Can an illegal alien travel to Australia?

Question

Okay, my brothrer wants to travel to Australia for 2 or 3 weeks. He has his original birth certificate, original passport from the Philippines (which has been renewed & expedited), Alien card and may I mention he's been living here over 15 years. I know he is lazy. When he went to the travel agent place and had renewed his passport, they accepted it, whatever, but she said he still need a visa. Isn't his renewed passport his visa? What is the new law now for illegal aliens traveling out of states?

Answer 1

Let's get the windage and elevation for this question. Twice you referred to your brother as an illegal alien, yet you specifically stated he's got an alien card and has lived her 15 years.

I'm going to chalk your syntax up to a linguistic phenomenon- you can't say "alien" without prefacing it with "illegal." He's not really illegal here, is he?

Australia, like the USA, wants to see adequate ties to another country before they issue a visa. Some countries have a mutual visa-waiver program. An Aussie can arrive here with no visa and vice versa. Your brother is not a US Citizen, so he'll need to get a visa for Australia. In order to document ties to another country, he'll need to show the Aussie consul both his alien card (I-551) and proof of economic ties (i.e., a job) here in the USA. Good proof might be current pay stubs, Form 1040 for a few years, etc.

OTOH, if he's really illegal here, he may have some difficulty proving ties to a country that won't accept him. And if he's truly illegal here, he doesn't need to worry about visiting Australia, he should begin worrying about getting caught here.

Australia is beautiful! Tell him to try Queensland. The Great Coral Reef is terrific. Warm weather and warmer people everywhere. Don't have anything with you that you can put in your mouth and swallow (except medicine).

After he gets his visa, he'll want to come back. He'll need his I-551 and a valid passport.

Answer 2

No, his passport isn't his visa! All U.S. and Filipino citizens need to get a visa from the Australian embassy to travel to Australia. His U.S. visa does not enter into it, although he may be unable to re-enter the United States if he leaves.