Australia relaxes international travel rules, fully vaccinated foreign travellers allowed entry from December

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said that the return of skilled workers and students to Australia is a major milestone in our pathway back to boost economy and regain normalcy. 

After a ban of 1.5 years, Australia has announced the resumption of entry of foreign travellers with a valid visa to enter the country. As announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Australia will allow foreign visa holders to enter the country from the start of December, first time since Australia shut its international border in May 2020. Since then, only restricted numbers of citizens and permanent residents were allowed to enter in a bid to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

The rules were relaxed in recent weeks to allow foreign family members of citizens to enter, and Morrison said this will be scaled up from December 1 to allow vaccinated students, business visa holders and refugees to arrive. "The return of skilled workers and students to Australia is a major milestone in our pathway back," Morrison told reporters in Canberra.

Australia will also allow vaccinated tourists from South Korea and Japan from December 1, he said. The return of foreign students, who are worth about A$35 billion ($25 billion) a year to the Australian economy, will be a major boost for the education sector.