How this Visa Works

This visa allows representatives or employees of foreign government agencies who do not have official status in Australia, to travel to and work in Australia.

Sponsorship

For this visa you will need to be sponsored by a foreign government agency operating in Australia.

The process for obtaining a Foreign Government Agency visa is summarised in the table below.

Who	Responsibility
Organisation	apply to be a foreign government agency sponsor to employ government representatives in Australia accept responsibility for you during your stay in Australia cooperate with department's monitoring requirements meet costs and other obligations as part of the program.
Nominated primary applicant	apply for a visa meet all conditions on their visa.

Validity periods

The validity period of:

• sponsorship is three years
• visa period is for whichever of the following is earlier:
  • four years
  • the period of stay approved by your Foreign Ministry or relevant government agency.

Bringing family

The following people may be included in your visa application:

• your partner
• your or your partner's dependent children
• other dependent relatives.

Secondary applicants who have not been listed in the visa application and who want to join you in Australia at a later time will need to lodge a separate visa application. A letter from your sponsor is required to be provided with the application confirming that the sponsor will accept responsibility for the secondary applicants for the period of their stay in Australia.

Who this visa is not for

This visa is not intended for:

• DFAT-accredited representatives of foreign governments or foreign government agencies. You should consider applying for a Diplomatic (Temporary) visa (subclass 995).
  Example: Diplomats, United Nation agency executives and consular officials (including service staff employed by a diplomatic mission).
  See: Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade > Contacts
• representatives of foreign governments or government agencies seeking a visa for business purposes, rather than employment. You should apply for a temporary business visa.
• representatives entering Australia to direct one of the following operations:
  • the British Council
  • the Alliance Francaise
  • the Goethe-Institut
  • the Italian Cultural Institute.
  You should apply for the Government Agreement visa subclass 406.

Definitions

These definitions will help you understand the information on these pages.
See: Definitions