convention travel document australia

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What Documents Do I Need To Check?

Australian Employers have a legal obligation to ensure that non-Australian Citizens have a right to work in Australia.

27 July 2018

Australian Employers have a legal obligation to ensure that non-Australian Citizens have a right to work in Australia. Usually, when checking work rights, one of the following documents from a non-Australian Citizen employee or prospective employee would be required:

• Photo page of current and valid passport;
• Grant Notification Letter of a currently held and valid Australia Visa. This document will contain the conditions applicable to the visa held by the person concerned. Visa conditions which apply all have 4 digit numbers, each beginning with the number 8 (e.g 8105). These conditions will indicate if work rights exist, and what limitations may apply to these work rights.

There may be instances where a non-Australian Citizen does not hold either of the documents listed above. In such cases, employers can also seek one of the following.

• Immi Card  – This is a document issued by the Australian Department of Home Affairs to a person who entered Australia without a valid visa or passport and has subsequently been granted Refugee status (Protection Visa). The Immi Card will contain a reference number against which work rights may be checked.
• Document For Travel to Australia (DFFTA)  – This document allows the person to travel to Australia and will contain the visa type issued to the person on the left hand side of the document. Should any dependents be included in the travel document, they will be named in the body of the document and those dependents will also have the same visa type. The type of visa granted will determine if work rights exist.
• Not in Australia at the time of issue;
• About to depart Australia, and are
• Recognised by Australia as Refugees (in Australia on specific Visa subclasses)
• Have a maximum validity period of 2 years (in some case this may be extended)
• Have 37 Pages, which indicate the visa/s held.
• Have an Electronic Chip
• Have a blue cover with two black stripes across the top left hand corner of the cover.

Again, the type of visa indicated in the TDV will determine if work rights have been granted.

In some cases, none of the above-mentioned documents will be held by the person concerned. For example; a person may have entered Australia as a dependent of their migrating parents many years ago. Such people may have chosen not to have taken up Australian Citizenship or obtain a passport from their country of origin.

In such cases, the person concerned should be directed to the Department of Home Affairs; Status Resolution Service (SRS), to determine their current Australian Immigration status. People who find themselves in such situations may well be what are termed absorbed persons and as such have Australian permanent residency status, with full work rights.

To contact SRS section, affected persons may  call 1300 853 773 . A SRS officer may then advise the person as to what documents (e.g. birth certificate) may be required to resolve their Australian Immigration status and therefore their work rights.

Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is general only, and not to be taken as Migration Advice. Please be aware that visas and regulations are subject to frequent change. It is advisable to verify the latest information from the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and or seek specific advice relating to your circumstances from a MARA Registered Migration Agent.

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About: Australian Convention Travel Document

An Australian Convention Travel Document (CTD) is a biometric refugee travel document issued for international travel purpose by the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to individuals recognised as refugees residing in Australia under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. The CTD enables the holder to leave Australia, to travel outside Australia (with limitations) and to re-enter Australia. However, as a CTD is not a regular national passport, some problems may be encountered by the holder from time to time, at time due to non-familiarity of airline staff.

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Alterations and endorsements in travel documents

Alterations to travel document after issue.

A travel document cannot be altered after issue – even to correct minor mistakes.

A person who wishes to amend any particular in a passport should be advised that an application for the issue of a new passport is required and that normal procedures must be completed, including payment of the full application fee and the overseas surcharge where applicable.

The above does not apply when the mistake is the result of DFAT error. In this case, a replacement document will be issued free of charge. The expiry date of the replacement document will be the same as the original document.

Passport Office errors: gratis replacement

Where a client finds a mistake caused by an error of passport staff or systems, a new document will be issued gratis without the need for the applicant to re-apply.

The validity of the new document will be the same as the one being replaced.

Change of name after travel document issue

A travel document cannot be altered to reflect a change of name.

A new application must be made and a new document produced.

Endorsements including labels

Use of an endorsement, including a label, is the only way additional information can be added to a passport or other travel document – either at the time of issue or subsequently. The endorsement must not conflict with, or be used to try to alter any personal details on the bio-data page.

An endorsement may:

• Indicate the status of the bearer of a Diplomatic or Official passport;
• Indicate a title, decoration of award conferred by the crown or the Australian government but not an honorific (i.e. Doctor); See: '

Titles, decorations and awards

• Observe that the holder of a limited validity passport can apply for a replacement to be issued gratis;
• Indicate that a Document of Identity was issued for travel between the Australian mainland and Norfolk Island only; See: '

Travel to/from Norfolk Island:DOI

• Extend the validity of a Certificate of Identity (COI) or a Convention Travel Document (CTD) overseas. See: '

The text used for endorsements must follow the standards outlined in '

Standard formats for endorsement in travel document

'. Officers do not have authority to vary these standards or decide new formats of text.

The text can be printed on a label and placed in a travel document with a stamp/seal if additional information is subsequently required after it has been despatched.

Fees apply to applications for endorsements/observations that are made after the initial production of the travel document. There are no provisions allowing waiver or refund of this fee.

Observation page in travel document

Only the observation page may be used for placing an approved endorsement label as outlined above, see '

The observation text on the observation page must not be crossed out, 'opened' or altered in any way to allow use for visas even where this practice may be acceptable to other countries.

An endorsement can be printed directly onto the observation page or on a label that is placed on the observation page of a travel document where information is relevant to the identity of the bearer and/or the purpose of their travel.

The following formats for endorsements are routinely used and are preformatted in the Passport Issuance and Control System (PICS).

Note: An observation must not be in conflict with any details on the bio-data page of the travel document.

The following position* designations are approved for use in diplomatic passports:

• High Commissioner
• Deputy High Commissioner (where this designation is acceptable to the receiving country)
• Minister-Counsellor
• First Secretary
• Second Secretary
• Third Secretary
• Consul-General
• Deputy Consul-General
• Vice-Consul

Where required by the local Foreign Ministry the following position designations may be used:

• Counsellor and Consul-General
• First Secretary and Consul
• Second Secretary and Consul
• Third Secretary and Vice-Consul
• Attache and Vice-Consul
• Counsellor (xxxxxx)
• First Secretary (xxxxxx)
• Second Secretary (xxxxxx)
• Third Secretary (xxxxxx)
• Attache (xxxxxx)
• Where (xxxxxx) may be Defence, Immigration, Trade, Commercial, Economic, Education, Customs, Police Liaison, Medical, Administrative or 'Consular and Administrative'.

Passport staff have no authority to vary the text of an endorsement from the standards listed above.

Visa pages in travel document

Extra visa pages cannot be added to passports or travel documents.

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Can i get a travel document?

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Hello everybody I have a partner visa Subclass 820, can I apply for a travel document? *note I'm stateless  

What do you mean by travel document? You have a 820 visa so you travel on the 820 visa provided your foreign passport is valid.  

I mean Australia gives passports for who is not an Australian citizen ( they called it travel document ) i know a lot of people who hold this passport  

You should contact the passport office and ask them. I thought that only a refugee could get them. I would imagine you need to show proof why you can't renew your foreign passport.  

Passport website says: A Convention Travel Document (CTD), also known as a Titre de Voyage, may be issued to a non-Australian citizen who is living in Australia and holds a protection visa issued on refugee grounds by the Australian Government or who can present evidence of refugee status issued by the United Nations (UN) in accordance with the UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1951 and its 1967 Protocol. So in short you cannot unless you can proove refugee status.  

Ausamg - Scroll down to Certificate of Identity, is that what you are refering to? https://www.passports.gov.au/pages/travel-related-documents.aspx  

Thanks everybody because I am a stateless I can not renew my Travel Document again (Kuwait) I want the Australian travel document because I have a very special status .. I do not consider myself as a refugee! I am sure that refugees are suffering more than me I request the travel Document because I want to see my mother .. and if I go to Kuwait they will take the passport from me ! then I can not back to my family in Australia!  

If you read the link above it says: If you are stateless, you will need to show evidence that a government or the UN has determined that you are stateless in accordance with the UN Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. Australian visa documentation showing your nationality as stateless is not sufficient to confirm statelessness in accordance with the UN Convention. Therefore, you will need evidence that you are stateless. You will need to make sure that you there is no restrictions on the travel document if you want get one ie. It won't stop you from travelling to your home country.  

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