Australia's Subclass 600 Visitor Visa: 5 Streams, Fees & Stay Length
The Subclass 600 Visitor visa has five streams — Tourist, Business Visitor, Sponsored Family, Frequent Traveller and Approved Destination Status. What each one costs, how long you can stay, and when a visit gets complicated. Figures as at September 2026.
Read the full guide, with official sources →
Watch
Chapters
- 0:00 Visiting Australia?
- 0:13 Five streams
- 0:35 Frequent Traveller stream:
- 0:48 Only for citizens of a set list of countries
- 1:13 How long you can stay
- 1:25 No paid work.
- 1:37 Processing time is not guaranteed
- 1:49 When it gets complicated:
- 2:03 Where to read more
Transcript
Need a visa to visit Australia? Most nationalities need the subclass 600 Visitor visa — and it actually comes in five different versions.
The five streams are Tourist, Business Visitor, Sponsored Family, Frequent Traveller, and Approved Destination Status.
The tourist stream costs $250 if you apply from outside Australia, or $630 if you apply onshore. Those are the rates in force from 1 July 2026.
The Frequent Traveller stream is the exception. It can be granted for up to 10 years, and it costs $1,845 — though each single stay inside that period is still capped at 3 months.
It's only for citizens of a set list of countries, including China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Not everyone needs the 600 at all. Some passports use the Electronic Travel Authority, subclass 601, or the eVisitor, subclass 651, instead. Citizens of China, India and the Philippines need the full 600.
Stay length is set by your visa grant notice, not by the visa itself. Most tourist stream grants run up to 12 months. The Business Visitor stream is capped at 3 months.
You can't work in Australia on a subclass 600, though limited volunteer work tourism schemes may be an exception. You can study or train for up to 3 months.
Processing time is not guaranteed. Straightforward applications from low-risk countries often process in 1 to 2 weeks. More complex cases can take 4 to 12 weeks or longer.
It gets more complicated with a prior visa refusal, a criminal history, a health condition, or a visit to someone on a partner visa application. In those cases, a migration agent can assess the strength of your application.
The full guide, with the official sources, is on migratio.com.au. The link is in the description. And if you'd like to talk it through, you can compare registered migration agents there, and see their fees before you book anything.
Short versions
- One Australian visitor visa lasts 10 years (0:37)
- Do you even need the subclass 600? (0:39)
- Can you work on an Australian visitor visa? (0:28)
Talk it through with a registered agent
Every agent on Migratio is on the official OMARA register. Compare agents and their consultation fees.