Australian High Commission

South Africa

High Commission address: 292 Orient Street, Arcadia, Pretoria - Telephone: +27 12 423 6000 - Fax: +27 12 342 8442 (Admin & Consular)

Visas, Tourism and Migration

Visa and Immigration Information

Welcome to the Visa Office at the Australian High Commission in Pretoria. We are an overseas office of the Australian Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC).

The following pages will provide you with information regarding citizenship and visa options for visitors, workers, students or migrants. In most cases, with the exception of Australian and New Zealand citizens, all people travelling to Australia require a visa prior to arrival. The Immigration website will provide advice on the few exceptions to this. The website will also advise clients about where to lodge their applications as not all visa subclasses are processed by the Pretoria office.

See Department of Immigration and Citizenship

Warning: information on cruise ship employment scams

Who can apply in Pretoria?

The department processes all visa applications for people visiting or migrating to Australia. The Visa and Immigration Office handles visa and citizenship applications from applicants in the following countries:

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cape Verde, cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sao Tome & Principe, Senegal, Sierre Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, The Gambia, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Clients lodging applications from the following countries can lodge applications, either through the VFS, direct to the Pretoria Visa Office or at the Port Louis Visa Office:

Madagascar, Mauritius, Reunion Islands, Seychelles and Union of Comoros
As of 1 July 2011 all Student applications will be processed through the Pretoria office. Also from this date all Refugee and Humanitarian applications will be processed by the Nairobi office.

Contact details

The Australian Visa Section in Pretoria has a Service Delivery Partner (SDP) arrangement with VFS Global.

Visa and citizenship applications can be lodged at Australian Visa Application Centres managed by VFS Global. VFS will charge a fee for this service. This fee is in addition to the scheduled fee charged by the Australian High Commission for all visa applications.

VFS Global are not officers of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship. They are lodgement agents only and do not process or decide visa applications.

Exception: Zimbabwe clients are not charged this additional fee as biometrics are collected.

Do I require a visa label?

Australia’s modern electronic visa system does not require you to have a visa label placed in your passport to confirm your immigration status and entitlements in Australia.

When you check in to fly to Australia, airline staff will use your passport to electronically confirm that you have authority to travel to Australia prior to boarding the aircraft. See: About Your Visa

See: Contacts

Visa Types
Visiting Australia
Students
Studying in Australia
Working in Australia
Migrating to Australia
Maritime Crew Visa
Find a Visa

Lodging Visa Applications

Changes to processing arrangements – Refugee and Humanitarian visa applications

From 1 July all Refugee and Humanitarian entry visa (Class XB) applications from clients countries listed under ‘Who can apply’, are processed at the Australian High Commission, Nairobi, Kenya.
See: http://www.kenya.embassy.gov.au/nair/Visas_and_Migration.html

Introducing New African Student Hub (ASH)
From 1 July 2011 all Student applications, from clients who currently lodge in Nairobi will be processed at the ASH, Australian High Commission Pretoria.
See: Lodging Visa Applications
Visa Charges

Processing Times
Booklets and information forms
Character requirements
Panel Doctors
Migration Agents
Australian Citizenship by Descent

Useful Links
About DIAC
Australian Passports
Travel documents for entry to Australia
Migration fraud

General Information
For general information about visa and citizenship options (including for visa categories assessed in Australia) and much more, please see the Department of Immigration and Citizenship

Tourism
Plan your trip using the official Tourism Australia website., This site offers 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.
See: Australian’s official tourism website

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.
See: Tourist Refund Scheme

New Arrivals
A gateway to information ranging from citizenship, health, settlement help for migrants, working conditions to buying a home in Australia.
See: Australia.gov website

Customs and Quarantine
The Australian Customs Service manages the security and integrity of the Australian border and assists people and cargo to move in and out of the country.
See: Australian Customs Service

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.