UPDATE: The Department of Home Affairs has provided further guidance and clarification of who may enter Australia after the ban comes into place. Aside from Australian citizens and permanent resident, the following temporary residents may also travel to Australia after the ban comes into force tonight:

• New Zealand citizens usually resident in Australia - must carry evidence of residency such as a driving licence,

• Immediate family members of Australian citizens and permanent residents - Family members are restricted to partners (de facto or spouse), dependents, and legal guardians and must provide evidence and, obviously, hold a valid visa. Existing temporary visa holders, with the exception of partner and child visa holders, should contact the Department of Home Affairs using their online form for what seems like pre-approval. Partner (not including Subclass 300 - Prospective Marriage visa holders) and child visa holders do not need pre-approval to travel to Australia.

All people, regardless of status, must self-isolate for at least 14 days.

The Prime Minister has just announced that all non-citizens and non-permanent residents of Australia will be banned from entering the country according to news outlets. This ban will be in place from tomorrow, Friday 20 March at 9 pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time (AEDT). He cites that the majority of cases of coronavirus has been imported.

This poses significant problems for any temporary visa holder outside of Australia seeking to re-enter as they must now wait for the ban to be lifted. This is especially disastrous for foreign nationals who are not permanent residents whose temporary visas are expiring soon and who planned to return to Australia to lodge a further visa application.

The great unknown is when this ban is likely to be lifted…