How the Australia-Tuvalu ‘Climate Change Visa’ Will Actually Work

When Australia and Tuvalu signed the Falepili Union back in 2023, it was seen as an historic agreement not only because of the new security relationship it created between the two countries, but because it was the first global agreement to create what was effectively a climate change visa. Conditions in the small Pacific island nation are set to become adverse enough that it has been necessary to create options to relocate the population.

In April 2025 greater details on the visa conditions available to citizens of Tuvalu emerged.

Applicants for the visa do not need to demonstrate risks from the impact of climate change to be able to access the visa. Instead 280 visas will be made available annually, with the potential for the number to rise if necessary. Tuvalu’s population is around 10,000 people.

To be eligible as a primary applicant – people are able to relocate with their families – individuals must be at least 18 years of age, hold a Tuvaluan passport, and have been born in Tuvalu or had a parent or a grandparent born there. Anyone whose Tuvalu citizenship was obtained through investment in the country is unable to apply.

As well as having full work rights, Tuvaluan migrants will have immediate access to education at the same subsidized rate as Australian citizens, as well as access to Medicare and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Family Tax Benefit, childcare subsidies, and youth allowance for those ages 16-21 years. People will have the freedom to move back and forth between Australia and Tuvalu without this affecting their visa status.

These provisions effectively give Tuvalu citizens who take up the visa the same status as New Zealanders in Australia -- they have all the same rights as Australian citizens, bar the ability to vote in elections and delayed access to unemployment benefits. However, there is no cap on the number of New Zealanders who can move to Australia, while the numbers of Tuvalu citizens will be limited. And unlike New Zealanders, who can simply state their intent to stay for an indefinite period upon arrival in Australia, people from Tuvalu will have to apply for the visa before leaving Tuvalu.

Rather than creating a separate visa category for Tuvaluans, their visa will be administered as part of the existing Pacific Engagement Visa, which is a ballot process for citizens of Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste allowing up to 3,000 visas to be granted annually. However, the 280 visas available for citizens of Tuvalu will be outside of the 3,000 visa cap for other countries. Furthermore, unlike the visas for citizens of other countries administered under the scheme, people from Tuvalu will be able to migrate without having a job offer.

The decision to administer the visa system for Tuvaluans within the Pacific Engagement Visa may have been made with an eye to the possible future expansion of its provisions to other Pacific Island countries. Both Kiribati and Nauru, in particular, face potential existential threats from rising sea levels and increased storm activity.

Last year, Australia signed a new treaty with Nauru that was similar in nature to the Falepili Union. Although it had no special visa attached, it did contain an agreement for Nauru and Australia to mutually agree to any security initiatives within Nauru, as well as its banking and telecommunications sectors. The treaty also committed Nauru to ensure that any third party engagement in critical infrastructure will not be used for security purposes.

While both the Falepili Union and the Australia-Nauru Treaty fall short of the Compacts of Free Association (COFAs) that the United States has with the Federated States of Micronesia, Marshall Islands, and Palau, or the associated relationships New Zealand has with Cook Islands and Niue, these agreements do move both Tuvalu and Nauru closer into Australia’s orbit.

For Tuvaluans, the details of the migration component of the Falepili Union released in April provide the ability to begin making plans. That said, the assumption that there will be a scramble to take up the 280 places each year may be misguided. Although the visa offers Tuvaluans new opportunities, it is also a sign that their nation and culture is under threat. There would be a strong impulse among many in the country to seek to protect their nation and way of life. The hope would be that the threats from climate change can be mitigated and there will be no need for a lifeboat.