Long Stay and Short Stay Visitor Visas:

Tourist/Visitor Visas are for people who want to visit Australia for the purposes of taking a holiday, or for the purposes tourism/recreation and/or to visit family, relatives and/or friends in Australia.

Your first visitor visa must be made outside Australia. Once you have arrived in Australia and wish to extend your visa, then you may do so at a Departmental office in your state or territory.

A visitor visa will allow you a stay up to 12 months and you may study for up to three months. You must demonstrate that you have adequate funds (either your own savings, or financial assistance from another person) to support yourself and any family members during your trip to Australia.

Sponsored Family Visitor Visa:

The sponsored visitor visa allows people to travel to Australia for a holiday and/or visit their family.

You must have an eligible relative in Australia (parent, child, adopted child, spouse, brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle niece, nephew, or 'step' equivalent of any of these, but not including in-laws), who holds Australian permanent residency or citizenship to sponsor you. If you do not have a relative, then you will need an Australian Government official willing to sponsor you.

Your sponsor will provide a guarantee that you will leave Australia before the visa expires. If you do not comply with your visa conditions or overstay your visa, then this may affect your sponsor's eligility of sponsoring another person in the future.

Electronic Travel Authorities (ETA)

An ETA stands for "Electronic Travel Authority." It acts in the same way as visa, but there is no stamp or label in your passport. As it is electronically issued, you do not need to visit an Australian diplomatic office to submit a paper application.

You can only apply for an ETA whilst you are outside of Australia. Only passport holders of the following countries are eligible to apply for an ETA:

Andorra
Austria
Belgium
Brunei
Canada
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hong Kong SAR
Iceland
Ireland
Italy
Japan
Liechtenstein
Luxembourg
Malaysia
Malta
Monaco
Netherlands
Norway
Portugal
San Marino
Singapore
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom
United States Of America
Vatican City


You may not extend an ETA. If you wish to stay longer in Australia, then you must apply for a visitor visa, or another visa more appropriate to your circumstances.

Please note that you must not work on any of the visitor visas, unless permission is specifically given.