Travelling to Australia
Visas and Citizenship
The Australian Consulate-General in Dubai manages visa and citizenship services for residents of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Our Dubai office also processes permanent migration and citizenship by descent applications from Afghan nationals resident in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
For information on topics not featured on this site, please visit our main website: www.border.gov.au
Important News:
1. Eligible applicants are encouraged to submit their visa application online using ImmiAccount
2. We now have a service delivery partner for the provision of visa lodgement services throughout nine Australian Visa Application Centres (AVACs) in the Gulf region. AVACs offer extended client service hours and you do not need to make an appointment. AVACs offer visa application lodgement services such as:
- fee payment
- application tracking
- biometrics collection
- responses to pre-lodgement visa application enquiries via phone or email
3. After submitting your visa application, if you have a question please do not attempt to telephone us. If you need to contact us you can now use our Australian Immigration Enquiry Form – United Arab Emirates
4. If you have been granted an Australian visa you can use Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) to check your visa status and entitlements online.
5. For transactions related to visas, immigration and citizenship – our client counter hours are 9am to 12pm every Thursday. No appointment is required during this period.
Applying for an Australian visa
All travellers, except New Zealand citizens, must obtain a visa or travel authority before travelling to Australia.
There are a number of visa options available for people who want to visit, work, study or live in Australia. To see which Australian visa might suit you, use our Visa Finder
Watch a short online video about applying for a visa to come to Australia
Lodging your visa application
To avoid processing delays, all documents and information to support your visa application must be submitted together at the time of application lodgement – see our information to help you prepare your application. You can expect your visa application to take longer to process if you have not provided all the required documentation when you apply.
► Apply online
Eligible applicants should apply online by creating an ImmiAccount
► Apply at an Australian Visa Application Centre
Applicants can lodge an Australian visa application in person at any one of the Australian visa application centres currently located in the United Arab Emirates » Saudi Arabia » Kuwait » Bahrain » Qatar and Oman
Note: If you lodge your application directly with the Consulate-General you will still need to go to an Australian visa application centre to provide your personal identifiers (biometrics).
After lodging your visa application
For a list of indicative processing times by visa category see our service standards
Note: visa application processing timeframes are indicative only and are applicable only after a complete application is received. Actual processing times are dependent on a number of factors, including but not limited to:
- whether you have provided all necessary supporting documents when you lodge your application;
- how accurately and how promptly you respond to any requests for additional information;
- how long it takes to complete any required checks on information you have provided to support your application.
You should not book flights or make travel commitments before being notified of the outcome of your visa application. The department will not be liable for any financial loss incurred by applicants whose visa application was finalised later than expected or where an application is unsuccessful.
► Temporary entry visas
We process the Visitor visa (subclass 600), which is divided into two streams. If applying for this visa you must select one of the following streams:
- Tourist stream: for people travelling to Australia as a tourist or to visit family
- Business stream: for business people travelling to Australia for a short business trip.
If you hold a passport from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar or Oman you are eligible to apply online for a Visitor visa (e600). See the full list of eligible passport holders (for applicants outside Australia) who can apply online for a Visitor visa (e600).
See the following links for information about other temporary entry visas:
• Temporary Work – Short Stay Activity visa (subclass 400)
• Temporary Work – Long Stay Activity visa (subclass 401)
• Training and Research visa (subclass 402)
• Temporary Work (International Relations) visa (subclass 403)
• New Zealand Citizen Family Relationship visa (subclass 461)
Eligible applicants should apply online using ImmiAccount
If you are not eligible to apply online, you can submit a paper application at any Australian visa application centre in Gulf region.
► Permanent entry visas
We process permanent entry visa applications in the Family Migration stream from applicants residing in the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Eligible applicants should apply online for a Partner visa using ImmiAccount. Partner visa applications not lodged online may experience delays in processing. For comprehensive information about the Partner visa, see Booklet 1, Partner Migration
Applications for Child, Parent and Other Family categories should be lodged at one of the nine Australian visa application centres in the Gulf region, or couriered directly to the Australian Consulate-General, Dubai. For comprehensive information about Child migration, see Booklet 2, Child Migration
Applications must be lodged complete with all required documents to avoid processing delays. Sufficient evidence of identity is critical for ensuring your application is complete. Note: identity for Afghan applicants is assessed on the basis of a machine readable passport and the original copy of an English translated tazkira attested by the Afghan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
For further information, see our Family Migration Questions and Answers
► Refugee and humanitarian visas
For comprehensive information about the Refugee and humanitarian (Class XB) visa and the relevant application forms, see Refugee and humanitarian visas
Applicants who are living outside their home country may approach the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for refugee determination. If the UNHCR finds them to be refugees, they may be referred to a country such as Australia for resettlement.
Prospective applicants residing United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Pakistan or Afghanistan should complete an Application for an Offshore Humanitarian visa (Form 842) and lodge their application by post or courier directly to the Australian Consulate-General, Dubai.
Applicants from the following list of countries whose application is accompanied by a Refugee and special humanitarian proposal (Form 681) must lodge their application at the Victorian Offshore Humanitarian Processing Centre – this applies to people who are lodging a visa for consideration under the Global Special Humanitarian Program (SHP) or as an immediate family member:
- Afghanistan
- Bahrain
- Iran
- Iraq
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- Oman
- Pakistan
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Turkey
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
► Applying for Australian citizenship
See our step-by-step guide about how to apply for Australian citizenship
Applications for citizenship by descent can be lodged at any of the Australian visa application centres in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman or Qatar.
If you have lost, damaged or had your Australian citizenship certificate stolen, use our online guide to apply for proof of your Australian citizenship
Applications for Australian citizenship general eligibility and other situations, and applications to resume or renounce Australian citizenship should be lodged at our Canberra office in the Australian Capital Territory.
Contacting the visa and citizenship section
Pre-lodgement enquiries are managed by our service delivery partner VFS Global:
- Email: [email protected]
- Telephone: +971 4 2055900 (09:00 – 17:00, Sunday to Thursday – see VFS Global website for Ramadan business hours).
After lodging your visa application, if you need to contact us then use the Australian Immigration Enquiry Form – United Arab Emirates
Department of Immigration and Border Protection
Level 25 Burjuman Business Tower
Sheikh Khalifa Bin zayed Road
Mankhool, Bur Dubai
PO Box 124400 Dubai
Tel: +971 4 5087200
Note: for transactions related to visas, immigration and citizenship, our client counter hours are 9am to 12pm every Thursday.
For more information, see our Frequently Asked Questions. We value your feedback.
Internet Scam
Information regarding an electronic ballot system for resettlement in Australia is fraudulent. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection does not use a nomination/ballot system to select potential persons interested in migration to Australia. This is not a genuine message and it has not been issued by the Australian Government.
I strongly advise you not to respond to this email and to have no further contact with these persons or organisation who could be seeking to take advantage of you and any information you may provide.
For further information in relation to Australian visas or immigration please refer to the Department of Immigration and Border protection website.
TravelSECURE
TravelSECURE provides information on the security measures in place at Australian airports. Its purpose is to help travellers prepare for their journey and clear the security checks at the airport quickly and easily
Tourism
Plan your trip with australia.com, the official Tourism Australia website, offering a wide range of travel information and planning tools including over 2000 images, a currency converter, daily weather updates, interactive maps, suggested holiday itineraries, holiday deals, specialist travel agents and more. Available in nine languages.
Tourist Refund Scheme
The Tourist Refund Scheme enables you to claim a refund, subject to certain conditions, of the goods and services tax (GST) and wine equalisation tax (WET) that you pay on goods you buy in Australia.
New Arrivals
A gateway to information ranging from citizenship, health, settlement help for migrants, working conditions to buying a home in Australia.
Customs and Quarantine
The Department of Immigration & Border Protection manages the security and integrity of the Australian border and assists people and cargo to move in and out of the country.
Information for international travellers. Information about what items must be declared for inspection, what happens if you fail to declare or dispose of any quarantine items or make a false declaration, what happens to siezed items and what can\'t be mailed to Australia.
Foreign Embassies and Consulates in Australia
Jobs in Australia
The Australian Embassy in Abu Dhabi and Consulate-General in Dubai are not able to assist people in finding employment in Australia.