Australia Reducing Covid Border Restrictions

As part of its ongoing efforts to safely reopen to the rest of the world, Australia is reducing Covid border restrictions.

On  1st December, more modifications to international border arrangements will take effect.

Skilled migrants and international students, as well as nationals of Japan and South Korea, will be granted access to the country if they have received the necessary vaccinations.

Humanitarian, working tourists and provisional family visa holders are also eligible.

In the run-up to the pandemic, over 40,000 young Britons visited Australia for a working holiday.

A Tourism Australia spokesperson said: “For our partners like Trailfinders, Contiki and so on who sell working holiday visa packages, we expect this will be very welcome news.”

In the three days leading up to departure, they must provide a negative Covid test.

Following previous modifications, fully vaccinated Australians, permanent residents, and their immediate family members have been allowed admission since November 1.

According to a statement: “These changes demonstrate the success of our national plan, as the government continues to get Australia back to normal and reopen to the world safely.”

The move “will ensure we continue to protect the health of Australians while reuniting families and securing our economic recovery by opening our border to skilled and student visa holders.

“The return of skilled workers and international students to Australia will further cement our economic recovery, providing the valuable workers our economy needs and supporting our important education sector.”

Furthermore, the Australian government stated:  “Under these arrangements, citizens of Japan and the Republic of Korea who hold a valid Australian visa will be able to travel from their home country quarantine-free to participating states and territories, without needing to seek a travel exemption.”

After the pandemic halted international travel, Qantas international flights from Melbourne resumed for the first time in 20 months with service to Singapore.

From December 22, the airline will begin flying four times a week between Melbourne and Delhi.

The service will begin with a stopover in Adelaide, with nonstop flights from Delhi to Melbourne.

This comes after the recent announcement of new flights between Sydney and Delhi, which will begin next month. Qantas claimed the quickest booking increase for flights departing Australia when this route went on sale since the airline announced its international resumption intentions in August.