The ‘Land Down Under’ is all set to ease travel restrictions from December 1 and allow foreign travellers with certain eligible valid visas to enter the country.
Australia’s COVID-related border restrictions have been extremely stringent ever since international borders were first closed due the pandemic in 2020.
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Book FlightsThe country had also recently recognised Bharat Biotech-made Covaxin as a valid proof of vaccination against COVID-19, sharing the official press release on Twitter:
Today, the TGA determined that Covaxin (manufactured by Bharat Biotech, India) and BBIBP-CorV (manufactured by Sinopharm, China) vaccines would be ‘recognised’ for the purpose of establishing a traveller’s vaccination status.
Read more: https://t.co/fpQvr7FQhW pic.twitter.com/YLqIAglMQX— TGA Australia (@TGAgovau) November 1, 2021
Check the new travel rules, eligibility criteria and other travel-related information for Australia below:
Certain categories of travellers are allowed to travel to Australia, including:
- Australian citizens.
- Permanent residents of Australia.
- An immediate family member of an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
- A New Zealand citizen usually resident in Australia and their immediate family members.
- Individual exemptions may be possible.
Starting from December 1, fully vaccinated eligible visa holders, such as students and certain categories of workers, can travel to Australia without requiring to apply for a travel exemption.
Vaccinated travellers must carry a proof of vaccination, containing the passenger name (as it appears in the passport), date of birth/passport number, vaccine brand name, and date of each dose. Covishield and Covaxin both are in the list of approved vaccines.
At least seven days must have passed since the reception of the final dose.
All travellers entering Australia must carry a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR test report, issued within 72 hours or less before the scheduled flight departure.
In addition to this, travellers must also fill the Australia Travel Declaration form.
Since quarantine requirements are determined by the respective state and territory governments, travellers can check those of their final destination right here.
More information on travelling to Australia can be found here.
COVID-19 travel guidelines are subject to change on short notice. Therefore, we advise travellers to reconfirm them with their respective airlines in order to avoid any inconvenience later.
New Zealand Approves Covaxin
New Zealand has also given the nod to Covaxin, a few days after the Indian vaccine was recognised by the neighboring country of Australia. The news was shared on Twitter by India’s high commissioner to New Zealand, Muktesh Pardeshi:
#IndiaNewZealand
In a positive decision, NZ includes #covishield and #covaxin in the list of 8 recognised vaccines. We keenly await lifting of travel restrictions. India is already open to vaccinated tourists.@MEAIndia @MFATNZ @DrSJaishankar @chrishipkins @AshBloomfield pic.twitter.com/2sU3uxksWC— Muktesh Pardeshi (@MukteshPardeshi) November 17, 2021
Although travel to New Zealand continues to remain restricted, the recognition of Indian vaccines may spell good things in the future for travellers wanting to visit the Kiwi nation.
Stay tuned with us for more useful updates!
