Skip to content

Visas, Immigration and Refugees

Business People

From 23 March 2013 this visa is no longer open to new applicants.

If you wish to visit Australia for short term business purposes, you will need to apply for the new ETA (subclass 601) or the eVisitor (subclass 651) or Visitor visa (subclass 600) under the Business Visitor stream.
See:
ETA (subclass 601)
eVisitor (subclass 651)
Visitor Visa (subclass 600)

If you wish to travel to Australia for short term non-ongoing highly specialised work, you will need to apply for the Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity) visa (subclass 400).
See: Temporary Work (Short Stay Activity) visa (subclass 400)

Obligations


You must only intend to visit Australia temporarily for business purposes.
Example: attending educational or business related meetings, seminars, conventions, conferences or networking.

ETA (Business Entrant) conditions

You must comply with your ETA conditions while in Australia. A breach of these conditions may result in your ETA being cancelled and you may have to leave Australia.

  • You must not engage in work in Australia that might otherwise be carried out by an Australian citizen or an Australian permanent resident
  • Work is generally not allowed, however, you may be able to engage in limited work if for example it is highly specialised and non ongoing (generally less than six (6) weeks).
    Note: To fill an ongoing position or if your main reason for coming to Australia is to work, you should apply for a Business (Long Stay) subclass 457 visa or another appropriate visa.
    See: Temporary Business (Long Stay) visa (subclass 457)
    See also: Workers
  • You must not engage in any studies or training for more than three months.
  • You must be free from tuberculosis at the time of travel to, and entry into, Australia.
  • You must not have any criminal convictions, for which the sentence or sentences (whether served or not) are for a total period of 12 months duration or more, at the time of travel to, and entry into, Australia.

Note: ETA holders are no longer required to pass a chest x-ray examination even if they intend to study in a classroom environment for a period greater than 4 weeks.

Criminal convictions

If you have had any criminal convictions in any country, you may wish to consider applying for a Business (Short Stay) visa (subclass 456), rather than an ETA. If arriving on an ETA with criminal convictions, you could be refused entry into Australia.

Repeat visits

An ETA is not designed to allow repeated extended stays in Australia. If you wish to spend long periods in Australia for business purposes, you may wish to consider applying for an alternate visa that suits your purposes.
See: Business (Short Stay) visa (subclass 456)
See also: Temporary Business (Long Stay) visa (subclass 457)

Health insurance

It is recommended that you take out health insurance for yourself and your family members each time you travel to Australia. You will not be covered by Australia's national health scheme, unless your country has a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia. Reciprocal medical arrangements exist with some countries.
See: Medicare Australia - Health care for visitors to Australia