Visa Details

An eVisitor is designed for people who are outside Australia and want to visit Australia for tourism or business purposes.

Tourism includes holidays, recreation and seeing family and/or friends.

Business purposes may include attending a conference, negotiation or exploratory business visit.

EVisitor applications are free, there is no application charge or service fee.

You can stay in Australia for up to three months on each visit within a 12 month period from the date of grant.

An eVisitor is an electronically stored authority for travel to Australia. You can apply for an eVisitor online and do not need to visit a departmental office. You will not receive a stamp or label in your passport, however you will be provided with a confirmation email for your records.

Passport details

Your eVisitor is linked to the passport number you use in your application and you must use the same passport to travel to Australia.

If you obtain a new passport, you must advise the department of the new passport details before you travel to Australia. Otherwise, you will experience significant delays at the airport and could be denied permission to board your plane.

Bringing family

A separate eVisitor is required for each family member travelling with you to Australia, including those who are under 18 years of age and are included on your passport.

Extending your stay

An eVisitor cannot be:

• granted while the holder is in Australia
• extended to allow a longer stay period in Australia.

If you intend to extend your stay after arriving in Australia, you should allow at least two weeks before your eVisitor expires to apply for a different type of visa. A visa may be granted if you:

• have complied with the conditions of your eVisitor
• meet all the eligibility criteria for the grant of the visa for which you are applying.

If you apply for a further visa to remain in Australia, you may be required to undergo a health examination.

To be eligible to apply for an eVisitor, you must:

• be outside Australia
• hold an eVisitor eligible passport.

eVisitor Eligible passports

The list below are eligible passports. These are citizen passports issued by the following countries.

Andorra Austraia Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Japan Liechtensein Lithuania Luxembourg

Malta Monaco The Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Republic of San Marino Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom - British Citizen Vatican City

eVisitor conditions

You must comply with your eVisitor conditions while in Australia. A breach of these conditions may result in your eVisitor being cancelled and you may have to leave Australia.

• You must not engage in any studies or training for more than three months.
• You must be free from tuberculosis at the time of travel to, and entry into, Australia.
• You must not have any criminal convictions, for which the sentence or sentences are for a total period of 12 months duration or more (whether served or not), at the time of travel to, and entry into, Australia.

If you apply for an eVisitor for business purposes, you must not:

• work in Australia except in strictly limited circumstances, for example if the work is highly specialised and non ongoing
• undertake work in Australia that can be done by an Australian citizen or permanent resident

If you apply for an eVisitor for tourist purposes:

• You must not work whilst in Australia. Limited volunteer work may be acceptable.

Volunteer work tourism schemes

In general terms, you may be able to work as a volunteer whilst on an eVisitor if:

• your main purpose in visiting Australia is tourism, and any voluntary work remains incidental to tourism
• the work involved would not otherwise be undertaken, in return for wages, by an Australian resident
• the work is genuinely voluntary and no remuneration is received in return for the activities

Note: It is acceptable, under the conditions of an eVisitor, to receive meals, accommodation and/ or reimbursement of out-of-pocket living expenses in return for voluntary work.

Criminal convictions

If you have had any criminal convictions in any country, you may wish to consider applying for a Tourist visa (subclass 676), rather than an eVisitor. If arriving on an eVisitor with criminal convictions, you could be refused entry into Australia.

Repeat visits

An eVisitor is not designed to allow repeated extended stays in Australia. If you wish to spend long periods in Australia for tourism or business purposes, you may wish to consider applying for a Tourist visa (subclass 676) or an alternate visa that suits your purposes.

Health insurance

It is recommended that you take out health insurance for yourself and your family members each time you travel to Australia. You will not be covered by Australia’s national health scheme, unless your country has a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia. Reciprocal medical arrangements exist with some countries.

Note: Holders of a British National Overseas (BNO) passport are not eligible to apply for an eVisitor. For information on an appropriate visa:

• If you are granted a different visa, it will cease your eVisitor and its entitlements.
• If a decision has not been made on your application before your eVisitor expires, you will be able to remain lawfully in Australia until the visa application is finalised.
• If your visa application is refused, and you have not appealed this decision, you must depart Australia before the expiry date of your authorised stay period.

Business (Short Stay) Visa (Subclass 456)

This visa allows business people to make a short business visit to Australia for up to three (3) months during your visa validity period. Business activities may include a conference, negotiation or exploratory business visit.

This visa is available to all passport holders who want to visit Australia for business purposes. No sponsorship is required.

Certain business visitors will also be eligible to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) or an eVisitor.

You may be required to pay a visa application charge. This charge is usually not refunded if your application is unsuccessful.

If you are granted this visa, you can:

• attend to business activities in Australia including conferences, business negotiations or exploratory business visits
• be allowed to engage in limited work, if for example it is highly specialised and non-ongoing
• enter Australia once or on multiple occasions during the visa validity period
• stay in Australia for up to three months from the date of each entry
• bring your spouse or dependent children to Australia

The main purpose of this visa is to allow you to conduct business in Australia.

Working

Work is generally not allowed, however, you may be allowed to engage in limited work if for example it is highly specialised and non-ongoing (generally less than six (6) weeks).

You must not undertake work that can be done by an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

For more information about your work rights on this visa, you can contact an office of the department.

Bringing family

You can include family members in your visa application. Family members are your spouse and dependant children.

Extending your stay

You cannot extend this visa after you arrive in Australia. If you need to stay longer than three months for business reasons, you should consider other visa options.

Other visa options

Business:

You may want to apply for a Sponsored Business Visitor (Short Stay) visa (subclass 459) if your business visit to Australia is sponsored by:

• a member of an Australian parliament
• an authorised government agency representative
• a local government mayor
• an organisation specified by the Minister

Doctors:

If you are coming to Australia to work as a doctor, you should apply for a medical practitioner’s visa.

To be eligible for this visa your activities in Australia must not adversely affect the employment or training opportunities of Australians.

You must also meet the following eligibility requirements.

Personal attributes and business background

Your personal attributes and business background must be relevant to your business activities in Australia. You may be asked to provide:

• • evidence of educational or professional qualifications
• • evidence of current employment and your role during your visit to Australia
• • details of previous contacts with Australian business people or organisations
• • documentation to show that the company you work for is an actively operating business
  Examples: business registration certificate, annual report

Purpose of visit

You may be asked to provide evidence of why you need to visit Australia on business. Evidence may include:

• a letter of invitation from the host organisation in Australia
• conference registration details
• your employment contract
• a letter from your employer stating the reasons for your visit
• your itinerary with contact details of the business parties involved

Financial requirements

You must have enough funds to support yourself and your family during your stay in Australia. You may be asked to provide evidence, such as bank statements or a letter from your financial institution stating your financial position.

Health requirements

You must meet certain health requirements and may need to undergo a health examination. You must include the results of medical tests with your application.

Character requirement

You must meet character requirements.

Debts to the Commonwealth

You must have no outstanding debts to the Commonwealth of Australia

Business Visitor obligations

You must comply with the following obligations while in Australia on this visa.

Visa validity

With this visa:

• you are only allowed to stay in Australia for a maximum of three months on each arrival
• you must leave Australia before your visa expires
• you cannot apply to stay longer in Australia on a further visa of this type
• the dates of your visa validity period will be specified on the visa label and in the visa grant notification letter
• you can be granted single or multiple entries to Australia.

Visa conditions

If you are granted this visa, you are not able to:

• work in Australia except in strictly limited circumstances, if for example the work is highly specialised and non ongoing
• undertake work in Australia that can be done by an Australian citizen or permanent resident.

Your visa may be granted with a ‘No further stay’ condition. If your visa is subject to this condition, you will not be able to apply for any other visa (except for a Protection visa) while you remain in Australia.

Before lodging an application, please read all related obligation requirements.

Family Member Obligations

Your family members must comply with the following requirements while in Australia on this visa.

Visa validity

With this visa your family members can accompany you to Australia and stay for the same period of time that is granted to you as the primary applicant. They must leave Australia before their visa expires. They cannot apply to stay longer in Australia on a further visa of this type.

Visa conditions

With this visa your family members are not able to:

• work in Australia
• undertake formal study or training in Australia that leads to a primary, secondary or higher education qualification.
  Note: If they intend to undertake non-formal study in a classroom environment for longer than four weeks they may be required to have a health examination before their course starts.

This visa may be granted with a No further stay condition. If this is the case, they will not be granted any other visa (except for a Protection visa) while they remain in Australia.