EMC Australia / Visitor & working holiday
Visit Australia — or work while you travel
A visitor visa is for a genuine short stay — holiday, family, or a short business trip. Working Holiday and Work and Holiday are different: you can work, and some people use them for a second year. They are not a partner visa, not a student visa, and not a way around a refusal.
Who this page is for
- You want to visit family, take a holiday, or come for a short business trip
- You may be eligible for an ETA or eVisitor and want to know if that is enough
- You want a Working Holiday 417 or Work and Holiday 462, including a second year
- A visitor visa was refused, or you have been told you are not a genuine visitor
The visas
Which visa this page is about
Each visa has a number, called a subclass, so you can match a letter from the Department. You do not need that number to talk to us.
Apply in or from outside Australia, depending on the stream
Visitor visa
Tourists, family visitors, and some business visitors who cannot use an ETA or eVisitor.
The officer has to be satisfied you will leave (the Genuine Visitor test). Ties to home, purpose, funds and your immigration history matter more than a booked hotel. There are streams (tourist, sponsored family, business visitor and others) — they are still the same visa, with different rules.
Learn more about this visaApply from outside Australia, eligible passports only
Electronic Travel Authority (ETA)
Passport holders from ETA-eligible countries visiting for tourism or short business.
An ETA is still a visa. It is faster to get, not a guarantee. If you have a refusal, a complex history, or you actually want to work, an ETA is usually the wrong visa.
Learn more about this visaApply from outside Australia, eligible passports only
eVisitor
Eligible European and other listed passport holders, for tourism or short business.
Similar idea to the ETA, different country list. This visa is not for work. If you need to work, look at 417, 462, a student visa, or a sponsored work visa.
Learn more about this visaFirst visa usually from outside Australia
Working Holiday visa
Young people from Working Holiday partner countries, for a year of travel and work — sometimes longer with specified regional work.
A second or third visa usually needs specified work in regional Australia. There are limits on how long you stay with one employer. This is not a skilled visa and not a partner visa.
Learn more about this visaUsually from outside Australia; some countries use a ballot
Work and Holiday visa
Young people from Work and Holiday partner countries, often with education and English requirements.
Some countries (including China, India and Vietnam in recent years) use a ballot. Education evidence can be part of the application. Specified work for a second year is not identical to 417.
Learn more about this visa
How EMC works
How we help
01
We name the visit honestly
Holiday, family, business, or a working holiday. If the real plan is to stay with a partner or to study, a visitor visa will usually fail — and a refusal follows you.
02
Genuine visitor, documented
Purpose, funds, ties to home, and previous travel. We do not pad an application with unused hotel bookings.
03
Working holiday, including a second year
Eligibility, ballots, specified work, and whether 417 or 462 is still the right visa — or whether a student, partner or work visa is the honest conversation.
First conversation
What to bring
- Passport (and any previous Australian visas or refusals)
- What you actually want to do, and for how long
- Evidence of funds and of ties to your home country, if applying for a 600
- For 417/462: date of birth, nationality, and any specified work you have already done
- If a visitor visa was refused: the decision
Before you apply
Things that go wrong
- A visitor visa is a poor way to “try Australia” before a partner visa. Officers read that pattern.
- Working on a 600 is not a grey area. It is a breach.
- Some visitor visas have a limit on how much time you can spend in Australia in a period (for example condition 8558).
- A ballot for 462 is not an invitation to lodge a weak application. The visa still has to be grantable.
Questions
People ask this first
Sometimes, for a genuine short visit. If the relationship is the reason you want to stay, a partner visa is usually the honest path. Using a 600 as a holding pattern is how people collect a refusal.
Start with your situation.
You do not need the visa number. Book a consultation, or send us a message.
MARN 1800335 · Level 14, 333 Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000.
Related topics
- Parent visas, if the visit is not short
- Partner visas
- Bridging visas and visa status
- If a visa was refused
This page is general information, not advice about your circumstances. Australian migration law changes. You should consult a Registered Migration Agent before you apply. EMC Australia is OMARA-registered (MARN 1800335).