Australians could gain visa-free access to live and work across Europe under a proposed mobility deal between the European Union and Australia that would remove complicated bureaucracy from current processes and give Australians more access to more countries and more flexibility than ever before.
If passed, the proposal, still subject to negotiation and yet to be greenlit by the Albanese government, would allow Australians to live and work freely across the EU’s 27 member states. The scheme would massively extend the current 90 days in every 180-day period that Australians can stay for in the EU, pushing the window to up to four years. With Europeans headed Down Under being offered reciprocal rights, the measures are being framed as a way to solve labour shortages in both regions.
While eligibility criteria and conditions remain undecided, the proposal would make significant differences to how Australians experience longer-term stays in Europe, making cross-border travel and work much smoother and removing national-level entry barriers. Without a looming countdown of 90 days, digital nomads could benefit from the certainty of residency rights without having to make frequent reapplications, opening up the option of longer-term rentals. In addition, the proposed easing of sponsorship requirements could make relocation a more realistic opportunity for entrepreneurs, freelancers, and fully employed remote workers. The terms of the deal on the table are also said to include the right to work more generally.
The visa-free travel rights form part of a wider EU-Australia trade deal that has been awaiting finalisation since 2018. Talks have been stuck on disagreement over agricultural import and export rules, including quantities of Australian meat and European “place of origin” food and drink denominations that protect products like feta cheese and prosecco. An important aspect of the trade treaty for Europe is the access it would gain to Australian minerals, reducing reliance on those from China.
Having recently built momentum with a successful trade treaty with South America, the EU is hopeful that an Australia deal could be in the pipeline, and the reciprocal visa-free travel rights are being seen as an inducement to close negotiations.
Though no timeline has been confirmed, opposition trade spokesperson Kevin Hogan said on Monday he expected “We’re going to see the EU-Australia deal done very quickly” and called on the Albanese government not to make compromises that Australian farmers would regret. “I think it might be done within the next month or so,” he told Sky News.