Ten countries that now make it easier for Australian travellers, with e-visas, free visas or ePassports

In May 2019, at the end of a flight from Morocco to Rome, I was about to join the long line of non-EU nationals queueing at the immigration desk at Fiumicino Airport when I spotted a sign. Citizens of Australia, New Zealand and five more countries were directed to a separate queue. When I get there, instead of a long, snaking line running through the chicanes there's nobody in front of me. Except for a smiling immigration official who gives my passport the once over and with a heartfelt "Grazie" I'm on my way to the baggage carousel in about 20 seconds.

Cheers all around. It's not often that travel gets less complicated. And it's not just Italy making it easier for Australians to enter. Britain has recently opened its e-passport gates to Australians. Provided you have an Australian ePassport, you can use the same electronic gates that British passport holders and EU nationals are allowed to use. Same goes at the e-gates for Eurostar passengers arriving in Britain.

More and more countries are loosening their visa regulations, more are allowing tourists to apply for an electronic visa (e-visa), or a visa waiver, others are extending the period for which tourists can enter or even offering visas free of charge. It's partly down to the expedited processing made possible by passports with chips that can be scanned electronically at airport terminals, partly to the huge database of information that immigration authorities use to screen incoming passengers but also a recognition that easier access boosts tourism. Here are some of the countries that have recently made it easier to visit.

Brazil

As of June 17, 2019, Australians no longer need a visa to visit Brazil.

China

China has recently extended its visa-free policy to include longer stays in more of its cities. Australian passport holders can now stay for up to 144 hours in Beijing as well as Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing and several more cities, without applying for a visa before they board the aircraft bound for China. Applicants for visa-free entry must have an onward ticket to a third country that will take them out of the People's Republic of China within the 144-hour period.

Egypt