Visitor visa (600) and ETA (601, 651)

Condition 8501, which can be added to some visitor visas, requires the holder to keep adequate health insurance arrangements while in Australia.

Condition 8558, which may be imposed on Tourist stream visas, bars the holder from staying in Australia for more than 12 months in any 18-month period.

Condition 8101 prohibits the holder from working in Australia, and it is imposed on Tourist stream visas in the standard case as well as on Sponsored Family and Approved Destination Status stream visas.

For Tourist stream visas without family sponsorship, the Regulations require conditions 8101 and 8201 and allow conditions 8501, 8503 and 8558.

Condition 8503 (no further stay) means the holder is not entitled to be granted another substantive visa, other than a protection visa, while remaining in Australia.

Condition 8531 forbids remaining in Australia after the stay period allowed by the visa ends.

Business Visitor stream visas must carry conditions 8115 and 8201, and condition 8503 may be added.

ADS stream visas must carry conditions 8101, 8207, 8503 and 8530, meaning no work, no study or training, no further stay and no deviation from the organised tour.

The Frequent Traveller arrangements instrument requires a valid passport from Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, China, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste or Viet Nam, showing the holder is a national of that country.

Frequent Traveller stream visas must carry conditions 8115, 8201, 8503, 8516, 8527, 8531, 8572, 8573 and 8609.

ETA applicants must satisfy public interest criteria 4002, 4003, 4004, 4005, 4013, 4014 and 4020, a list that omits criterion 4001, which subclass 600 applicants must also satisfy.

An applicant with a criminal conviction in any country is told to apply for a subclass 600 visa instead of an ETA and to provide evidence about the conviction.

An eVisitor (subclass 651) can only be granted to an applicant who holds an eVisitor eligible passport.

For the UK, only British Citizen passports count as eVisitor eligible; British National (Overseas), British Dependent Territories Citizen, British Overseas Citizen, British Protected Person and British Subject passports are excluded.

An eVisitor, like an ETA, is for a genuine temporary visit as a tourist or to carry out business visitor activities.

Public interest criterion 4004 requires that the applicant has no outstanding debts to the Commonwealth unless the Minister is satisfied that appropriate payment arrangements have been made.

Public interest criterion 4005 requires applicants to be free from tuberculosis and from any disease or condition that threatens public health in Australia or endangers the community.

Criterion 4005 also screens out conditions that would probably need health care or community services at significant cost to the Australian community, or that would prejudice access to those services for citizens and permanent residents.

Every subclass 600 applicant must genuinely intend to stay only temporarily for the purpose of the visa, judged partly on past compliance with visa conditions.

Every subclass 600 applicant must have, or have access to, adequate means of supporting themselves during the intended stay.

Subclass 600 applicants must satisfy public interest criteria 4001, 4002, 4003, 4004, 4005, 4011, 4013, 4014, 4020 and 4021, so the character test applies, plus special return criteria.

Criterion 4014 generally bars a new visa for 3 years after someone left Australia as an unlawful non-citizen or on a Bridging C, D or E visa, unless compelling or compassionate circumstances justify an earlier grant, the person left within 28 days after a substantive visa ceased, or a bridging visa they held was granted within 28 days after a substantive visa ceased.

The Tourist stream covers a visit to a parent, spouse, de facto partner, child or sibling who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or any other purpose that is not related to business or medical treatment.

A Tourist stream applicant who is in Australia on a student visa (or has been a student visa holder since last entering) cannot get the visa in order to start, continue or finish a registered course they are enrolled in.

For a Tourist stream visa granted to someone who, after arriving, is in financial hardship, may become a charge on the state, cannot leave for reasons beyond their control and has compelling personal reasons to work, condition 8201 must be imposed and 8503 may be imposed in place of the no-work condition 8101.

A Sponsored Family stream applicant must be outside Australia at the time of application.

A Sponsored Family sponsor must be a settled Australian citizen or permanent resident aged at least 18 who is a relative of the applicant; certain parliament members, mayors and government agencies may also sponsor.

A Sponsored Family sponsor generally cannot be the applicant's fiance, in-law, cousin or friend (nor a New Zealand citizen), although in-laws and cousins can sponsor where they are relatives of another applicant in the same family unit.

The Business Visitor stream requires an intention to visit Australia to carry out a business visitor activity, and the applicant must not plan activities that harm employment or training opportunities of Australian citizens or permanent residents.

Form 1415 tells Business Visitor stream applicants that all applicants must meet Australia's health requirements and may be required to have a chest x-ray and medical examination.

The Approved Destination Status stream is for citizens of the People's Republic of China travelling as part of a tour organised by an approved travel agent for sightseeing and related activities.

New Zealand citizens with a valid New Zealand passport do not need to apply for a visa before travelling; they apply for the Special Category visa (subclass 444) when they enter Australia and are granted it if they meet the criteria.

Where granting a visitor visa would let the person stay in Australia on visitor, Working Holiday, Work and Holiday or bridging visas for more than 12 consecutive months in total, exceptional circumstances must exist.

Home Affairs' Business Visitor stream application form says the visa generally allows stays of up to 3 months, with the period set case by case and possibly shorter than requested; it may be single or multiple entry.

A Frequent Traveller stream visa can be valid for up to 10 years with multiple entries, and the holder can stay 3 months after each entry.

Condition 8573 says the holder must not stay in Australia for more than 12 months in any period of 24 months.

The Visitor visa base application charge outside the Frequent Traveller stream is AUD 250 for an applicant who is outside Australia and does not hold a Pacific-regional passport, unless a nil-charge exemption applies.

The same non-Frequent-Traveller Visitor visa base charge is AUD 630 for an applicant who applies from inside Australia without a Pacific-regional passport, unless a nil-charge exemption applies.

Applicants holding a passport from a Pacific-regional country pay a lower Visitor base charge of AUD 205 when applying from outside Australia, unless a nil-charge exemption applies.

Applicants holding a Pacific-regional passport who apply from inside Australia pay a Visitor base charge of AUD 515, unless a nil-charge exemption applies.

A Visitor visa applicant who applies as a representative of a foreign government pays no base application charge.

A subsequent temporary application charge of AUD 700 is payable on top of the base charge for certain onshore applications made by people who already hold a specified earlier visa applied for onshore.

A non-internet application charge of AUD 80 is payable for specified visas when an application that could be made online is made another way.

For a Sponsored Family visa the sponsor may be asked to pay a security bond, usually between AUD 5,000 and AUD 15,000 per person but possibly any amount, refundable if the visitor keeps the visa conditions and leaves before the visa expires.

The base application charge for the Frequent Traveller stream is AUD 1,845 for most applicants and AUD 1,515 for a holder of a passport issued by a Pacific-regional country.

If a person already holds a substantive visa other than a Special Purpose or Maritime Crew (subclass 988) visa when an ETA is granted, the ETA only takes effect when that other visa ceases to be in effect.

An eVisitor applicant must be outside Australia at the time the visa is granted.

An eVisitor application must be lodged online as an internet application on Form 1362 (Internet), under a Home Affairs instrument registered on 28 September 2026.

A subclass 600 applicant outside Australia at the time of application must also be outside Australia at the time of grant.

A Frequent Traveller stream applicant must be outside Australia, and in any place the Minister specifies by instrument, when applying.

A Visitor (subclass 600) Business Visitor stream application cannot include family members; each family member, including anyone listed on a passport, must submit a separate application.

ADS applicants must live in an area of China specified by the Minister, which currently covers 22 provinces, 4 municipalities (Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, Tianjin) and 5 autonomous regions.