Four Things You Should Know to apply Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) in Malaysia

Why are we writing this? Applying Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) in Malaysia is pretty easy as you can apply it on your own on the website and they will emailed you the status of the visa. The whole process used to take within a few days but now it has extended to two weeks or more. Currently the rules for Tourist Visas for Malaysians are being tightened and some of our friends had their Australia Tourist Visa application referred to the High Commission. There are also many comments on Facebook travel groups on this issue. We relooked at the Australia High Commission Malaysia website and here are Four Things You Should Know to apply Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) in Malaysia.

You can apply Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) online or with travel agents

Two ways to apply Australia Tourist VISA, you can either apply it online on your own at https://malaysia.highcommission.gov.au/klpr/ETA.html or you leave it to the experts via travel agents.

With the stricter rules and guidelines, we highly recommend everyone to apply the Australia Tourist Visa with travel agents. The fees are higher but they are the experts on this. They will ask you for the required documents as well as getting all the right information for your Australia Tourist VISA (ETA).

‘All ETA-eligible applicants can apply for an ETA through a travel agent, airline or specialist service provider (you should check with your travel agent regarding whether they will charge you a fee for this service).

Certain passport holders, including Malaysian and Brunei nationals can also apply for an ETA online. To lodge an application online, please visit the Department’s website: https://www.eta.immi.gov.au/ETAS3/etas. Sometimes there will be a delay before the system can finalise your application. You can check the progress of your application using the ‘check ETA’ function.’ –

Source: https://malaysia.highcommission.gov.au/klpr/ETA.html

The Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) application process is two weeks or more now

Please take note that the Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) will take two weeks or more to process and it is no longer a few days. We strongly advise you to apply your Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) at least 4 weeks ahead of your trip.

‘Passport holders of certain countries (including Malaysia and Brunei) may be eligible to apply for an ETA.

Please apply for your ETA at least two weeks before you intend to travel. We recommed that you do not make travel arrangments or commitments until you have received advice that you have been granted a visa.

The ETA lets you visit Australia:

for tourism or business visitor purposes;
as many times as you want, for up to one year; and
stay up to three months for each visit.’ –

Source: https://malaysia.highcommission.gov.au/klpr/ETA.html

Apply Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) BEFORE you purchase your airline tickets or accommodations

Please apply the Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) BEFORE you purchase your airline tickets or accommodations. As stated on the Australia High Commission website, please do not book flights or make travel commitments until you have a visa to travel to Australia.

We have a few friends who didn’t get the Australia Tourist VISA and they have to burn their airline tickets and other accommodation booking fees.

‘Applications that do not include all required information will experience delays, or may be decided on the basis of material already before the Department of Home Affairs.

Please do not book flights or make travel commitments until you have a visa to travel to Australia.

We will notify you by email once a decision is made on your ETA application. Processing times are currently two weeks.’ –

Source: https://malaysia.highcommission.gov.au/klpr/immi4.html#CancelledETA “

Prepare all the supporting documents

To make things easier for your Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) application, please prepare all the supporting documents required.

The following is the statement from Australia High Commission Malaysia. Please take note.

‘Additional supporting documents

The Department also requires you to provide additional information to determine that you genuinely intend to visit Australia for tourism or business visitor purposes. To assess your application, you need to provide a decision maker with information about yourself. This includes information about your intended travel and your personal circumstances.

You should provide:

A statement and itineraryregarding your intended stay in Australia. Please include evidence of any arrangements made (if any).
A list of your immediate family members(including full names and dates of birth), indicating which of these family members will be travelling with you.
Details of other travelling companionsor people accompanying you on the trip other than family members. Please include their full name and date of birth.
Details of all family, friends and contacts in Australia. Please include their full names and dates of birth. Please indicate if they are Australian citizens or permanent residents. If not, please indicate visa status and reason for their stay in Australia.
Evidence of your employment / commitments. This could be:
A statement from the employer indicating your annual salary and that you have approved leave for your travel to Australia, or
If you and/or your sponsor are self-employed, business registration documents and financial records for the business (such as bank statements), or
Other evidence of incentives to return such as education or other commitments in your home country.

If you are not employed, please provide other evidence of your financial capacity or evidence from the person who supports you (including evidence of your relationship with that person).

Bank statementsshowing at least the previous two months’ transactions. Please include all bank accounts that you and/or your sponsor hold.

You must e-mail a complete application to [email protected].’

Source: https://malaysia.highcommission.gov.au/klpr/ETA.html

Applying Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) is stricter now due to mainly overstayed Malaysians for the past few years. Many Malaysians abused the tourist visa by working illegally in Australia. The most popular work is the paid job of picking fruit in Australia and it is even stated on the website that Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) does not permit tourists to be paid to pick fruit or undertake any other paid work in Australia.

‘I have an ETA – can I get a job picking fruit in Australia?

No, an ETA does not permit you to pick fruit, or undertake other paid work, in Australia.

An ETA permits you enter Australia for up to three months at a time as a tourist or for business visitor purposes. Business visitor activities include:

making general business or employment enquiries
investigating, negotiating, signing or reviewing a business contract
activities carried out as part of an official government-to-government visit
participating in conferences, trade fairs or seminars, as long as you are not being paid by the organisers for your participation.

Business visitor activities DO NOT include undertaking paid work in Australia.

If you work in Australia in breach of your visa conditions, you may be detained and removed. You may also be subject to a 3 year re-entry ban or exclusion period. It is your responsibility to know what your visa allows you to do while in Australia. Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) provides an online service to check your visa details and conditions.’

Source: https://malaysia.highcommission.gov.au/klpr/immi4.html

If you plan for applying Australia Tourist VISA (ETA), make sure you apply the VISA before you book the flights or ground arrangements yet. We highly recommend you to engage travel agents for the Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) application. Make sure you have at least three to four weeks period of time to apply Australia Tourist VISA (ETA). Don’t forget all the supporting documents required to make the process Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) smoother.

We hope this information is useful to everyone who is planning to visit Australia. Good luck and enjoy the beauty and charm of Australia!

Wilson Ng

Four Things You Should Know to apply Australia Tourist VISA (ETA) in Malaysia