./.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/S/W/25 
26 November 2004 
 (04-5175) 
Council for Trade in Services  
Special Session Original:   English 
 
 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM AUSTRALIA 
 
Administrative Procedures for Mode 4  
Temporary Entry in Australia: the eVisa System  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 26 Novemb er 2004, from the delegation of Australia is 
being circulated to the Members of the Council for Trade in Services. 
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1. The focus of this paper is on one aspect of the administrative procedures for mode 4 entry into 
Australia, namely, the eVisa  system.  The eVisa  has been put in place to provide efficient, and 
expeditious temporary entry for skilled workers for businesses in Australia.  This paper describes the 
main features of the eVisa  system and how it operates to facilitate Mode 4 entry into Australia. 
2. Australia’s temporary business entry arrangement s have been streamlined to ensure entry 
procedures are efficient, expeditio us and transparent and to simplify administrative requirements for 
business.  The critical issue identified by bus iness is the speedy entry of key personnel. 
3. The eVisa system was implemented on 1 November 2003.  Under the eVisa  system, 
businesses operating in Australia are able to sponsor  skilled overseas persons to work in Australia for 
specified periods of between three months and four years.  There is provision for further periods of 
stay on application. 
4. Entry to Australia under this particular visa is based on sponsorship, which is designed in part 
to protect overseas workers brought to Australia, en suring that they are employed in accordance with 
Australian laws and conditions.  These sponsorships can  also be lodged on-line  and processed at the 
same time as visa applications. 
5. Australia’s eVisa  electronic visa processing arrangement is for the long stay temporary 
business visa.  It is designed to facilitate the entry and stay of sponsored, skilled temporary entrants.  
These sponsored entrants effectively become the responsibility of the business sponsor.  Contractual 
services suppliers or independent professionals may obtain a sponsor to nominate them for entry to 
Australia or use other visa mechanisms that may be  available to meet their needs.  Australia is 
planning to expand the eVisa  system to cover overseas sponsored temporary entrants by the end of 
2005.  
6. People can lodge their applications  over the internet by accessing the eVisa  service from the 
Department of Immigration and Multicultura l and Indigenous Affa irs (DIMIA) website 
(www.immi.gov.au ).  
7. The electronic visa processing system enhances transparency by providing applicants with 
clear and objective eligibility criteri a. Additional explanatory informa tion on each of the criteria is TN/S/W/25 
Page 2  
 
available to the applicant, vi a help screens and drop-down menus that provide highly targeted 
information and obviate the need for applicants to wa de through pages of materi al not relevant to their 
particular circumstances, as they complete their on-line application.  People can also attach any 
documents to their applications on-line.  Fees payable can be made on-line through the eVisa . 
8. The eVisa  system automatically conducts several chec ks and can identify if further checks are 
required. These are transparent and based on objectiv e risk criteria such as overstay and visa 
cancellation rates. Documents for further check s, if required, are available on-line.  
9. The application for the visa is received a nd acknowledged immediately once it is lodged. 
Processing is undertaken quickly as the information re quired is usually provided in mandatory fields 
of the electronic application form. Applications  from around the world are processed in special 
business centres throughout Australia.  The informati on from the electronically lodged applications is 
automatically entered into the departmental syst ems increasing the efficiency of the system and 
thereby enabling the resources to be focused on timely decision-making rather than time-consuming 
data entry.  Approval of the application is fo rwarded electronically, giving speedy responses to 
applicants.  Applicants can also check the progress of their applications on-line. 
10. Processing under the eVisa arrangements have significantly reduced the times taken to 
finalise applications.  It is more convenient fo r applicants.  The Australian business community has 
reported that the new arrangements meet their objectives of providing speedy processing for their 
nominees. 
11. There are currently about 60,000 holders of e-visas in Australia.  Processing rates are in 
excess of 40,000 per annum. 
12. A visa provides the right to travel to, enter and resi de in Australia and the right to work. It is a 
single process that can be completed overseas and be fore making arrangements to travel to Australia. 
It provides certainty to travellers and service suppliers before they travel to Australia. 
 
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