Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - SYD transit question

We are thinking of doing a SFO-SYD same day turnaround. Can we stay airside in SYD for transit, or do we need to go thru immi and get the special Aussie visa?

My recollection (2 visits) is that we were funneled directly into immigration.

U.S. citizens need only apply for a Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) on-line:

http://www.immi.gov.au/e_visa/eta.htm

We've never been asked to produce a copy on arrival.

I defer to others on the specifics of executing a turnaround at SYD, but typically when you board the plane to SYD, if your destination is SYD, the airline has to verify your ETA.

The only exception to this is if you are just transiting SYD, headed to AKL or somewhere else.

OK, seems I do have to shell out the $ 40.00 for two useless ETAs. Thanks all.

They don't have to be useless. You could always stay a day or three. :)

If you do it at the Australian site (http://www.eta.immi.gov.au/) it's A$20, or about US$13 these days and valid for a year.

If UA does it, I think it's US$20 and valid for a shorter period.

We are thinking of doing a SFO-SYD same day turnaround. Can we stay airside in SYD for transit, or do we need to go thru immi and get the special Aussie visa?

I believe you can stay airside in transit in SYD, particularly if you have a return SYD-SFO boarding pass to show. But as others have pointed out, I'm sure you will need a visa at UA SFO check-in.

You could always book several Down Under MRs, as visa lasts a year, and prices are reasonable. :p

If you do it at the Australian site (http://www.eta.immi.gov.au/) it's A$20, or about US$13 these days and valid for a year.

If UA does it, I think it's US$20 and valid for a shorter period.

Since when? Every year I go UA does it automatically and for free. :confused:

Since when? Every year I go UA does it automatically and for free. :confused:

I think it's only free for C and F pax.

For a free ETA, see the stickie at the top of the forum!

Dave

For a free ETA, see the stickie at the top of the forum!

Dave

Right - amazing how many people don't notice that thread.

FYI turnarounds can easily be done without clearing immigration at CNS, BNE, SYD & MEL. OOL has no airside transfer. ADL & PER do have airside transfer but a hassle unless you are on "the list" kept by immigration.

I went through this last year with our traveling party. As of October OZ immigration rules were that stays of 6 hours or less spent in intl transit do not require visas. The outbound connection does not have to be in the same PNR but you need a printed confirmation. In SYD it is very easy to do intl connections, follow the signs and the only check you will go through is security before heading upstairs to the departure level. Also, after going up to departures we went to the transfer desk and were informed that UA does not have a contract with the company running the intl transfer desk so they will not issue or change a UA BP. You can do that in the Air New Zealand lounge or at the gate when it opens.

I have not done intl xfers in MEL, but the timing of 6 hours or less may work there. Nonetheless, I would suggest getting the visa for SYD and and taking a break and getting some fresh air. Good luck!

I went through this last year with our traveling party. As of October OZ immigration rules were that stays of 6 hours or less spent in intl transit do not require visas. The outbound connection does not have to be in the same PNR but you need a printed confirmation. In SYD it is very easy to do intl connections, follow the signs and the only check you will go through is security before heading upstairs to the departure level. Also, after going up to departures we went to the transfer desk and were informed that UA does not have a contract with the company running the intl transfer desk so they will not issue or change a UA BP. You can do that in the Air New Zealand lounge or at the gate when it opens.

I have not done intl xfers in MEL, but the timing of 6 hours or less may work there. Nonetheless, I would suggest getting the visa for SYD and and taking a break and getting some fresh air. Good luck!


That is incorrect. Australia allows international transits to third countries within 8 hours without a visa (for Americans) provided remain airside. A turnaround is not an international transit to a third country (you'd need to be doing US-Oz-NZ or similar).

Right - amazing how many people don't notice that thread.


FYI, I originally posted this in the UA forum, so it was pretty easy to miss the sticky you mention;). I was not even aware that the mods had moved my post. I figured that since UA at this point has been the sole US carrier serving Australia, a couple of FTers should have been able to provide me with expert advice on my turnaround question, which obviously would be quite uniquely tailored to UAers. Seems the mods disagreed. But I can see it now and thank you for pointing it out.

That is incorrect. Australia allows international transits to third countries within 8 hours without a visa (for Americans) provided remain airside. A turnaround is not an international transit to a third country (you'd need to be doing US-Oz-NZ or similar).

I recounted what happened to us and what we were told, so I don't know why you would say this is incorrect. And I don't believe you were travelling with us. ;) We were not all Americans, this was the information given to us by the Australian consulate in SIN and SQ went and double checked everything anyway.

AFAIK Australian immigration rules have 3 basic categories of treatment

Australia + NZ - very few restrictions (and no ETA needed)
USA + other countries (including Singapore for example) - some restrictions/requirements (eg ETA)
some countries - full visa required and other restrictions

If what you were told is correct then there is another category in between NZ & USA. Seems unlikely to me.

In practice there are no checks of tickets etc at transit security at SYD MEL BNE (but there are at CNS ADL PER OOL), so as long as the airline flying you to SYD thinks you meet the rules, and nothing goes wrong forcing you to pass through immigration, then okay to fly even if you don't meet the rules. Personally I wouldn't take the chance - airlines do check with immigration authorities including sending prescribed data ahead of the flight.

Timatec visa info example Australia entry & transit for Singaporeans (http://www.timaticweb.com/cgi-bin/tim_website_client.cgi?SpecData=1&VISA=&page=visa&NA=SG&AR=00&PASSTYPES=PASS&DE=AU&TR=AU&user=DL&subuser=DELTAB2C) (via DL link to timatec (http://www.delta.com/planning_reservations/plan_flight/international_travel_information/visa_passport_information/index.jsp)).

What happened in the end when we got to SIN we could could not get one BP issued for someone in our group traveling on a TWN passport. We had to check his bag under someone else's reservation and SQ gave him a pass for immigration and to join us at the lounge. The lounge agent explained that for flights between SIN and OZ there is an electronic pre-clearance of everyone on board. All pax on the plane EXCEPT our Taiwan friend had been cleared and SQ was told by OZ immigration not to issue his BP until they determined exactly where he sat in their rules. Forty five minutes before scheduled departure she came running back to us, all smiles, saying they had gotten the pre-clearance and issued the last BP. Quite consistently we were told by SQ and the OZ consulate in SIN that the limit on transit was six hours, maybe that varies by country, we did not ask since we only had the one person without an ETA or visa. It was not a pleasant wait, we were working hard on back-up plans if he could not board.

If you land and don't leave intl transit in SYD you're fine. Based on our experience with SQ the trouble will be when you check in outside OZ and they don't find an ETA on file (in the OP's case as an American ppt holder).

Play it safe, get the ETA if you hold US passports....