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Migrate to Australia from Singapore

Migrate to Australia from Singapore

If you plan to migrate to Australia from Singapore, please mind that you will need to apply for visas/entry permits, depending on the duration of the stay.

Although Singapore has one of the strongest passports in the world, which grants Singaporean passport holders with the right of migrating to many countries without any visa requirements, this is not yet applicable in Australia.

According to the law on immigration to Australia, Singaporean nationals still have to comply with certain requirements. You can find out more on this subject from our immigration lawyer in Australia.

Migrate to Australia from Singapore – apply for ETA


Although Singapore ranks as the country with the 2nd most powerful passport at a global level, Singaporean passport holders still have to apply for a travel permit when arriving in Australia.

Singapore has visa free access to 192 countries, but in Australia they will need to apply for the Electronic Travel Authority (ETA).

ETA is not a traditional visa, but it holds the characteristics of a visa, as foreigners must complete specific steps in order to be issued with this document prior to their arrival in the country.

The Australian ETA is an electronic immigration document which is issued only when a person will migrate to Australia from Singapore on a short-term basis.

Of course, the document is mandatory for other nationalities as well, not just for persons who migrate to Australia from Singapore.

How can Singaporeans apply for the Australian ETA?


The law on immigration in Australia requires foreigners to apply for ETA when they arrive here for short-term stays, which refer to visits with a duration of maximum 90 days (after 90 days additional immigration procedures are imposed by the law, in the sense that residence permits must be issued).

ETA was created as a travel-based electronic visa, and the procedure to obtain the document is rather simple. The following apply:

  • Singaporeans must apply for ETA if they stay here minimum 1 day and maximum 90 days;
  • the visa is known as the Subclass 601;
  • it grants the right to multiple entries to eligible passport holders in a period of 12 months (maintaining the basic rule – 90 days of stay at a time, in a period of 180 days);
  • for the issuance of the document, those who will migrate to Australia from Singapore will need to pay a processing fee of AUD 20;
  • there are 33 countries eligible for the ETA, including Singapore – all other foreigners must apply for a traditional visitor visa (Subclass 600).

The difference between the ETA and the Subclass 600 visitor visa is that the first doesn’t not have a processing time, as the procedure is completed almost automatically by using the ETA app created by the Department of Home Affairs.

For the Subclass 600, foreigners have to complete the necessary steps with few weeks before their departure to Australia, as, according to the same institution, the application process can take up to 35 days for most of the applications (90% of them are processed in this period of time).

Less than 25% of the applications can be completed in less than a week.

Thus, persons who migrate to Australia from Singapore have a major benefit when applying for the ETA, even though they need to comply with certain immigration procedures that do not exist for most of the countries where a Singaporean can go for visits, business, etc.

Persons who want to relocate to Australia from Singapore for a longer period of time can find out more concerning other immigration procedures from our team of immigration lawyers.

We also invite Singaporeans interested in immigration to Australia from Singapore to contact our attorney for advice on business/investment immigration formalities.