Maritime Crew Visa
The “Maritime Crew Visa (MCV)” facilitates the temporary entry of crew members of “non-military ships”.
You must be a crew member of a “Non-military ship”, which is a ship –
- Used for commercial trading, or
- Used for carrying paying customers, or
- Owned & operated by a foreign government to do scientific research, or
- Approved for “public vessel status” by DFAT, or
- Imported & brought to Australia for sale & registered in the Australian International Shipping Register
You must not –
- Be the holder of an Australian Permanent visa, and
- Not enter Australia by air only holding this visa, and
- Stay in Australia as a tourist, visitor or permanently, and
- Be involved in “offshore resource activities”
A Maritime Crew Visa only allows you to enter a port of Australia by sea. If you would like to sign-on to a ship at a port in Australia & need to travel by air to enter Australia, you will need to apply for another visa. You must ensure that you do not arrive in Australia with only a Maritime Crew visa. If you do this, your MCV will cease immediately upon arrival.
You must prove that you are currently a crew member of a ship or have a current offer to be a crew member from the master, owner, agent, charterer or operator of the ship.
You can only do work as a crew member of a non-military ship. If you do any other work in Australia, your visa will be cancelled.
This visa generally lasts for 3 years. During the validity of your visa, you can enter Australia by sea, as a member of a non-military ship, as many times as you want. You can apply for this visa any number of times.
If you have a previous MCV which is still valid, you must not apply for another MCV unless it is going to expire before you are going to enter Australia or during your voyage in Australia as a crew member.
If you arrive in Australia as the holder of a MCV & sign off your ship, and you don’t have a valid visa to stay in Australia, you will need to either –
- Sign onto another non-military ship, or
- Apply for another type of visa, or
- Leave Australia within 5 days
You must meet the “Character” requirement & preferably have health insurance for the duration of your stay in Australia. The MCV is a temporary visa & hence you will be responsible for any expense that you might have to incur on your health in Australia.
Family members can apply. However, each member of the family unit must apply separately. Family members are not permitted to work in Australia.
You must be outside Australia when you apply for this visa.
You can apply online or on paper. You must note that the processing of online applications is much faster.
You must be aware of the following in relation to this visa :
- What are the ships you can work on?
- What type of crew members are eligible for this visa?
- What are the circumstances you must be aware of when signing on to a ship?
- What are the circumstances you must be aware of when signing off a ship?
- What are the supporting documents that you must submit with your application if your are already a crew member or if you have a current offer to be a crew member?
- What can you do with this visa?
- When can you re-apply for this visa?
- What are the circumstances that can lead to cancellation of this visa?
Contact Us so that we can help you apply in accordance with prevailing laws & also help you to adhere to the conditions of this visa.
