Concurrent Crew and Tourist Visa for Oz

[seraphim]

Sorry, didn't know where else to throw this in so I was hoping someone here could help. :confused:

I currently hold a crew visa for Australia, and I spend more time in Oz than anywhere else. I'm planning to visit some of my friends in QLD next month and because I have a foreign passport, I need a tourist visa to do so. I asked around and found that another crew member recently applied for a tourist visa which effectively cancelled his crew visa! :eek: Considering that my country is elegible for ETA style visas, the application is meant to be pretty painless, but if I get back and can't fly into Melbourne the next day I'll be done for.

Does anyone know if it is possible to hold the two visas concurrently? And which one I should apply for (600 or 601)?

Any info appreciated, thanks!

[On Track]

I think it's unlikely that anyone on this forum would know the answer.

Why not ask the Australian embassy in Singapore or the Immigration department in Canberra?

[The Kelpie]

Hi

The cancelling of a CTA. With a tourist visa should not happen. that is mot to say it wont because it has happenned to me but a simple call to DIAC sorted it out and it did not happen again. As far as immigrations systems go the Crew Travel Authority is not strictly speaking a Visa like the many other available. it is a Special Purpose Visa (SPV) which is quite distinct from other visas. One key difference is that an application cannot be made for a SPV, rather, SPVs are taken to be ‘held’ if the person has a prescribed status under the Migration Regulations 1994.

Given SPVs are not applied for like standard visas, their presence in department systems is managed administratively through the Crew Travel Authority (CTA). The CTA allows airlines to register crew in advance with the Department for Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) and the CTA record facilitates crew processing through the department and the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service systems, for example, at check-in through the Advance Passenger Processing (APP) system and on arrival to and departure from Australia.

In summary applying for and obtaining a tourist visa should not delete the administrative record held to supprt your CTA. The record on the system is just that, a record and you still need your airline ID card and letter on each occasion you wish to enter as crew. These are simple cross referenced to the administrative computer record.

Call immigration to confirm.

The Kelpie

[tail wheel]

You can not hold two Australian Visas concurrently. Only the later issued Visa will be your current Visa.

[training wheels]

Yes, what tail wheel said is correct. You can't hold two Australian visas at the same time so that's why one was cancelled.

And I can't see why you can't travel around Australia on your crew visa once you're in the country. It's not as if anyone will check your visa when traveling domestically in Australia.

[seraphim]

Thanks for your help The Kelpie. What you said makes sense, I am hoping what happened with the other crew member was a bit of a fluke. I will be calling the Consulate today for advice.

And training wheels, the reason I need a tourist visa is because I will be entering Australia on my own time and money, not as a member of a flight crew, so its the initial entry into Oz that I now need a visa for. In order to use my crew visa I have to be on 'duty travel', which this certainly isn't. :ok:

[jportzer]

If you are not initially entering Australia on a crew manifest and thus a crew visa, then I don't understand how you would end up with two visas? It seems your Australian tourist travel would be entirely independent.

[seraphim]

Yes, that's what one would think, but it appears something gets lost in translation with Immigration and there have been cases where your CTA gets 'cancelled' or 'revoked' unbeknownst to you until you operate a flight in and hold up the rest of your crew for an hour trying to get it sorted. :sad:

I'm just trying to get my ducks in a row here as I have a tight time frame between leaving Oz as a tourist and re-entering as crew. That being said, I did manage to get some info from some outfit that does visas here, now it's just up to the Immi when I get in not to stuff it up for me! :}

[AileronsNeutral]

It shouldn't be a problem for you, my wife is CC and we used to go on holiday to Australia twice a year on an ETA. Don't think it ever got mentioned when she got there as crew as her airline sends a crew manifest over for each flight.