you apply for should depend on your citizenship: both the Australian visa subclass 651 and 601 options allow the same types of tourist and business activities within Australia.

Some people may refer to eVisitor visas for UK citizens as “ETA” by mistake, but technically there is no Australia ETA 651 option for UK citizens. British travellers should not pursue the ETA option and apply for an eVisitor instead.

If you are not sure whether eVisitor or ETA is the right visa for you, you can also visit our page dedicated to ETA visa specifications and requirements.





Differences Between Evisitor (Visa Subclass 651) and Visitor Visa (Subclass 600)

Australia’s Visitor Visa (Subclass 600) is a different type of visa which can also be requested online by travellers planning a trip to Australia for touristic or business-related purposes.

Visitor Visas of Subclass 600 have been designed mostly for travellers who are not on the ETA or eVisitor eligible country lists. As a matter of fact, while there are only a few eligible countries for ETA and eVisitor visas, there are a big selection of countries whose citizens can apply for long stay visas.

Other ideal users of Subclass 600 visas are travellers wishing to enter Australia and remain in the country for longer than 3 months: as a matter of fact, Visitor Visas can be issued either can be issued either as single or multiple entry visas, and each entry can last up to 12 months.

Travellers who are already in Australia with an eVisitor or ETA visa can also apply for this visa while in Australia in order to extend their stay after the eVisitor or ETA entry permit expiration. For these reasons, Australia’s Visitor Visa Subclass 600 is also known as Long Stay Visa.

There are however two aspects that make this kind of visa much less convenient than eVisitor visas for UK travellers who do not need the benefits outlined above:

  • First of all, while eVisitor applications’ approval is almost instantaneous, long stay visas can take up to 20 days to get processed and usually need more documents/information to be provided by travellers in order for them to obtain their visa.
  • Another important reason for preferring eVisitor visas to Long Term visas whenever possible is their cost. While an eVisitor visa will cost you only £59.00, each Long Stay Visitor Visa will cost you a total of £275.00 – and if you are inside Australia when you apply there will be an additional charge of 150 EUR per person.

If you are not sure whether Australia’s Long Stay Visa fits your needs you can find more info on our page dedicated to Visitor Visas (Subclass 600).





Australian Evisitor Visa Application Process

The process to complete the Australia evisitor 651 online application form is efficient and easy to follow.

Applying for Your eVisitor visa

The first step to complete the evisitor visa Australia online form is accessing it through our application service. Our evisitor 651 online application form will ask for basic identifying information about the applicants, including their passport number and country of origin.

While you may be asked at a later date to submit supporting documentation, you do not need to send anything in with your application beyond the information which is specifically requested.

The evisitor application process will not require much of your time to complete, but you do need to pay close attention to ensure that all of the information you are providing is accurate before submitting it, and be extra careful when filling the required fields, as failure to follow the instructions and provide correct information could result in your application being denied or held up in processing.

The most likely reason why you might find your evisitor Australia delayed (or even refused) is that there was a mistake in entering your personal identification information. Be sure to read the online application instructions carefully to avoid having your Australian evisitor rejected or a delay in the visa processing time. If done in purpose, it is also unlawful to knowingly submit false information on your application.

Notice that when you complete your evisitor online application for Australia, you must be located outside of Australia. There may be other visa options available to you if you are physically located within Australia and wish to extend your stay or change the purpose of your stay (e.g. Australian Long Stay Visas).

Many of our visitors wonder if the application form for eVisitor visas to Australia is available in other languages. The answer is YES: the visa application form is now available in many different languages other than English. Simply pick your nationality from the menu in the top right corner of this page, to see which nationality/language options are available. The application form will then be displayed in the desired language, to make the application process easier for everyone. You can of course also contact our customer support in your own language. However, depending on availability of customer service representatives, we might reply to you in English to avoid unnecessary waiting time for you.

In general, you should try to have your evisitor for Australia finalised several weeks before your travel date, so that you have time to address any issues and re-submit your application in case your Australia evisitor is denied the first time you apply.



Retrieving Your eVisitor Application

To retrieve your Australia evisitor print out, look for the evisitor email in your inbox to verify that the application was approved and your permit granted. It will contain all of the important details about your travel authorization, including the validity dates, any special restrictions and your personal identifying information.

If you then notice a mistake in any of the information, you should not delay in having it corrected or submitting a new evisitor application if necessary. In case you need help, contact us via our contact form.

Also, remember that you must update the Australian government with any changes to your Australia evisitor online visa information between when you submit the application and the start of your travel to Australia – such as a change of passport number. In this specific case, you should apply for a new eVisitor visa.

In any case, you should never attempt to board an airplane to Australia without receiving official confirmation of the approval of your evisitor application first.

Common eVisitor Application Question

How early do I need to apply for an eVisitor?” is what many of our visitors wonder.
The processing time for an eVisitor Australian visa is usually very fast, and most applicants will get the result of the application within an hour. However, it is not recommended to wait until the last moment to apply: we recommend all our customers to apply at least two weeks before the intended time of travel. As a matter of fact, in some cases applications will be handled manually by visa officers at Australian Immigration. If so, the processing time will be longer – and in case they ask for additional supporting documents, the waiting time can be longer than two weeks.

Can I apply for an eVisitor 651 visa for other people than myself?” in another doubt many of our visitors have.
The answer is YES: you can apply visas for anyone as long as you have all their personal information and passport details. You also need to pay the fee on their behalf. Notice that the grant letter will be sent to the email you entered before starting the first application, so if you apply on behalf of others you will then need to also make sure they received email confirmation concerning their granted visas.

What happens if I change my passport?
If you change your passport after you have been granted a visa, you must contact us. You do not need to apply for a new visa, but the visa must be transferred to your new passport.
Should you forget to contact us when you get a new passport, you will risk being denied entry your plane, as the check-in staff will not be able to see that you have a visa.



Australian Evisitor Visa Processing Time

If you are wondering about applying for an evisitor 651 permit and how long does it takes for the visa to be released, you may be pleasantly surprised at the efficiency of the process and at the quickness of Australian evisitors’ approval time. Fortunately, in the vast majority of cases evisitors’ processing time is very quick: all applications are processed and approved almost instantly.

However, the waiting time of evisitors for Australia can vary depending on specific circumstances. This is why it is best to submit your application as soon as you are aware that you will need to travel to Australia.

There are a few reasons why your eVisitor visa for Australia may be delayed. Here are the elements that may impact the typical evisitor (subclass 651) processing time – which is almost always of 24 to 48 hours:

The main thing that can affect your Australian evisitor visa’s processing time is whether you applied for the right visa and if your information was entered correctly. One of the ways that you can end up extending the Australia evisitor visa processing time is also by sending in additional documents that were not explicitly requested during the application process: going through unnecessary documentation takes time – time which will add up to your final visa delivery date.

Instead, if you do receive a notice that additional documents are required, then only in that case be sure to submit them timely to avoid a delay in your evisitor visa 651 processing time.

If you have used our services for your evisitor application, then in the event that you have experienced a delay in your evisitor visa approval please contact us: we will assist you in tracking down the status of your evisitor application and answer any specific evisitor time-related questions.

One of the advantages of applying through our service is that we can assist you in case any problem arises and you are concerned about your evisitor for Australia taking too long or worried about an evisitor delay interfering with your trip.



Evisitor Visa Duration

Australia’s evisitor validity is of 12 months. More specifically, Australia’s evisitor duration starts from the official date that the evisitor is granted and lasts 365 days. Once you receive confirmation by email that your visa has been granted, the Australian evisitor expiry date will be visible on your evisitor printout.

Within this one-year period, the length of each of each evisitor-based stay on Australian ground can be up to 90 days at a time.

Within the eVisitor’s one year validity period, you may enter and leave the country multiple times under this type of visa.

Is it possible to extend the eVisitor visa?” is what many applicants wonder. An eVisitor visa cannot be extended. If you are outside of Australia, you can apply for a new eVisitor visa – while if you are already in Australia, then you can apply for a different type of visa, such as a long stay visitor visa. If your application is successful, your eVisitor visa will be automatically cancelled when you receive your new visa.
To change the type of visa you have while in Australia, you will need to contact the Department of Immigration and Citizenship at least 14 days before your current visa expires. You might be granted a new visa if you fulfil all requirements and you have followed the rules of your current visa.

So, to recap, while in Australia, it is not possible to apply for formal evisitor visa extensions. However, there are Australian long-stay visa options that may be appropriate for you if you wish to extend your time in Australia.



Australia’s E-Visitor Cost

As far as taxes and fees are concerned, the Australian government provides the evisitor for Australia gratis, free of charge, as a free visitors visa for Australia.

As eVisitor application providers, while we do not offer a free evisitor visa option, we provide fast visa application and delivery for Australian evisitor visas at the very affordable cost of £59.00.

You can pay the evisitor visa cost by credit card or Pay Pal after completing the online visa application form through our service.

The fee of £59.00 is applied for each individual application that you submit: you may submit several evisitor applications at once, and the Australian evisitor fee for each person in your travel party will be calculated, so that the total cost can be easily paid at once directly online.



Australian Government official resources:

APPLY FOR AN EVISITOR VISA