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Sorting Out Your Paperwork When You Arrive in Australia: Immigration, Phone, and Bank (WHV)

Jérémie•••6 min read
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Sorting Out Your Paperwork When You Arrive in Australia: Immigration, Phone, and Bank (WHV)

Between the jet lag, the exhaustion from the flight, and the fear of filling out a form wrong, arriving in Australia can quickly feel stressful if you don't know what to expect. I'm someone who stresses out easily myself, so getting the admin sorted quickly was essential for me to actually relax and enjoy the rest of the trip. Here's everything you need to know, step by step.

The Incoming Passenger Card, during the flight

During the flight, the flight attendants will hand you an Incoming Passenger Card to fill out before landing. A few questions can be confusing, so here's how I answered mine:

  • "Will you be staying more than 12 months?" → If you're on a Working Holiday Visa, answer yes, since you're potentially staying up to 12 months.

  • Address in Australia → Don't hesitate to put the address of your hostel. This is completely accepted.

  • Declaring goods → Be honest. If you're carrying medication, food products, or already-used hiking/camping gear, declare it. This usually causes no issues at all, but it saves you from a fine if you happen to get picked for a random check.

Arrival: immigration and customs

At arrival, we were expecting a long queue... and it really wasn't the case at all. French passports have a biometric chip, which lets you go through the automatic SmartGate kiosks instead of a manual counter with an officer.

The process is very simple:

  1. You scan your passport at the kiosk.

  2. A photo of your face is taken.

  3. A ticket is printed, and you then go through one last quick check with an officer who verifies that ticket.

No manual visa check is needed at this point: everything is done automatically, since your visa is already linked to your passport in the system. We were pleasantly surprised by how fast and efficient the whole process was.

If you declared something on your Incoming Passenger Card, you'll then go through customs (Australian Border Force), but the check is generally very quick: they'll ask a few questions, take a look at what you declared, and that's it.

Getting around Sydney as soon as you land

If you're taking the train (metro) in Sydney straight from the airport, don't worry: you don't need to buy a transport card like the Opal card in advance. You can pay directly with your phone (Apple Pay/Google Pay) or a contactless bank card straight at the gates. It's the same system for buses and ferries across the whole city.

Before starting any paperwork: your VISA needs to be activated

This is the most important point, and probably the one that causes the most stress: your VISA needs to be activated before you can start anything (phone, bank, etc.). Make peace with this: there's no point trying to rush, because as long as the visa isn't active in the system, nothing will go through.

In practice, activation happens automatically as soon as you go through the customs gates at the airport. From that exact moment, you can start all your paperwork.

Checking your visa status: the myVEVO app

If you want to be sure, the official government app myVEVO (VEVO standing for Visa Entitlement Verification Online) lets you check your visa status by entering a few details (passport number, date of birth, etc.). It's likely the same database used by phone providers and banks, so if your visa shows as active on myVEVO, you should be able to start your paperwork without any issues.

An address for all your paperwork

For every step (phone, bank...), you'll be asked for an address in Australia. We simply used the address of the hostel where we stayed the first few nights. If an official document needs to be sent to you by mail, the hostel can usually forward it to you or let you know.

How identity verification works

For the phone as much as for the bank, you'll be asked to verify your identity using your passport, but no scan is required: you just enter your passport number, expiry date, etc. This information is then checked by a service called Equifax (one of the major identity verification agencies used in Australia), which confirms that you're legally in the country with an active visa. This is exactly why nothing works until the visa is activated: this verification step is what blocks everything.

The mobile plan (eSIM)

You can download a mobile carrier app straight from the airport, as soon as your visa is active, and activate an eSIM within a few minutes.

I personally went with Belong. The process is straightforward: download the app, enter a few personal details, go through the usual passport verification, then choose your plan. I picked the plan at $49/month for 100GB, with a small promo for the first two months. Belong runs on Telstra's network, the country's number one carrier, so no need to worry about coverage, even in more remote areas.

The most impressive part: I wasn't even out of the airport yet and my eSIM was already active.

Heads up: if you're worried about making a wrong move and accidentally activating cellular data on your French line (or your home country's line) instead of your Australian eSIM, I've written a dedicated step-by-step article on setting up your eSIM without risking extra charges: [link to the phone article].

Opening a bank account

For the bank, I'd recommend Commonwealth Bank: it's the best known in the country, their app is genuinely great, and for a basic everyday account, it more than does the job.

Two options to open your account:

  • Start the process online, then head to a branch to finalize it.

  • Go directly to a branch, and simply explain that you're there to open an account.

Either way, you'll meet with an advisor who'll take a few photos of your passport, help you install the app, and walk you through the basics of how the account works. It really doesn't take long (count on 20 to 30 minutes), and at least it's done.

The TFN (Tax File Number): what is it?

Once your bank account is open, you'll need it to apply for your TFN, the Tax File Number.

The TFN is the Australian equivalent of a personal tax number, issued by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), Australia's tax administration. It's a unique identifier that follows you for the entire duration of your stay (and beyond, if you come back), and it's used to:

  • Get paid correctly by an employer: without a TFN, your employer is legally required to withhold the maximum tax rate on your pay (around 47%), until you provide one.

  • File your taxes at the end of the Australian financial year (which ends on June 30).

  • Claim back part of your taxes at the end of a contract or at the end of your Working Holiday if you've overpaid, which happens very often.

  • Access certain services (savings account, superannuation, which is Australia's equivalent of a pension/retirement savings scheme).

Applying for a TFN is free and done online on the ATO website, usually taking just a few minutes once your visa is active and you have an Australian address to provide. The number is then sent to you by mail, typically within 1 to 3 weeks, so make sure to sort it out as early as possible.

To sum up, none of these steps are actually complicated on their own. What matters most is understanding the logical order of things: active visa → Australian address → identity verification → phone and bank → TFN. Once you have that sequence in mind, everything falls into place fairly naturally within a few days.