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Tourist Visa
If you are looking to visit Australia as a tourist, you are in the right place.
The purpose of this visa is to allow people to travel to Australia for tourism or business purposes, or to visit family, on a temporary basis. The minimum requirements for the Tourist stream of this visa are set out below:
Tourist Visa Subclasses
Tourist Stream
For people travelling to Australia for a holiday or to visit family or friends.
As the visa applicant, you must:
- genuinely intend to visit Australia for a holiday, to see family and/or friends, or for other purposes that are not related to business/work or medical treatment
- have access to sufficient funds to cover your costs whilst you are in Australia
- meet the relevant health and character criteria (this could include a requirement to obtain health insurance for the period of your stay in Australia)
- If you are in Australia when your application is lodged, you must be in Australia when your visa is granted. Conversely, if you are outside Australia when your application is lodged, you must be outside Australia when your visa is granted.
Business Visitor Stream
For people travelling to Australia for short-term business purposes, such as a conference, negotiation or meeting.
As the visa applicant, you must:
- genuinely intend to visit Australia for an eligible business activity e.g. attending a conference or seminar, participating in a negotiation or exploring a business opportunity
- have personal attributes and a business background that are relevant to your business activities in Australia
- have access to sufficient funds to cover your costs whilst you are in Australia
- meet the relevant health and character criteria (this could include a requirement to obtain health insurance for the period of your stay in Australia)
Sponsored Family Stream
For people travelling to Australia to visit family. Applicants for this visa must be sponsored by an eligible relative who lives in Australia.
As the visa applicant, you must:
- be sponsored by an eligible relative in Australia
- genuinely intend to visit family in Australia
- have access to sufficient funds to cover your costs whilst you are in Australia
- meet the relevant health and character criteria (this could include a requirement to obtain health insurance for the period of your stay in Australia)
Sponsor Requirements
The person sponsoring your visit to Australia must:
- be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
- be at least 18 years old
- have been settled in Australia for a reasonable length of time (usually at least 2 years)
- be a close family member i.e. a spouse/de facto partner, or a parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew (or any of the ‘step’ or adopted equivalents of those relations)
NOTE: In certain cases, an application for this visa MAY instead be sponsored by a Member of Parliament, or an authorised person representing a government department or instrumentality, or a local government mayor.
NOT be the sponsor of another visitor whose visa is still valid (unless that person is a member of your family, and you have the same reason for travelling to Australia), and NOT have within the last 5 years sponsored a visitor who breached his/her visa conditions.
Security Bond
IF REQUIRED, your sponsor must also pay a security bond (usually between A$5000 and A$15,000). This will be refunded to your sponsor provided you comply with your visa conditions and leave Australia before your visa expires.
Visa Validity Period
Should your application be approved, you will be granted a temporary visa, allowing you to travel to Australia on a short-term basis. Depending upon your particular circumstances, you will be granted either a single entry visa (allowing you to enter Australia once, for a specified length of time) or multiple entry visa (allowing you to enter Australia multiple times for short periods whilst your visa is valid e.g. stays of up to 3 months at a time over a 12-month period).
NOTE: If you are the parent of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, you MAY be granted an extended Visitor visa, which could be valid for up to 5 years.
If you are eligible for this extended visa, you will be allowed to stay in Australia for up to 12 consecutive months per visit (though there is an added restriction that you must spend no more than 12 months in Australia in any given 18-month period). In addition, you must have health insurance covering the entire period of your stay in Australia, and you will not be permitted to apply for another visa whilst in Australia
Visa Conditions
There are several conditions that apply to Visitor visas. In particular, visa holders MUST NOT:
work or provide services to any business/organisation in Australia, or sell goods or services to the public whilst in Australia (unpaid genuine volunteer work MAY be permitted)
study for more than three months in Australia.
Other conditions may also be imposed by the DoHA in certain cases, including the requirement that the visa holder not apply for any further visas whilst in Australia.
