• visit family 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 in total 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 – that is, we do not consider you 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.

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

You might not be granted the length of stay you want.

We can grant this visa with one entry or multiple entries. If we grant you a visa with multiple entry, you can leave and re-enter Australia on the visa while it is valid. Generally we grant a stay period of 3 months, but we might grant a stay of up to 12 months in certain circumstances.

It is a condition of this visa that you don’t stay in Australia for a total of more than 12 months in an 18-month period. If you currently hold a Visitor visa, a Working Holiday visa, a Work and Holiday visa or a bridging visa, and grant of this visa would mean you stay in Australia for more than 12 consecutive months, you will need to show there are exceptional 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 might consider granting you a visa for longer than 12 months.

We might grant a visa that lasts up to:

• 18 months if you have not previously travelled to Australia and either:
  • have not applied for a Parent visa
  • have applied for a Parent (Migrant) visa (subclass 103) but are not yet in the queue
• 3 years if you are outside Australia, have previously held an Australian visa and complied with the visa conditions, and either:
  • have not applied for a Parent visa
  • have applied for a Parent (Migrant) visa (subclass 103) but are not yet in the queue
• 5 years if you are outside Australia and in the Parent (Migrant) visa (subclass 103) queue

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.

If you are granted a visa that is valid for 18 months, 3 years or 5 years, your visa might have these extra conditions:

• you can’t stay in Australia for more than 12 months in total in total in any 18-month period
• you must have adequate arrangements for health insurance while you are in Australia
• you can’t apply for another visa within Australia, except for a protection visa

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

You can apply for a new visa if your visa does not have a condition that prevents further stay, such as condition 8503. You might be able to request a waiver of the no further stay condition in limited circumstances.

You must not breach condition 8558, no more than 12 months stay in any 18-month period, if it is applied to your visa.

You can’t include family members in your application. A separate application must be made for each member of your family, including those listed on your passport.

You must be outside Australia when you apply and when we decide your application.

We process:

• 75% of applications in 6 months
• 90% of applications in 9 months

Your application may take longer to process if:

• you don’t fill it in correctly
• you don’t include all the documents we need or we need more information from you
• it takes us time to verify your information

You must comply with all visa conditions and Australian laws.

We recommend you take out health insurance to cover any unforeseen medical treatment you might need in Australia. You are personally liable for all your healthcare costs while you are in Australia. Insurance can help limit your financial liability.

Reciprocal healthcare agreements
Some countries have a reciprocal healthcare agreement with Australia. 

If we grant you a visa with multiple entries, you can travel outside Australia and return in line with what we specify in your visa grant letter.

If your visa is granted with single entry and you leave Australia, you can’t re-enter on the visa. You have to apply for another visa to come back.

Check if you have multiple or single entry in VEVO or your visa grant letter.

We will digitally link your visa to your passport. You will not get a label in your passport.​​