EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Migration Regulations 1994
- This Notice is made under regulation 1.17 and paragraph 1218(3)(d) of the Migration Regulations 1994 (‘the Regulations’).
2. Section 1.17 of the Regulations provides that the Minister may, by notice published in the Gazette, specify matters required by individual provisions of the Regulations to be specified for the purposes of those provisions.
Paragraph 1218(3)(d) provides that Internet applications may be made if, and only if, the applicant is in a class of persons specified in a Gazette Notice for the purposes of paragraph 1218(3)(d).
3. The purpose of the Instrument is to specify the class of persons who are eligible to apply for a Tourist visa (subclass 676) via the Internet. An applicant is in a class of persons if they hold a passport issued by one of the countries or regions specified in the schedule of the Gazette, subject to the conditions, if any, further specified in the schedule . The instrument will now include Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region People’s Republic of China, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Republic of San Marino, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Vatican City, in addition to the countries already specified in the Instrument, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, the Republic of Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Slovakia and Slovenia.
4. The instrument operates to specify which class of persons are eligible to apply via the Internet for a Tourist 676 visa. A class of persons is those persons who hold a passport issued by one of the countries listed in column two of the schedule contained in the Gazette Notice, subject to the conditions (if any) specified in column three of the schedule.
6. Consultation was undertaken before the instrument was made as follows:
- Through the Tourism and Visa Advisory Group process, consultation occurred with Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources (DITR), Tourism Australia and a range of industry stakeholders.
7. The instrument commences on 1 July 2005.