Transit visa

If you are from an eligible country (see eligible countries listed below) you can transit Australia on your way to a third country. You can do this without an Australian visa, provided you meet all of the following criteria:

• will arrive in Australia by aircraft
• have a confirmed ticket to leave Australia to travel to a third country, by aircraft within 8 hours of arriving
• have a valid travel document to enter the country of destination
• must not need to clear immigration or leave the airport transit lounge for any reason before boarding your onwards flight. If you need to clear immigration, for example to collect baggage or to board an onwards flight, you will need an Australian visa.  This includes people from eligible countries who meet all other criteria. For more information, see Transit facilities at Australian airports.

Eligible countries

If you are:

• a citizen of Andorra, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kiribati, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Monaco, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Samoa, San Marino, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tonga, Tuvalu, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom (including its colonies), United States of America, Uruguay, Vanuatu and Vatican, who is the holder of a valid travel document. The valid travel document must be acceptable for entry into the destination country, this may include, but is not limited to a passport, permanent resident card, National Identity Card or Military ID and a visa (if required).

OR

• a resident of Hong Kong who holds a Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passport or a British National Overseas (BNO) passport
• a resident of Taiwan who holds a passport issued by the authorities of Taiwan (other than passports purported to be official or diplomatic passports)
• an Indian official passport holder, that is, an official passport issued by the authorities of the Republic of India, that is issued to officials of the Government of India

OR

• a diplomatic passport holder (This does not include diplomatic passport holders of Arab Non-National Passports and diplomatic passports from Afghanistan, Algeria, Angola, Bahrain, Comoros, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Mauritania, Morocco, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen and Zimbabwe. Passport holders of these mentioned countries must get an appropriate visa to enter Australia.)

This information is not applicable to stateless persons and refugees.