As a result of the COVID-19 situation, Australia’s borders remain closed and both inbound and outbound travel from Australia is strictly controlled. These border controls affect the movement of most individuals, including those who hold permanent residency or citizenship status. All individuals who seek to leave the country (except a small few given automatic exemption such as airline crew or safety workers) must apply to be given an individual exemption. While these measures are a key component in curbing the spread of the COVID-19 virus, they can be challenging to navigate for those seeking to reunite with family members or travel for other purposes.
Related:
- New travel exemption added for Australians leaving Australia
- Covid-19: travel exemptions determined by the commissioner (coming to Australia)
- Travelling outside Australia during covid-19 for dual citizens
The Australian Government has released more information on which types of exemption requests have been successfully granted over the past year. By taking a closer look at these statistics, we are able to obtain a clearer understanding of which sort of movement the Australian government is willing to allow on a case-by-case basis.
Monthly Travel Exemptions Processing Report
The below statistics are for the month of November 2021. Data prior to 1 August 2020 is collated manually from multiple systems.
| Cumulative1 | November 2021 | |||
| Travel exemption requests received (a request may include more than one person) | ||||
| Outwards | 503,970 | 2,800 | (↓ 26072) | |
| Inwards | 533,698 | 83,539 | (↑ 40806) | |
| Outward travel exemption decisions | ||||
| Category | Approved | Refused3 | Approved | Refused3 |
| Response to the COVID-19 Outbreak | 1,050 | 359 | <5 | <5 |
| Critical industries and business | 35,955 | 13,084 | 188 | 66 |
| Urgent medical treatment | 1,649 | 2,049 | 22 | 20 |
| Travelling overseas for a compelling reason for at least 3 months2 | 126,862 | 43,719 | 959 | 134 |
| Ordinarily resident outside Australia4 | 7,372 | 2,646 | 76 | 57 |
| Urgent and unavoidable personal business | 14,897 | 10,353 | 13 | 36 |
| Compassionate and compelling grounds | 60,293 | 73,249 | 444 | 255 |
| National interest | 3,288 | 188 | 7 | <5 |
| TOTALS | 251,366 | 145,647 | 1,709 | 572 |
| Otherwise finalised 5 | 106,862 | 537 | ||
| Total finalisations for outwards travel exemptions | 503,875 | 2,818 | ||
| On-hand caseload at the end of October 2021 | 95 | (↓ 18) | ||
| Inward travel exemptions decisions | ||||
| Category | Approved | Refused3 | Approved | Refused3 |
| Compassionate and compelling | 23,506 | 118,678 | 2,478 | 5,259 |
| Critical skills – Medical | 2,603 | 313 | <5 | 5 |
| Critical skills – other | 44,067 | 47,980 | 3,424 | 2,999 |
| International Student Arrival Plans | 345 | <5 | 345 | <5 |
| National interest (including diplomatic) | 4,495 | 29 | 494 | <5 |
| Urgent Medical Treatment | 922 | 591 | 56 | 44 |
| Transit | 7,777 | 9 | <5 | <5 |
| TOTALS | 83,715 | 167,602 | 6,800 | 8,310 |
| Otherwise finalised 5 | 257,591 | 61,323 | ||
| Total finalisations for inwards travel exemptions | 508,908 | 76,433 | ||
| On-hand caseload at the end of October 2021 | 24,790 | (↑ 7106) | ||
1 Cumulative figures are since 20 March 2020 for inwards exemptions and 25 March 2020 for outwards exemptions
2 Prior to 30 September 2020, this category was included within “Urgent and unavoidable personal business”. “For a compelling reason” was added on 8 January 2021.
3 Refused requests generally failed to support their claims or did not meet the guidelines for an exemption to be approved.
4 Became a discretionary category rather than automatically exempt from 11 August 2021.
5 Otherwise finalised includes persons found to meet an already exempt category (excluding immediate family of Australian citizens and Permanent residents inbound), withdrawn requests and those that did not contain sufficient information for referral to a decision maker.
Inbound Travel Exemptions from March 2020 to May 2021
Different Visa Subclasses Coming to Australia
| Visa Subclass | Travel Exemptions Approved |
| 482 Temporary Skill Shortage | 9, 080 |
| Not recorded * | 8, 483 |
| 400 Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) | 4, 989 |
| 408 Temporary Activity | 1, 714 |
| 500 Student | 1, 699 |
| 600 Visitor | 1, 612 |
| 651 eVisitor | 694 |
| 601 Electronic Travel Authority | 486 |
| 407 Training | 483 |
| 602 Medical Treatment | 448 |
| Other Visas | 3, 488 |
| Total | 33, 176 |
As can be understood from the graph above, almost a third of the total 33,000 travel exemptions approved are to holders of the 482 temporary skill shortage visa. The government seems to be prioritising this type of migration in order to address labour shortages and encourage essential work flows. The types of visa holders who are most likely to be granted exemptions are therefore those who work in sectors which the government deems critical.
On 2nd September the government released a new Priority Migration Skilled Occupation List (PMSOL), which contains 44 skilled occupations that the Australian government has assessed to fill critical skills needs to support Australia’s economic recovery from COVID-19. Existing skilled migration occupation lists will remain active and visas will still be processed, but priority will be given to those in occupations on the PMSOL.
Inbound Travel based on Country of Citizenship
According to information released by the Australian Government, the largest amount of travel exemptions have been granted to New Zealand citizens, with 154, 829 granted in total. Following behind this, the government has granted a total of 71, 950 exemptions to Chinese citizens, 65,981 exemptions to US citizens and 65,903 to UK citizens. You can view the full list of countries here.
Outbound travel exemptions between August 2020 and April 2021
Automatic Exemptions
The Government has revealed that over 12, 909 of 17, 017 automatically exempt applicants were Australian residents outside of the country. Other categories which received automatic exemptions include; NZ citizens holding a special category subclass 444 visa, temporary visa holders, those travelling on official government business, airline and maritime crew or associated safety workers and those whose travel is associated with essential work at offshore facilities
Reasons for Exemption
The Government has revealed that, between 1 August 2020 and 25 April 2021, they have approved over 119, 922 requests for travel exemptions out of the 208, 791 requests received. Among the top reasons for travel exemption selected by the applicant are ‘travelling overseas for a compelling reason for at least three months’, ‘travelling on compassionate and compelling grounds’ and ‘travel essential for the conduct of critical business.’
| Discretionary Category Exemption Approved Under | Travel Exemptions Approved |
| Travelling overseas for a compelling reason for at least 3 months | 71, 249 |
| Compassionate and compelling grounds | 28, 391 |
| Critical industries and business | 14, 000 |
| Urgent and unavoidable personal business | 4, 797 |
| Urgent medical treatment not available in Australia | 669 |
| National interest | 529 |
| Total | 119, 922 |
Intended Destination Country
Between 1 August 2020 and 25 April 2021 the Government has granted has granted the most amount of travel exemptions to travellers seeking to fly outbound from Australia to China, India and the United Kingdom. It is worth noting that although 12, 973 exemptions have been approved to China, over 25, 443 requests to travel to China were received. Comparatively, while the government has granted 10, 703 exemptions to the U.K, only 15, 703 requests to travel to the U.K were received.
| Intended Destination Country | Travel Exemptions Approved |
| China | 12, 793 |
| India | 11, 714 |
| United Kingdom | 10, 703 |
| United States of America | 8, 847 |
| New Zealand | 5, 340 |
| Pakistan | 4, 760 |
| Singapore | 3, 656 |
| Papua New Guinea | 3, 052 |
| Canada | 2, 850 |
| Indonesia | 2, 213 |
| Other | 53, 994 |
| Total | 119, 922 |
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