Turkey lifts visa requirement for Australian citizens

Australians can now stay up to 90 days without a visa, but Turkish citizens still need a visa to visit Australia

Australian citizens can now travel to Turkey without a visa following a decree signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, effective Friday.

According to the Official Gazette dated April 17, 2026, holders of ordinary Australian passports may enter Turkey for tourism or transit purposes and stay for up to 90 days within any 180-day period.

No matching arrangement for Turkish travelers

The visa waiver only benefits Australians. Turkish passport holders still require a visa to enter Australia and are not eligible for the Electronic Travel Authority (ETA), the streamlined online permit available to citizens of the US, Japan, South Korea, and most EU countries.

Instead, Turkish visitors must apply for a Visitor visa (subclass 600), which costs around AUD 200 and typically takes 20 to 33 days to process for tourist applications.

A similar move sparked criticism

Turkey took a comparable step in December when Erdoğan signed a decree lifting visa requirements for Chinese nationals, effective January 2.

That decision drew pushback on social media. Critics questioned the lack of reciprocity and raised security concerns. Turkish journalist Mehmet Ali Önel called it a one-sided concession with limited economic upside. He argued that Chinese tourists tend to spend less than visitors from other countries and warned the policy could harm Turkey's tourism industry. Önel also cited potential national security risks.

No similar criticism has yet emerged over the Australian visa waiver.