Australian Tourist Visas

A Tourist Visa will allow you to temporarily visit Australia for a holiday, recreational purposes, or to visit family and friends. A Tourist Visa may also allow you to visit Australia for other non-work short-term purposes such as study for less than three months.

Some tourists may also be eligible to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) or an eVisitor.

Your Obligations

You are required to comply with the visa validity and conditions while in Australia holding a Tourist Visa. Your visa may be cancelled and you may have to leave Australia if you breach a condition of your visa. Most importantly you must leave Australia on or before the date that your visa expires.

A Tourist Visa issued with the condition ‘No further stay’ will prevent the visa holder from being granted any other visa (except for a Protection visa) while you remain in Australia.

A Tourist Visa holder is not permitted to work in Australia however you may be able to work as a volunteer if the following applies:

• Your principal reason in visiting Australia is for tourism or recreational purposes and the voluntary work you undertake remains incidental to this
• The work itself would not otherwise be performed by an Australian resident in return for remuneration or a wage
• The work is genuinely voluntary and is not performed in exchange for remuneration or a wage. (Under the conditions of the Tourist Visa, it is acceptable to perform voluntary work in exchange for meals and accommodation or reimbursement for out-of-pocket living expenses)

To be eligible for a Tourist Visa you must meet certain eligibility requirements:

• You must have a genuine intention to visit Australia as a tourist for a holiday, recreational purposes, or to visit family and friends
• You must meet certain health criteria. In some instances you may be requested to provide evidence that you have taken out health insurance for the duration of your visit to Australia or have sufficient funds to pay for emergency medial treatment whilst in Australia, in order to satisfy the financial requirements for this visa
• You must meet certain character and public interest criteria
• You must have access to adequate funds to cover all your reasonable costs for the duration of your visit to Australia, including health insurance as mentioned above
• You must have no outstanding debts to the Commonwealth of Australia
• You should meet strict health criteria and all applicants (including non-migrating dependents) must have their health assessed by an approved panel doctor and undergo a medical examination and chest x-ray.
• Tourist Visas applications for children under 18 years of age must include consent from any non-accompanying parent(s) or legal guardian(s) where the child is travelling alone, or will only one parent or legal guardian