Australia opens its borders to fully vaccinated visa holders from Dec 1st, 2021

Australia opens its borders to fully vaccinated visa holders from Dec 1st, 2021

Starting December 1st, fully vaccinated eligible visa holders can come to Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption. This is good news for international students who have been waiting to attend classes in person since March 2020.

Other than international students, tourists, backpackers, and skilled migrants will also be able to fly in for summer. Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced that Japanese and Korean citizens who have been double-jabbed can also visit Australia from the same date without needing to quarantine.

There are different rules in each state and territory. Only New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory will allow travelers to fly in without quarantining.

Mr. Morrison said the return of skilled workers and students to Australia is “a major milestone”, and said that Australians could look forward to the Christmas and holiday season in a way that “few around the world can”.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg earlier said, while speaking to Today, that reopening borders to 200,000 visa holders would be a real boost to Australia’s economy.

Ever since the pandemic began in early 2020, employers have complained of a shortfall in workers across a variety of sectors. Australia locked out the entire world for 18 months on 20th March 2020.

Vaccination drives have been undertaken on a soldier footing in the country. Australia has now crossed the key milestone of 85 percent double vaccinated for adults aged over 16, triggering the final phase of its reopening strategy.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate that international education contributed a whopping $37.6 billion to the Australian economy in 2019.

Visit the Home Affairs website for a full list of the 28 eligible visa holders. Note that anyone hoping to visit Australia must be fully vaccinated and show a negative PCR test within three days of departing for Australia.