Universal Visa – Study & Settle Abroad

Tourist Visa 600 (Apply outside Australia)

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

With this visa you can

  • 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.

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

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
  • yYou 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:

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

Stay longer

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 explore visa options.

Include family

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.

Newborn child

Find out what to do if your child is born after you apply. .

Apply from

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

Processing times

We process:

  • 75% of applications in 18 days
  • 90% of applications in 24 days

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

Your obligations

You must comply with all visa conditions and Australian laws.

Health insurance

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.

See what we consider adequate health insurance.
Learn more about health insurance for overseas visitors.

Reciprocal healthcare agreements
Some countries have a reciprocal healthcare agreement with Australia. Find out more from the Department of Human Services about reciprocal healthcare agreements.

Travel

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.

Visa label

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

Visitor visa (subclass 600)

Tourist stream (apply in Australia)

Tourist Visa 600 (Apply in Australia)

This visa stream lets you visit Australia as a tourist, to see family and friends or for purposes other than business or medical treatment.

With this visa you can

  • 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.

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

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.

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.

Stay longer

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

Explore your visa options.

Include family

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.

Newborn child

Find out what to do if your child is born after you apply.

Apply from

Eligible applicants can apply for this visa from within Australia. If you apply in Australia, you must be in Australia when we make a decision on your application.

If you held a substantive visa when you applied in Australia, that visa must not have been a Temporary Work (International Relations) visa (subclass 403), Domestic worker (Diplomatic or Consular) stream.

You do not hold a substantive visa

If you did not hold a substantive visa when you applied in Australia, you must meet other criteria.

Stay longer than 12 consecutive months

Unless there are exceptional circumstances that allow grant of the visa, we will not grant you this visa if:

  • you hold a Visitor visa, Work and Holiday visa, Working Holiday visa or bridging visa, and
  • granting you a Tourist visa would result in you staying in Australia for more than 12 consecutive months

Processing times

We process:

  • 75% of applications in18 days
  • 90% of applications in 24 days

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

Your obligations

You must comply with all visa conditions and Australian laws.

Health insurance

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.

See what we consider adequate health insurance.
Learn more about health insurance for overseas visitors.

Reciprocal healthcare agreements
Some countries have a reciprocal healthcare agreement with Australia. Find out more from the Department of Human Services about reciprocal healthcare agreements.

Travel

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.

Visa label

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

+