🇦🇺 Australia
🇦🇺 Australia · Visitor visa (subclass 600)
Australia visitor visa 600 — requirements, cost and processing
The subclass 600 is Australia's visitor visa for tourism and business-visitor purposes, granted for stays of usually 3, 6 or 12 months. The base application charge is AUD 200 (tourist stream, outside Australia), it is applied for online via ImmiAccount, and the Department of Home Affairs publishes live percentile processing times — most tourist-stream applications are decided within days to a few weeks.
| who needs it | All nationalities except those eligible for eVisitor (many European passports) or ETA (a short list including the US, UK, Canada, Japan and others). |
| government fee | AUD 200 — tourist stream applied outside Australia; check current charge before applyingsource: Home Affairs — Visitor 600 · verified 2026-07 |
| processing | days to a few weeks for most tourist-stream applicationsHome Affairs publishes 50th/90th percentile times that move monthly — quote those, not anecdotes · source: Home Affairs processing times · verified 2026-07 |
| length of stay | 3, 6 or 12 months as granted; multiple entry is common. |
documents you will need
- Passport bio page (apply with the passport you will travel on)
- Proof of funds for the stay
- Employment/business evidence and reason to return
- Itinerary or invitation from family in Australia (with their status evidence)
- Genuine Temporary Entrant reasoning if your profile has risk factors
how the process runs
- 01Create an ImmiAccount and complete the 600 application online
- 02Upload documents — Australia decides most cases on papers alone, so the file is everything
- 03Pay the charge and submit; biometrics only if requested
- 04Decision arrives by email; the visa is electronic, linked to your passport
why applications get refused
- Genuine temporary stay not established (the Australian analogue of weak ties)
- Funds evidence thin for the declared length of stay
- Prior visa refusals or compliance issues not explained
- Documents in the wrong form — untranslated or uncertified where required
questions we actually get
- Is there an interview?
- Rarely. The 600 is a paper-based decision, which is why document quality matters more than for interview-based systems.
- Can I extend my stay in Australia?
- You can apply for a further stay onshore in some circumstances, but 'no further stay' conditions (8503) block this — check your grant letter.
- Does travel history matter?
- A clean history of visas used correctly in comparable countries measurably strengthens a 600 application.
rules change. we verify before we act.
This guide reflects the official sources as of 2026-07 (matrix 2026.Q3). For a decision about your own case, that is not enough — talk to a licensed advisor.
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