Types of Australian Visa Types: An All-In-One Guide (2023 Guide)

Whether you are looking to study here at one of our ranked universities, build a career, be with family or simply travel and holiday — Australia is still consistently rated as one of the most popular destinations in the world. But before any of this can go down, you need the correct visa. Australian immigration is a complex system with up to 100 different visa subclasses on offer.

In this guide, we outline the main types of Australian visa categories, their uses and who is suitable — so you can cull your options before going into the nitty-gritty detail.

How Australian visa system works

The Department of Home Affairs administers every Australia visa, and almost all applications are submitted online via an ImmiAccount. Visas usually can be broadly classified into one of two category:

• Temporary work visas — you can remain in Australia temporarily (for tourism, study or short-term job).
• Permanent visas — offer a pathway to permanent residency that may subsequently lead to citizenship.

Most visas have a number of eligibility checks in common, including health assessments, character tests (including police clearance certificates), evidence of financial assets and — for many skilled or study visas — proof of English language ability.

• Visitor Visas

If you have a holiday planned, a short business trip or even visiting family and friends, chances are you would apply for a visitor visa.

• eVisitor (subclass 651) – for European passport holders that meet set criteria with stays to last a maximum of three months per occasion.
• Electronic Travel Authority (ETA, subclass 601) — a quickly processed alternative visa option for passport holders from countries such as the US, Canada, Japan and Singapore.
• Visitor visa (subclass 600) — includes tourist, business, and sponsored family visit streams; usually for those not eligible for the eVisitor or ETA

Compared to many other types of visas, these are generally simple to obtain (sometimes taking mere minutes to a few days) and inexpensive.

2. Student Visa

A huge amount of international students who visit Australia means the Student visa (subclass 500) is the most issued student visa to students studying in CRICOS Approved Australia (from universities to vocational education).

What You Should Know:

• The duration is usually the same as for the training course.
• As is customary, school students are permitted to work part-time.
• The Student visa (subclass 500), as most other visa types, is subject to the financial, health, and character test as well as the ‘Genuine Student’ requirement.

3. Skilled and Work Visas

Due to the variety of employer-sponsored migrant skilled workers and independently sponsored skilled migrants, this category is one of the most intricate and popular.

• Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482) — intended for skilled workers who require sponsorship from approved Australian employers to fill positions for which there are no suitable Australian candidates.
• Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189) — a points-based permanent immigration option for un-sponsored, skilled migrants.
• Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) — as per 189, but requires nomination by a state or territory.
• Skilled Work Regional visa (subclass 491) — a provisional visa, including a commitment to regional migration, with a pathway to permanent residency.
• Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186) – permanent residency for nominated employees

Skilled visas typically involve your occupation being on a certain skills list, a formal skills assessment, a requirements-based English test (IELTS, PTE etc), and for points-based visas, an Expression of Interest via SkillSelect.

4. Partner and Family Visas

 Family-stream visas allow families to settle together in Australia if they have relatives who are citizens or permanent residents in Australia or eligible New Zealand citizens.

• Partner visa (subclasses 309/100 or 820/801) — Temporary and permanent partner visas are granted in two stages. The first stage grants a temporary partner visa; the second stage is the permanent partner visa.
• Parent and other family visas — These other family visas are grantable to the parents, children, and other relatives of Australian residents. These visas are typically more expensive and take longer to process.

5. Business and Investment Visas

Business people and investors have their own distinct pathways. The Business Innovation and Investment (subclass 188) visa is one of these pathways and contains streams for investors, business people, and significant investors. The Significant Investor stream contains one of the highest fees. This stream also contains one of the rigid requirements pertaining to the amount of capital that is to be invested.

6. Bridging and Temporary Stay Visas

There are Bridging visas (A to E) that authorize persons to stay in Australia lawfully when their visa expires while the application for a new visa is being processed. There are also other temporary visas such as the Working Holiday visas and the Investor Retirement visas that are available to select persons.

• What’s your purpose? Tourism, study, work, family reunion or investment all correspond to different visa streams.
• How long do you want to stay? Temporary visas are intended for short-term plans, permanent visas are for long-term settlement and working with IRCC learns about immigration plans.
• Do you have sponsorship? Some people (say, through employer or family sponsorship) may then slip over into pathways that would otherwise not be open to them.

What fare are you in, but also: do you have the points? Age, skills qualification and experience as well as English language proficiency are all points tested for skill visas.

Final Thoughts

The structure of the Australian visa system is deliberately detailed, to align a wide and diverse range of personal circumstances with the appropriate legal pathway available. The best place to start is with the Department of Home Affairs’ own Visa Finder, which will ask you a few questions about your situation and will direct you to the subclasses that you’re looking for. If you go beyond a simple application then call a registered migration agent to quest the documentation, timeline and all obstatcles on your way ahead.

Disclaimer: Visa rules, costs and processing times are subject to change at any time. You are however encouraged to double-check all the latest news on homeaffairs. gov.au) before applying.