Migration Regulations (Amendment) 1998 No. 214
EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
STATUTORY RULES 1998 NO. 214
Issued by the Authority of the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs
Migration Act 1958
Migration Regulations (Amendment)
Section 504 of the Migration Act 1958 ("the Act") provides that the Governor-General may make regulations, not inconsistent with the Act, to prescribe all matters which are required or permitted to be prescribed by the Act or which are necessary or convenient to be prescribed for carrying out or giving effect to the Act.
In addition, regulations may be made pursuant to the following powers.
- subsection 31(3) of the Act provides that the regulations may prescribe criteria for visas of a specified class;
- subsection 45(1) of the Act provides that the regulations may make provision in relation to applications for visas; and
- subsection 45(2) of the Act provides that, without limiting the generality of subsection 45(1), the regulations may prescribe the way for making applications for a visa of a specified class in specified circumstances, and in specified circumstances for a visa of a specified class.
The Regulations will amend the Migration Regulations in relation to the Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) visa. ETA visas are used to allow large numbers of visitors from low-risk areas to visit Australia with minimal formality and inconvenience.
Electronic Travel Authority (Class UD) visas are established by Item 1208A of Schedule 1 of the Migration Regulations. There are three subclasses in this class, namely subclasses 956 (Electronic Travel Authority (Business Entrant - Long Validity)), 976 (Electronic Travel Authority (Visitor)) and 977 (Electronic Travel Authority (Business Entrant - Short Validity)).
At present, visitors are eligible for an ETA visa only if they belong to a category that has been specified by one of the Gazette Notices made for that purpose under Item 1208A of Schedule 1 of the Migration Regulations.
The principal effect of the amendments is to introduce the concept of an "ETA-eligible passport" which replaces the concept of a person who is the national of a country that has been gazetted for the purposes of being eligible for the grant of an ETA visa, This change will allow greater flexibility for extending the ETA visa not only to countries but also to parts of' countries which issue their own passports.
The amendments will enable the matters currently required to be published in two separate Gazette Notices to be specified in a single Gazette Notice. The regulations also introduce a further refinement to the ETA scheme in that the new Gazette Notice will also be able to specify specific conditions that will apply to a particular kind of passport, rather than imposing the same set of conditions upon all applicants for ETA visas.
These changes, when taken together, will allow great flexibility in specifying appropriate conditions for particular countries and parts of countries. The Gazette Notice mechanism has been retained as it allows the Government the flexibility to act at short notice to vary the application of the ETA scheme to particular countries or pans of countries.
Details of the regulations are in the attachment.
The Regulations commence on 1 July 1998.
ATTACHMENT
Regulation 1 provides for these Regulations to commence on 1 July 1998.
Regulation 2 provides for the Migration Regulations to be amended as set out in these Regulations.
Regulation 3 inserts a definition of "ETA-eligible passport" in regulation 1.03. The meaning of "ETAeligible passport" is set out in the new regulation 1.11B inserted by Regulation 4 of these Regulations.
Regulation 4 inserts new regulation 1.11B. An "ETA-eligible passports" is one that satisfies conditions set out in the new Gazette Notice. This new Gazette Notice will set out:
- the kinds of passports which will be "ETA-eligible passports" - new paragraph 1.11B(1)(a);
- applicable conditions for that kind of passport - new paragraph 1.11B(1)(b); and
- the subclasses of visas for which holders of those passports can apply - new paragraph 111B(2)(b).
The two existing Gazette Notices made under paragraphs 1208A(3)(c) and (d) are replaced by the new Gazette Notice which will allow different combinations of specific conditions to be imposed for holders of different kinds of passports - Examples of the kinds of conditions that may be imposed include:
- that the passport must indicate that the applicant is the national of a specific country;
- that the passport must indicate that the applicant is a permanent resident of a specific country;
- that the applicant is a national or permanent resident of a region within a country which is entitled to issue its own passports,- and/or
- that the application must be made in the country or part of the country that issued the passport.
Regulation 5 simplifies existing paragraph 2.07AB(2)(a) by removing a requirement that the applicant must be a national of a country specified by Gazette Notice. This condition will now be replaced, where appropriate, by the same condition imposed by the new Gazette requirements under regulation 1.11B.
Regulation 6 amends subclause 1208A(3) of the Migration Regulations to omit paragraphs 1208(3)(c) and (d). These paragraphs authorise the making of the two existing Gazette Notices which will be replaced by the new Gazette notice to he made under new regulation 1.11B.
The substituted paragraph 1208A(3)(c) will simply require, as part of the visa application, that an applicant for an ETA visa hold an ETA-eligible passport
Regulations 7, 9 and 9 each amend clauses in each of the three ETA subclasses in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations which require, for the grant of an ETA visa, that applicants must hold a valid passport indicating that they are a national of a country specified in a Gazette Notice made under subclause 1208A(3) (which will itself be amended by Regulation 6).
Instead, the provisions will require ETA visa applicants to hold an ETA-eligible passport that has been specified in the new Gazette notice for the particular subclass.
Regulation 10 amends Item 21 of Part 1 of Schedule 9 to remove the requirement that the holder of an Electronic Travel Authority (Class UD) visa hold a passport indicating that they are a national of a country specified by Gazette Notice for the purposes of paragraph 1208A(3)(c) or (d). It substitutes a simpler requirement that the person be the holder of an ETA-eligible passport.