New Australian Visa Requirements For Foreign Maritime Crew

Shipowners, charterers and their various agents will be affected by new requirements for non Australian crew entering Australia. The Maritime Crew Visa (MCV), which came into effect on 1 July 2007, will apply to all foreign crew (except New Zealanders and Australian permanent visa holders) working on board non-military vessels on international voyages entering Australia.

Non-military vessels include commercial vessels such as cargo vessels, cruise ships and fishing vessels, and public and/or government scientific vessels. About 130,000 foreign crew travel to Australia each year by sea, about 90% as crew of cargo ships and the rest as crew of passenger ships.

The MCV is introduced under the Migration Amendment (Maritime Crew) Act 2007. The MCV is designed to provide tough checks of foreign sea crew, to record maritime crew movement records and improve the protection of Australia’s borders from an increasing range of security threats. The MCV is the latest in a raft of legislative