March 2012 quarterly visitor visa statistics now available

The Visitor Visa Program Quarterly Report for the period ending 31 March 2012 is now available at: www.immi.gov.au/media/statistics/visitor.htm.

For the nine visitor visa subclasses, the report provides information on applications, grants, arrivals and processing times. Highlights from the report include: 

• Tourism Visitor visa application lodgements fell by 0.6 per cent in 2011-12 to 31 March compared to the same period in  2010-11 (down from 2 540 382 to 2 526 231).  However, lodgements by Chinese citizens continued to grow (up 28.2 per cent to 260 450).
• There were 358 815 Business Visitor visa applications lodged in 2011-12 to 31 March.  This was a three per cent increase compared to the same period in 2010-11 (348 371).  It can be partially attributed to an increase in applications from the United States of America (up 8.6 per cent to 52 058).
• There were 115 016 Tourist (subclass 676) visas granted under the Approved Destination Status (ADS) scheme in 2011-12 to 31 March.  This was a 29.4 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2010-11 (88 893).
• On 31 March 2012, there were 219 672 Visitor visa holders inAustralia. 

 The quarterly report for the period ending 30 June 2012 is expected to be published in late July 2012.