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I'm planning to attend in person! What are the visa requirements for Australia?

Many countries' citizens need only their own passport for entry to Australia, while others must pay for a visa and undergo an interview and application process. This can take anywhere from days to months of waiting for an appointment depending on your country of residence, so we recommend that you apply for your visa as soon as you are sure you're coming (we send out acceptances 10 January so that's a good time to start). There is a quick "wizard" here that will give you an answer about whether you need a visa for Australia, in under two minutes: visit this link, click the "visit & tourism" (blue box, top left of the page) which indicates that it includes conference attendance, on the next page choose "attending a conference or expo," and then enter your country and the system will tell you what type of visa you need (if any). When filling out your visa information, be sure to select "Attending a conference or expo" as your reason, rather than mere tourism. If you do not have an accepted presentation for #ICA24, you can fill out the invitation request form after you register for the conference.

How does ICA help its attendees/members obtain visas?

Each year, ICA's Executive Director contacts the immigration authorities for the conference's host country and registers ICA's conference as an official, legitimate, and accepted event, letting the local/national authorities know the purpose of the conference and how many people we are anticipating (and from which countries). In many cases, the country hosting the conference will issue ICA a code for attendees to put on their visa applications; this varies by country. When you go to your local Australian consulate in your nearest major city to apply for your passport (check here for Australian consulate locations listed by country), they will already have ICA's information so that they can link you to ICA24 as a legitimate reason for traveling. The ED also intervenes in complex situations where additional attention is needed to push an application through.

• Accepted Paper Authors: Once your paper is accepted, only the first author will be able to download a personalized visa invitation letter from the ICA submission management website (in your own profile and your messages inbox) after 10 January, when acceptance decisions are sent. The letter has your name and the name of the presentation that has been accepted, plus some wording about how important it is that you attend; it also usually gives the name(s) and university addresses of the local host(s), as Australian citizens/residents who can "vouch" for all 3,000+ of us. If you have checked your personal profile in ScholarOne/Abstract Central and you cannot find your letter or it needs a modification, please contact conference@icahdq.org.
• Attending without presenting: We are happy to provide you with a visa invitation letter upon request, however you must first register to attend the in-person conference. We can not provide letters for those who are not registered to attend in person, as this is a dereliction of our duty as international hosts vouching for each of our attendees as legitimate scholars with a valid reason for entry. Once you are registered for the conference, you will receive the request for an invitation letter in your confirmation email.
• What if the consulate/visa office needs more than a standard letter? If you are an accepted author and the visa office needs a more detailed letter due to special circumstances, the Executive Director of ICA, Laura Sawyer, is the one who will escalate the matter, especially in the case of those with full or dual citizenship in a country that the consulate finds "problematic" for whatever reason. If you have not yet visited the visa office but you know exactly how you need your letter to be modified, you can contact Katie Wolfe, Manager of Conference Services, and she will either be able to handle it or will bump it up to the Executive Director if it is a complex issue.
• If you need it for your application, the contact information for the ICA office is 1500 21st St NW, Washington, DC, 20036, USA. You can list Laura Sawyer, ICA Executive Director, as your contact at ICA, phone # +1-202-955-1444, ext 101.

What else is required to enter Australia?

In addition to your valid passport, at the border control station you may be asked for the following documents, so it's a good idea to have them with you:

• Your visa (if applicable)
• Proof of accommodation (print out your hotel booking information with dates of stay)
• Proof of your return ticket (print out your airline booking confirmation)
• Proof of your profession, such as your business card, if you are attending a conference (you are!)
• Proof of your private health insurance (your insurance card)
• If traveling with children, you may also want to have a letter from their non-accompanying legal guardian, if applicable, especially if your surnames do not match (as is the case with many of us). The letter states that they have the other guardian's permission to leave the country - especially useful for very young children who can't verbally verify that they are traveling with their legal guardian.