After nearly two years, Australia has reopened its borders to students, skilled workers, and other visa holders from abroad. The country was closed to almost all foreign visitors at the start of the corona pandemic.
Australia will no longer open its borders to tourists from abroad this year. A travel bubble has been agreed upon with Japan and South Korea. Travellers from those countries are welcome again in Australia from Wednesday, just like visa holders.
The government in Canberra hopes to give the economy a boost by easing travel policy. There is a labour shortage, and international students provide the economy with 35 billion Australian dollars annually. In addition, Canberra requires all people coming to Australia to be fully vaccinated and tested for the coronavirus just before departure. Before the easing, it was made easier for Australians and residents of the country to travel internationally.
The relaxation was actually supposed to be implemented on December 1 but was postponed due to the Omikron variant of the coronavirus. According to the government, it no longer makes sense to keep the borders closed because the variant has already been spread worldwide and has been identified more than a hundred times in Australia.