Australia expands 'Frequent Traveller' visa for Filipinos, allowing up to 3 months of stay at a time
Good news for frequent travelers to Australia: Filipinos are now eligible to apply for its Frequent Traveller Stream visa, which lets visitors stay in the country for up to three months at a time.
As stated on Austalia's Department of Home Affairs' website, the visa—which can be granted for up to 10 years—allows tourists to enter the country as often as they like, whether to visit loved ones, travel for a holiday, or hold business meetings.
Planning to apply for the visa? Keep in mind that you can only stay up to three months each time you enter the country. This is for 12 months in total in any 24-month period, with details of how long you can stay specified in your visa grant letter.
If you're bringing family members, you must also take note that you can't include family members in your application as each member of your family must have a separate request.
To be eligible for it, you must meet the country's health and character requirements. Other prerequisites include having paid back your debt to the Australian government if you owe them money, having enough funds to support your stay, and being a genuine visitor.
Once you've met the criteria and gathered all the necessary records such as passports and relevant IDs, you can begin your application by creating an ImmiAccount where you can attach the required documents. Make sure that each picture clearly shows all the important information in your papers.
Once this is done, you must pay the application fee that costs A$1435 (P53,620) per applicant. Your visa will not be processed until you pay the fee.
Results of your application will be sent in writing, which includes your visa grant number, the date your visa starts, and your visa conditions. Even if your application is successful, you must still keep a copy of the decision with you when you get to Australia.
The Frequent Traveller Stream visa is part of the country's Visitor visa (subclass 600), which is for tourists, business visitors, or those who are visiting their families.
The other types of tourist visas you can apply for are Electronic Travel Authority (subclass 601), eVisitor (subclass 651), Transit visa (subclass 771), Visitor (subclass 600), Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462), and Working Holiday visa (subclass 417).
