Visitor visa for Australia

There are three visas that you can apply for in order to visit Australia for tourism or business visitor activities:

Electronic Travel Authority (subclass 601)

ETA represents electronic approval for travelling to Australia for a tourism or business purposes. It is available for citizens of certain countries and regions. ETA is granted online by Department of Immigration and Border Protection of Australia to touristic agencies or agents, avio companies or other service providers worldwide. For this visa type you do not need to pay fee for submitting the application, but you will need to pay service fee of 20AUD.

eVisitor (subclass 651)

eVisitor (subclass 651) is a free visa for citizens of certain countries who are outside Australia in the moment of applying and who want to visit Australia for business and tourism purposes.

600 Visitor Visa (subclass 600)

Visitor visa(subclass 600) is intended for those travelling to Australia as tourists, to visit family or for business activities. This is a temporary visa and probably the most popular Visitor visa.

Visitor visa has 4 streams:

• Tourist stream:Intended for those travelling to Australia for a holiday, recreation or to visit family or friends. If you apply for this visa while your are in Australia, you must be in Australia in the moment of visa decision. If you apply for this visa while you are outside Australia, you must be outside Australia in the moment of visa decision.
• Business stream:Intended for business people who are travelling to Australia on shorter business trip. This includes participation on conferences and business meetings. You must be outside Australia in the moment of applying and in the moment of visa decision.
• Sponsored family visa:Intended for those who travel to Australia to visit family or close relatives. You must have sponsor for this visa who will have to pay a security bond. You must be outside Australia in the moment of applying and when the visa decision is made. You will not be allowed to apply for another visa while you are staying in Australia.
• Approved destination status:Intended for citizens of People's Republic of China who are travelling in organized touristic groups. You must be outside Australia in the moment of applying and in the moment of visa decision.

A tourist purpose means holiday in Australia or a visit to family, relatives and / or friends.

Business purpose means participation in conferences, negotiating or market research for business matters.