Overview

• The Falepili Treaty, in force since August 2024, grants Tuvaluans a special climate visa to reside, work and study in Australia with full rights and the option to return.
• From June 16 to July 18, over 5,160 people submitted applications for the 280 available annual visas, representing more than half of Tuvalu’s population.
• A lottery will determine the 280 annual visa recipients.
• Tuvalu’s nine atolls average only two meters above sea level and have seen sea levels rise 15 centimeters over the past three decades, endangering land with high-tide flooding by 2050.
• Experts say the scheme could serve as a template for other climate-threatened island nations in the Pacific.