Visitor Visa (subclass 600)
Tourist stream (apply outside Australia)

Tourist stream (apply outside Australia)

This visa stream lets you visit Australia as a tourist, to go on a cruise or to visit family and friends.

Stay

Up to 12 months

Cost

From AUD195.00

Processing Time

For an indication of processing times for this visa, use the visa processing time guide tool. This will show the processing times for recently decided applications. It is a guide only and not specific to your application.

  • We might grant you a stay of 3, 6 or 12 months
  • Visit friends and family, cruise or have a holiday
  • You must be outside Australia when you apply and when we decide your visa.

With this visa you can

  • visit family and/or friends
  • be here as a tourist, for a cruise or for any purpose except business or medical treatment

You can study or train for up to 3 months on this visa. But if your main reason for travelling to Australia is study, a student visa might be more appropriate.

You can’t work.

Cruise

You will need a visa if you enter Australia during a cruise.

If your cruise is a round trip cruise, the time you spend on the cruise counts as time spent in Australia. We do not consider you to have left Australia. A round trip cruise will not reset your stay period on your visa.

Ask your cruise operator or travel agent if we consider your cruise to be a round trip cruise.

How long you can stay

This is a temporary visa.

You can stay for the period or dates specified on the visa grant letter. We determine the length of your visa on a case by case basis. Things we might consider when determining your stay period include:

  • how long you want to stay
  • why you want to stay in Australia

We might not grant the length of stay you want.

We can grant this visa with a single entry or multiple entry.

If we grant you a visa with multiple entry, you can leave and return to Australia on the visa while it is valid.

Generally, we grant a stay period of 3 months. We might grant a stay of up to 12 months in certain circumstances.

Consider the Visitor visa (subclass 600) Frequent Traveller stream if:

  • you hold a passport from the People’s Republic of China and
  • you travel to Australia frequently.

Parents of Australian citizens or permanent residents

If you are the parent or step-parent of an Australian citizen or permanent resident, and you meet all the visa criteria, we may grant you a visa that is valid for more than 12 months.

We consider these applications on a case-by-case basis.

If we grant you a visa that is valid for more than 12 months you might be able to enter Australia multiple times while the visa is valid. You can’t stay in Australia for more than 12 months in total in any 18 month period. You must also have made adequate arrangements for health insurance.

If you want to stay longer than 12 months on each visit you might be eligible for a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa.

Stay longer

You can’t stay in Australia longer by extending this visa. You must apply for another visa in Australia.

You can apply for a new visa if your current visa does not have a condition that prevents further stay, such as condition 8503 – No Further Stay. We can waive a no further stay condition in limited circumstances.

If you want to stay longer or permanently in Australia you will need to apply for a visa that allows this.

Explore your visa options.

Include family

You can’t include family members in your application.

Each family member, including those listed on your passport, must submit a separate application.