With the devastating COVID 19 second wave outbreak in India, the country faces even more border restrictions when entering Australia. It has even become even harder for children stranded within India to return to their families back in Australia.
However, recent changes have been made regarding unaccompanied minors being brought home from India as a travel ban exemption to Australia relaxes.
Here is what’s new!
The reasons for travel exemption to Australia being broadened in order to include people escorting an Australian child back to Australia:
- Children of citizens and permanent citizens
- In order to meet this criterion, parents need to be residing within Australia, and the escort also needs to be a member of the family; only then are they eligible for transport.
- Also, a new exemption in place allows Australian/permanent resident adults to travel to India in order to bring their child back home.
- The changes were introduced by the department of home affairs on 6 June 2021, as Australian public health officials advised.
Why are these new changes put in place?
The travel to Australia exemption has been broadened as a change in the result of the current health advice that surrounds India’s COVID-19 pandemic. This does come under the compassionate and compelling circumstances eligibility criteria. They have the power to allow people to come to Australia in compassionate and compelling circumstances that include the return of an Australian or permanent resident children in Australia.
With the peak of the second wave of the pandemic in April, Australia decided to limit travel to India. Then on 22 April, arriving from India was considered a serious health risk However, all Australians stranded there, including young children that needed to be escorted, were unable to fly home to Australia. This band, however, ended on the main 15th as the first flight from New Delhi to Australia in Darwin released back on.
Since then, the travel exemptions to leave Australia and to enter Australia have been widened to include these eligible Indians who are helping to bring back children to the Australian continent.
Are there any other reasons where people can travel to Australia from India?
Others who are eligible for the travel ban exemption in Australia include critical workers that provide assistance to the Australian COVID-19 response and are travelling as a result of Australia’s national interest. They are also able to apply for an exemption to travel to Australia due to the death or funeral of a close family member in Australia. They are also eligible to travel to Australia if they’re visiting a close family member who is critically ill and admitted to the hospital.
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