Anyone who plans to visit Australia, for whatever purpose- tourism, business, educations, health etc- requires a mandatory travel document named the visa. The visa requirement policy followed by the Australian government makes it mandatory for all visitors to obtain a visa prior to entering the country. Earlier the entire process of securing an Australian visa was a little tedious considering the long hours of waiting and processing of the form etc. Nowadays with the advent of online processing facility it is easy to apply for and procure an online Australian visa by means of a fully automated and streamlined online process.

The entire process of obtaining an online Australian visa or an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) works on the basis of an extremely smooth electronic visa system that is operated by the Australian government with the main function of granting visas to eligible applicants under various appropriate categories. An online Australian visa is a completely acceptable genuine travel document that is equivalent in all aspects to a conventional visa stamp that is placed on passports. During the time that the traveler checks-in the travel desk can verify the online Australian Visa in their computer and approve the same.

Basically there are two categories of online Australian visas that are issued by the government. The first one is the tourist electronic visa. This online Australian visa permits a tourist to stay in the country for a period of up to 90 days from the day of arrival in Australia. The validity period of this online Australian visa is one year starting from the date of approval (subject to validity of your passport). This online Australian visa allows multiple entries. This online Australian visa is only for tourist purpose and working with this visa is strictly and legally not permitted.

The second kind of online Australian visa that is issued is the Business Electronic Visa. This online Australian visa allows a stay of up to 3 months beginning from the day of arrival and the validity of this visa is one year from the day of endorsement. This online Australian visa also permits multiple entries. This online Australian visa must be strictly used for business purpose only –seminars, meetings, conventions etc. Intermittent recreational visits are permitted. But this online Australian visa should not be considered or confused for a work visa.

The eligibility criteria for an online Australian visa run on the following lines:

ü      The applicant must belong to one of the thirty nationalities that are approved by the Australian government to enter the country with an ETA.

ü      The applicant must be financially capable to cover the entire expenses of the trip. This is done to make sure that you are not forced to work while you are in Australia as working hen in possession of the tourist ETA is a legally punishable offence.

ü      There must be a strong reason for the applicant to return to his/her homeland

ü      The applicant must be in reasonably good health condition

ü      The applicant must satisfy the character requirements for the ETA.

Once you satisfy all the above mentioned criteria you can file an application for an online Australian visa. Normally the applications are processed within 24 hours.

The online Australian visa system is a highly organized system of electronically issuing travel authority that would permit the traveler to stay in the country for either tourist or business reasons.