The Australian Government has implemented new visa arrangements to increase the safety and security of Australians. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) have posted the new arrangements on their site, stating that the arrangements are for all travellers from Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) affected countries in Africa.

DIBP also states that this is not a travel ban. The new arrangements are placed to be able to keep Australia safe, while being able to handle the visa cases with the same assistance that the Government is already providing.

The following are included in the new visa arrangement from the DIBP website:

• a temporary suspension of processing of visa applications for permanent visas and some provisional visas from EVD affected countries
• in some circumstances, cancelling visas that have been granted to persons currently outside of Australia when those persons have been in an EVD affected country in the last 21 days
• refusing some visa applications for temporary visas unless applicants are assessed as posing no risk of EVD.

For more information regarding the new visa arrangements and/or any updates on the matter, visit Threats to Public Health