Indian visitors to Australia can now apply for visas online with the Australian government beginning a new online visa trial programme.
Under the programme, the subclass 600 visa, which covers tourists and business visitors, can be applied online. “Indian visitors to Australia reached 189,866 for the year ended September 2014 which is a 14.5 per cent increase over last year. This is the fastest growing market for us,” said Andre Robb, Minister for Trade and Investment, Australia.
“Under the Australian Government’s national tourism strategy Tourism 2020, India has the potential to contribute between $1.9 and $2.3 billion annually to our tourism industry by 2020,” Robb added. The trial for online visa applications is being launched in the first half of 2015 with the aim of capitalising on the visitor market and creating jobs.
The online visa applications will initially be rolled out through selected travel agents in India.
“The connectivity between Australia and India has long been ignored but is now getting revitalised,” Robb said.