Australian migration zone

The Australian migration zone is a legal device created by the Australian government for the purpose of Australia's visa policy and immigration policy. In the Australian migration zone, which covers such Australian controlled territories as the government may determine, a non-citizen must hold an Australian visa. Without such a visa, or a bridging visa, the alien is treated as an "unauthorised arrival". Prior to 2001, the Australian migration zone consisted of the mainland, and some external territories.

To stem the flow of unauthorised arrivals into Australia, in September 2001, the Australian government passed the Migration Amendment (Excision from Migration Zone) Act 2001 and the Migration Amendment (Excision from Migration Zone) (Consequential Provisions) Act 2001 which removed ("excised") a number of external territories from the Australian migration zone for purposes relating to unauthorised arrivals. The effect of this change was to limit the ability of "offshore entry persons" to apply for a visa on arrival. The territories excised were Ashmore Island, Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, and Cocos Islands.

After Australian Indian Ocean territories were excised, increasing numbers of asylum seekers attempted to reach the Australian mainland by-passing those islands, which are closer to Indonesia. To combat this tactic, on 30 October 2012, the Australian government excised the entire Australian mainland from the Australian migration zone. The legislation to excise the mainland itself from the migration zone was passed by Parliament on 16 May 2013. Before the excise, asylum seekers who reached the mainland by boat could not be sent offshore to Australian immigration detention facilities on Nauru or Papua New Guinea's Manus Island for immigration processing.

In an excised area, an unauthorised arrival has no right to apply for a visa. Asylum seekers who land in an excised area of Australian territory may apply for refugee status with the UNHCR. However, Australia has no obligation to grant them a visa to settle permanently in Australia (as opposed to temporary protection) and they have no recourse to Australian courts.

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