Australia is changing how seafarers can apply for its Maritime Crew visa (subclass 988). The new rules start on 1 November 2026. Online applications stay the same. The change is for crew who cannot apply online.
Foreign crew use this visa to stay in Australia while they work on a ship there. The Department of Home Affairs says you can stay while you are a crew member of an eligible ship in Australia.
What changes
The rules are in a new legal instrument, the Migration (Arrangements for Maritime Crew Visa Applications) Instrument 2026. It was signed on 24 September 2026 and starts on 1 November. It replaces the rules from 2016.
Online: If you give an email address and agree to get messages about your application by email, you must apply online. You use Form 1273 (Internet) in ImmiAccount, the Home Affairs online system.
Paper form: In all other cases, you can use the paper Form 1273 only if the Department allows it in writing. You must then follow the Department's directions and send the form by the date it gives.
Before this change, crew who could not apply online could send a paper form by post or courier. This was explained by the Sydney immigration law firm Agape Henry Crux. Under the new rules, simply posting a paper form is no longer possible.
What it means for crews
Apply online if you can. Give a working email address and check it for messages.
Apply in good time before the ship reaches Australia. Do not leave it until the last days.
If you cannot apply online, contact the Department of Home Affairs early. Ask for written permission to use the paper form.
Crewing managers should check that every crew member joining a ship bound for Australia has applied in time.
Read more on Crewboard:
Cover photo: Container terminals at Port Botany in Sydney, Australia, seen from the air in May 2016. Illustrative photo. Photo: MDRX/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped).
Sources: Federal Register of Legislation: Migration (Arrangements for Maritime Crew Visa Applications) Instrument 2026, LIN 26/025 (registered 25 Sep 2026), Department of Home Affairs: Maritime Crew visa (subclass 988), Agape Henry Crux: New lodgement rules for the Maritime Crew visa (subclass 988) (1 Oct 2026), McKkr's: Updated arrangements for Maritime Crew visa applications.
