Australian Visa for US circumnavigators

Posted by No-Country6348@reddit | sailing | View on Reddit | 14 comments

We will be sailing to Australia relatively soon and need to figure out which visa we need and how to apply. Has anyone done this recently? We will arrive via our sailboat then likely fly home for a visit and back, then exit the country via sailboat after local travel. Looks like we need our son’s original birth certificate which I thankfully brought with us. Did anyone use an agent to assist?

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14 Comments

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vanalden@reddit

I wouldn't come here if I was you. You're likely to receive a lot of abuse, for the damage America is doing to the world, which is your fault, in our eyes. You need to stay home and fix your stupid government.

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dothebender1101@reddit

Look in to your insurance coverage, and ring the marina up. Marinas, especially in Queensland, are incredibly anal about how much coverage you have

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No-Country6348@reddit (OP)

Yeah they want $10million! We have a call in to our agent to increase it.

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soaztim@reddit

We're just going to do the ETA online visa for 90 days. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/electronic-travel-authority-601

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No-Country6348@reddit (OP)

Just did the ETA online and already approved. So easy!

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soaztim@reddit

Good to hear! We're still a few months out. Cheers

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No-Country6348@reddit (OP)

Awesome thanks

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flyingron@reddit

The other option is to go through the normal tourist visa. It costs something llike $100 but is good for a year (though no more than 90 days at a time).

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Eltnot@reddit

I can't give any advice for your visa requirements, but if you haven't looked up Australian bio security requirements then you should look into those. They are a lot more rigorous than most other countries.

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No-Country6348@reddit (OP)

Thanks for the reminder. We did this about 16 years ago during our first circumnavigation and the agents who boarded our boat on Thursday Island were very relaxed about the whole thing. Will make sure not to have fresh fruits and vegetables, and a low freezer. No pets on board, at least.

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wkavinsky@reddit

This is an enormous one. They're a little looser on the "don't bring anything in" with boaters, especially boaters sailing in from overseas, but you can reasonably expect biosecurity to remove **all** opened, perishable, or fresh food/fruit from the boat. **Do not** dispose of it yourself on arrival (that's a good way to get thousands in fines). For visa's, a regular ETA or tourist visa is all you need - if you're leaving within 90 days, the ETA has you covered just fine, costs a handful of dollars online, will get you a response in about a day.

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