Update - breaking news - travellers from the red list of Southern African countries are to be allowed into New South Wales, effective this morning. Please go to: https://www.travelnews.co.za/article/breaking-news-australia-ends-omicron-border-rules
From today (December 15), eligible visa holders, including skilled migrants and international students, as well as tourists from Japan and South Korea, can travel to Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption.
However, South Africans are not yet among those allowed in, as the ban on travel from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, the Seychelles, Malawi, and Mozambique remains in place until further notice.
The Australian government announced on November 29 that the reopening, originally planned for December 1, would be delayed by two weeks due to concerns over the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
For eligible visa holders to enter the country, they must be fully vaccinated and show a negative PCR test conducted up to three days prior to departure.
Australian citizens, permanent residents or their immediate family members entering Australia who have been in any of the nine countries in question in the preceding 14 days, must still quarantine for 14 days on arrival, regardless of vaccination status.
Any other travellers who have been in these countries in the last 14 days are not permitted to enter Australia, the country’s government website reiterates.
