Tourists and businesspeople from all European Union member states will soon have access to a simple online visitor visa service to travel to Australia.

The new European Union eVisitor online service, to go live on October 27, will mean anyone from the 27 EU member states will be able to apply for an eVisitor over the internet, free of charge.

This service will enhance the convenience and speed of online applications, with eVisitor holders able to visit for up to three months at time for tourist or business purposes as many times as they like over a 12-month period.

It is anticipated about 260 000 eVisitor applications will be lodged online from October this year to July 2009.