Australia lets almost nobody in without applying first, even for an afternoon in town. What you need depends on your passport, and on whether your connection keeps you airside within 8 hours.
To leave Melbourne airport, yes: everyone but Australian and New Zealand citizens needs permission before boarding. US and Canadian passports apply for an ETA (A$20), British and EU passports can use the free eVisitor, and Indian passports need a Visitor visa or the free Transit visa. Staying airside on one ticket, with your next flight within 8 hours, many passports need nothing.
If you stay airside
Australia has no general airside transit: it has a narrow exemption, and Melbourne Airport (MEL) connections either fit it or mean passing immigration.
- Transit without a visa. You need nothing if all of these are true: your passport is on Home Affairs’ list, which includes the US, UK, Canada, Japan, Singapore, New Zealand and most of the EU; you arrive by air; your next flight to another country leaves within 8 hours; and you never have to pass immigration, for example to collect a bag or a boarding pass.
- Not on the list. Ordinary Indian and Chinese passports aren’t, so a connection at Melbourne needs the free Transit visa (subclass 771) even if you stay airside.
- Connecting to a domestic flight. Domestic flights leave from Terminals 1, 3 and 4. Arriving from abroad, you pass immigration, collect your bags, clear customs and check in again, so you need an ETA, eVisitor or visa. Flying the other way, from a domestic flight onto an international one, you follow the signs to Terminal 2.
- Not sure? Ask your airline whether your bags and boarding passes are handled airside. If you might have to pass immigration, get the ETA or eVisitor anyway: both are cheap or free.
If you want to leave the airport
Leaving the terminal, even for an hour, means entering Australia, and only Australian and New Zealand citizens can do that without applying first. Apply before you book anything else: the airline checks your permission at check-in and won’t board you without it.
| Passport | What you need to leave Melbourne airport |
|---|---|
| Australian | Nothing |
| New Zealand | Nothing in advance: a visa is granted on arrival |
| US, Canada, Japan, Singapore | ETA (A$20) |
| UK (British citizen) | eVisitor (free) or ETA (A$20) |
| EU and other European passports | eVisitor (free); some can use the ETA too |
| India, China and other passports | Visitor visa (from A$250), or the free Transit visa for up to 72 hours |
The Electronic Travel Authority (ETA)
- How to apply: in the Australian ETA app, for a service charge of A$20. There’s no other fee, so a site asking for more isn’t the official route.
- Timing: most answers come at once, but some take longer. Home Affairs asks you not to travel until it’s granted, so apply when you book.
- What it covers: 12 months from the grant, or until your passport expires, for as many visits as you like of up to 3 months each.
- Your passport: the ETA is linked to it electronically, with no label. Travel on that passport; a new one needs a new ETA.
The eVisitor
Free, applied for online on the Home Affairs website, and usually decided within a day. It covers the same as the ETA: 12 months, visits of up to 3 months. It’s for passports from all 27 EU countries and several other European ones, including British citizens. British passports other than British citizen ones, such as British National (Overseas), use the ETA instead.
Transit visa (subclass 771)
For a passport that can’t use the ETA or eVisitor, mostly Indian travellers. It’s free and lets you be in Australia for up to 72 hours on your way to another country, so it covers an afternoon in town or a night at an airport hotel. You apply from outside Australia, one application per person, babies included, with a confirmed onward booking and certified copies of your passport. Home Affairs gives no fixed decision time, so allow several weeks.
Visitor visa (subclass 600)
The ordinary tourist visa, from A$250 when you apply from outside Australia. For a layover, the Transit visa costs nothing and does the same job, unless you’d rather have a visa for a longer trip.
If you’re on separate tickets
Melbourne doesn’t treat two separate bookings as a connection. You pass immigration, collect your bags, clear biosecurity and check in again in Terminal 2, so you need an ETA, eVisitor or visa even if you never leave the airport. Allow extra time: your second airline’s bag drop may close 60 to 90 minutes before departure.
At the border
- The passenger card. Fill in the Incoming Passenger Card handed out on the plane; it’s required by law and carries the customs and biosecurity questions. Some Qantas passengers are invited to make the declaration in the Qantas app instead.
- SmartGates. Many ePassport holders can use these automated gates instead of a staffed desk.
- Biosecurity. Tick yes for any food (even a sandwich or an apple from the plane), plant material, seeds, wooden items, animal products, and shoes or gear with soil on them. An officer looks and may keep the item, which costs a few minutes. Declare and show everything and you won’t be penalised, even for something that isn’t allowed in; an item you leave off the card can bring a fine of up to A$7,280, and even a cancelled visa. Bags may be X-rayed or checked by a detector dog whatever you declare.
- Time. Melbourne publishes no queue times for immigration or biosecurity, so allow about an hour from landing to the SkyBus: see getting into the city.
Your passport
Australia asks for a valid passport and sets no six-month rule. Your next country, or your airline, may want more validity, so check with them. If your passport expires, the ETA or eVisitor linked to it ends too.
Before you go landside
- Check that your bags are checked through to your final destination; if not, collect them and leave them at Smarte Carte in Terminal 2.
- Have your onward boarding pass with you. Terminal 2 is where you’ll check in again: be there 90 minutes before your flight, and sooner with a bag still to hand over. The way there and back: getting into the city.
- A longer stay is a booking, not a scheme: Qantas lets a multi-city trip include a stopover in Melbourne at no extra cost, and no airline offers a free transit hotel here.