Category: Visitor visas

Which visa does a keynote speaker at a conference in Australia need?

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on July 20, 2025

We have helped many clients arranging conferences in Australia over the past 15 years to secure the appropriate visas for their keynote speakers.

What’s the right visa in this situation? The answer depends on a few key details including the nature of the event, whether it’s paid, the speaker’s role, and the length of stay.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the most relevant visa options for conference keynote speakers:

Subclass 400- Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) Visa

Ideal if the speaker is delivering highly specialised knowledge or skills and will be paid for their appearance. This visa is suitable for short-term engagements (up to 3 months, or 6 in special cases). It’s often used when the speaker’s contribution is critical and time-sensitive.

Subclass 408- Temporary Activity Visa (Invited Participant stream)

Perfect for speakers invited by Australian organisations to participate in conferences, particularly if there’s no formal employment or extensive payment involved. It’s versatile and allows for a stay of up to 3 months, or longer with strong justification.

eVisitor (Subclass 651) / ETA (Subclass 601)

For speakers from eligible countries attending a conference without receiving payment (beyond reimbursement for expenses). These are simple visitor visas, but crucially, no formal speaking engagement for pay is allowed under these categories.

Subclass 600- Business Visitor Stream

For speakers who are not eligible for an eVisitor or ETA visa, if attending a conference without receiving payment the subclass 600 visa may be appropriate. However, no formal speaking engagement for pay is allowed under this visa category.

Why this matters:

Selecting the right Australian visa avoids delays, refusals, or issues at the border.
If you’re organising a conference and flying in an international speaker, it is important to obtain advice early. The wrong visa can result in last-minute headaches.
Feel free to reach out if you need guidance or would like a tailored assessment.

Disclaimer:

The information on this website is intended only to provide a summary and general overview on relevant matters. It is not intended to be comprehensive nor does it constitute legal advice. You are advised to seek legal or other professional advice before acting or relying on any of the content contained in this website.

INCREASE IN AUSTRALIAN VISA APPLICATION CHARGES FROM 1 JULY 2024

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on July 15, 2024

The Australian Government has increased visa application charges applicable from 1 July 2024.

The visa application charge increases are outlined in the table below:

Visa Type	Previous Visa Application Charge	1 July 2024 Visa Application Charge
Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) – STSOL (Subclass 482)	AU$1,455	AU$1,495
Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) – STSOL (Subclass 482)- Secondary Applicants Over 18	AU$1,455	AU$1,495
Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) – STSOL (Subclass 482)- Secondary Applicants Under 18	AU$365	AU$375
Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) – MLTSSL (Subclass 482)	AU$3,035	AU$3,115
Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) – MLTSSL (Subclass 482)- Secondary Applicants Over 18	AU$3,035	AU$3,115
Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) – MLTSSL (Subclass 482)- Secondary Applicants Under 18	AU$760	AU$780
Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186)	AU$4,640	AU$4,770
Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186)- Secondary Applicants Over 18	AU$2,120	AU$2,385
Employer Nomination Scheme (Subclass 186)- Secondary Applicants Under 18	AU$4,710	AU$1,190
Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) (subclass 400)	AU$405	AU$415
Visitor Visa– business stream (Subclass 600)	AU$150	AU$195
Global Talent (subclass 858)	AU$	AU$4,840
Student and Guardian (Subclass 500 & 590)	AU$710	AU$1,600
General Skilled Migration (Subclass 189, 190, 491, 494)	AU$4,640	AU$4,765
Graduate Temporary Subclass 485	AU$1,895	AU$1,920
Partner (Subclass 300, 820/801, 309/100)	AU$8,850	AU$9,095
Parent (Contributory) first instalment The Second Visa Application charge for the Contributory Parent visa (143 visa) will remain the same	AU$420 – $4,765	AU$430 to $4,895
Business Migration (Subclass 188A, 188B)	AU$9,450	AU$9,710

Need Assistance?

Please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian visa assistance and sponsoring skilled overseas workers.

Disclaimer:

Eight Major Australian Visa Changes Occurring in July 2023

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on July 7, 2023

On 1 July 2023, the Australian Government introduced a series of changes to the Australian visa system. The changes will affect Australian visas in the following ways:

Change 1- Increase in Temporary Work Visas Salary Threshold

The Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold for the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS)(subclass 482) and Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional (Provisional) (subclass 494) visas has increased from AU$53,900 to AU$70,000 for nominations lodged from 1 July 2023.

Change 2- Work Restrictions for Student Visa Holders

From 1 July 2023, work restrictions for Student visa holders will be re-introduced with a cap of 48 hours per fortnight.

However, an exception to the 48-hour work limitation will apply to Student visa holders already working in the aged care sector on 8 May 2023. These Student visa holders will have unrestricted work hours.

Change 3- Temporary Graduate (subclass 485) Visas Changes

International students in Australia who have completed their degree in Australia in the field of health, teaching, engineering or agriculture may access extended subclass 485 visas from 1 July 2023. Acceptable qualifications must be on the prescribed list.

Visa periods will be increased to:

4 years for select Bachelor Degrees
5 years for select Masters degrees
6 years for all Doctoral degrees

First time applicants will be granted a visa with an additional period of two years added to the standard visa period.

Change 4- Work and Holiday Makers

As of 1 July 2023, Papua New Guinea became the newest participant in the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) Program, enabling up to 100 citizens of PNG to journey to Australia using the Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa. Individuals who have completed a minimum of two years of post-secondary study in Papua New Guinea can now apply for the Work and Holiday visa.

For citizens from the United Kingdom, the age limit for the Working Holiday (subclass 417) visa has been extended from 30 to 35 years old.

In the context of the WHM Program, as of 1 July 2023, Condition 8547 has also been reintroduced for participants of the program. This condition applies to individuals holding either subclass 417 or subclass 462 visas and restricts visa holders from working with a single employer for more than six months. Relevantly, this change does not apply retrospectively, and any work carried out by a WHM prior to July will not be counted towards their six-month limit with the same employer.

Change 5- India-Australia Agreement

The Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement between India and Australia commenced on 1 July 2023 with the following benefits:

Indian citizens are now eligible to apply for Work and Holiday visas.
Increased Post Study Work visa periods have been introduced for Indian citizens. Indian students graduating in Australia will be eligible for post study work visas as follows:
- upon completion of diploma or trade qualifications- stays of up to 18 months
- upon completion of bachelor degree (including honours)- stays of up to 2 years
- upon completion of masters by research and masters by coursework- stays of up to 3 years
- upon completion of doctoral degrees- stays of up to 4 years.
- Additional year of stay for high-performing STEM bachelor degree graduates (extended from 2 years to 3 years)

Change 6- Increased Immigration Target

On 1 July 2023 the Australian Government increased its intake of permanent migrants to 195,000 for this financial year, up by 35,000, in a bid to help businesses and industries battling widespread staff shortages and reduce reliance on short-term workers.

Change 7- Australian Citizenship for New Zealand Nationals

From 1 July 2023, New Zealand citizens who have been living in Australia for more than four years and arrived in Australia after 26 February 2011 will be eligible to apply directly for Australian citizenship without having to apply for a permanent visa. These changes apply only to New Zealand citizens holding a Special Category (subclass 444) visa (SCV). Protected SCV holders will continue to be eligible to apply directly for Australian citizenship.

From 1 July 2023:

All New Zealand citizens holding an SCV will be considered permanent residents for citizenship purposes
New Zealand citizens granted an SCV before 1 July 2022 will have their period of permanent residence for citizenship purposes backdated to 1 July 2022
New Zealand citizens granted an SCV for the first time on or after 1 July 2022 will be considered a permanent resident for citizenship purposes from the date of their SCV grant.

The above provisions will apply to New Zealand citizens in Australia. It will also apply to New Zealand citizens who are overseas but held an SCV immediately before last leaving Australia.

These provisions will apply to citizenship applications submitted after 1 July 2023.

Change 8- Increase in Governmental Visa Application Fees

From 1 July 2023, Australian Department of Home Affairs (DHA) governmental fees increased with visa application charges increasing from between 6 and 40 per cent across various visa categories. Some of the new governmental visa application charges include:

Visa Type	Subclass	Before	From 1st July 2023
Partner visa (Onshore / Offshore)	820/801 & 309/100	$8,085	$8,850
Skilled visas	189 / 190 / 491	$4,240	$4,640
Graduate	485	$1,730	$1,895
Student	500	$650	$710
Visitor (Onshore)	600	$380	$475
Visitor (Offshore)	600	$150	$190
Working Holiday Maker	417 / 462	$510	$635
Temporary Skill Shortage (Short Term)	482	$1,330	$1,455
Temporary Skill Shortage (Long Term)	482	$2,770	$3,035
Employer Nomination Scheme (ENS)	186	$4,240	$4,640
Significant Investor stream	188	$9,195	$13,860
Significant Entrepreneur stream	188	$4,240	$6,395
All other applicants	188	$6,270	$9,450

For advice regarding Australian visas, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.

Disclaimer:

1 July 2023 Australian Visa Application Governmental Fee Increases

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on June 23, 2023

The Australian Government has announced that visa application charges will increase from 1 July 2023.

The Migration Amendment (Visa Application Charges) Regulations 2023 – F2023L00831 legislative instrument introduced by the Australian Government sets out the 1 July 2023 governmental fee increases which are stated to be as follows:

From 1 July 2023 visa application fees will increase by the 2023-24 forecast CPI of 3.25%.
Visitor, working holiday, work and holiday, training, temporary activity, and temporary work (short stay specialist) visas will increase by a further 21% in addition to CPI.
Business innovation and investment visas will increase by a further 46% in addition to CPI.
The remaining visa application fees will increase by 6% in addition to CPI.
There is no increase apart from the CPI increase of 3.25% for Subclass 403 (Temporary Work (International Relations)) visas in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) stream
The new visa application fee amounts will be rounded to the nearest $5.

For advice regarding Australian visas, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.

Disclaimer:

Additional Australian Visa Options for Indian Citizens

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on May 28, 2023

In the wake of approval of the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) by the Australian and Indian Governments (which came into effect on March 30 2023), along with heralding in a new era of freer trade and closer cooperation between India and Australia, additional Australian visa pathways have been created for Indian citizens.

Over the next two years, the Australian Government under the ECTA will introduce the following additional Australian visa pathways to Indian citizens:

Post-study work rights; and
Work and Holiday Visa options.

Post-Study Work Rights Extended

Provisions attached to the ECTA are set to increase the amount of time Indian students can remain in Australia post qualification, with provisions likely to be introduced as follows:

Students graduating with a diploma or trade qualification may stay up to 18 months in Australia;
Students who complete a bachelor’s degree may remain and work in Australia for two years;
Students who graduate with first class honours in a bachelor’s degree in STEM or Information and Communications Technology (ICT) will be permitted to stay and work in Australia for up to three years;
Students who complete a master’s degree may remain and work in Australia for up to three years; and
Students who complete a doctoral degree may remain in Australia for up to four years.

Work and Holiday visas

As part of the terms of the ECTA, the Australian Government has pledged to implement a Work and Holiday visa arrangement for Indian citizens within two years of entry into force of the Agreement. Moreover, if India implements a similar youth mobility program in the future with any country, it will extend the opportunity to participate in such a program to Australian citizens.

The agreement opens up 1,000 Work and Holiday Visa places for Indian citizens.

In addition, the ECTA creates access for 1,800 qualified traditional chefs and yoga instructors to receive an Australian four-year work visa.

The agreement also supports a new Professional Services Working Group to streamline recognition of qualifications, licensing and registration procedures between the two countries.

For advice Australia visas, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.

Disclaimer:

Australian Visas for Conferences

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on May 17, 2023

It’s always a pleasure helping clients arrange visas for participants to attend conferences in Australia. It’s helpful to know that the following Australian visas are relevant in this situation:

A minority of passport-holders are eligible to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA) (subclass 601) to enter Australia for a conference, which the applicant needs to arrange themselves.
Various passport-holders can apply for an eVisitor- business stream (subclass 651) visa.
For all other passport-holders not on the list of eligible countries for an ETA or eVisitor visa, we assist in arranging a Visitor- business stream (subclass 600) visa.
For those who are receiving payment for presenting at a conference, they require a Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist)(subclass 400) visa.

For advice regarding Australian visas, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanimmigration.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.

Disclaimer:

Changes to Health Requirements for Certain Visas

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on November 27, 2017

On 18 November 2017 new visa condition 8602 was introduced as well as changes to the health insurance requirements for subclass 457 visas, as explained below.

New Condition 8602

New Condition 8602 has been introduced which requires the visa holder not to have any outstanding public health debts while in Australia. Public health debts are those reported the Department of Immigration and Border Protection by any Commonwealth, State or Territory health authority but do not include health costs which are covered by health insurance or Medicare, or are for treatment for certain community health risks (eg tuberculosis).

Breach of condition 8602 may result in visa cancellation. Accordingly, visa holders who accrue a public health debt should arrange to repay any this debt with the relevant provider as soon as possible to avoid their visa being cancelled.

Visa Condition 8602 will be discretionary for some visas and mandatory for several visas including (but not limited to):

Subclass 188 (Business Innovation and Investment)
Subclass 400 (Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist))
Subclass 407 (Training)
Subclass 408 (Temporary Activity) (certain streams only)
Subclass 417 (Working Holiday)
Subclass 457 (Temporary Work (Skilled))
Subclass 461 (New Zealand Citizen Family)
Subclass 462 (Work and Holiday)
Subclass 476 (Skilled – Recognised Graduate)
Subclass 485 (Temporary Graduate)
Subclass 489 (Skilled – Regional)
Subclass 500 (Student)
Subclass 600 (Visitor)
Subclass 601 (Electronic Travel Authority)
Subclass 651 (eVisitor)
Subclass 676 (Tourist)

Health Insurance Requirements for Subclass 457 visas

Subclass 457 visa applicants no longer need to provide evidence, or a letter from their insurer confirming their health insurance arrangements when applying for a visa – they simply need to indicate they have made adequate arrangements on the online form.

However Condition 8501, “maintain health insurance” itself has not been changed – that is, 457 visa holders must still maintain adequate health insurance while in Australia.

Need Assistance?

Contact our firm at info@hartmanlawyers.com.au for more information regarding the most appropriate Australian visa strategy for your circumstances.

Disclaimer:

New Long-Term Australian Business Visa for Singaporean Nationals

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on June 13, 2017

The Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, announced a new long-term Australian Business visa for Singaporean nationals during his recent official visit to Singapore earlier this month.

Singaporeans will have exclusive access to a new long-term, multiple-entry visa option by 1 January 2018. This will render it easier for Singaporean nationals to travel to Australia for business and tourism.

The long-term visa will be a separate stream within the Visitor (Subclass 600) visa and will allow eligible Singaporean nationals to travel to Australia for up to three months at a time over a six-year period, with a single application.

In addition to the new long-term business visa, Prime Minister Turnbull announced a new reciprocal arrangement with the Singaporean Government to extend the Work and Holiday visa program. This will enable a maximum of 500 young Australian and Singaporeans to undertake short term work or study within the reciprocal country. The Federal Government announced that the Australia-Singapore Work and Holiday visa arrangement will commence on 1 August 2017.

The new visa arrangements are intended to further boost business and tourism links between Australia and Singapore.

Disclaimer:

New Ten Year Australian Visitor Visa (Initially Available to Chinese Nationals)

Posted by Rebecca Berkovic on November 20, 2016

The eagerly awaited Ten Year Australian Visitor visa was introduced by the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) on 19 December 2016.

The Ten Year Visitor visa forms part of the Visitor (subclass 600) visa as a separate ‘Frequent Traveller’ stream.

‘Frequent Traveller’ Visitor Visa Requirements

The newly created Visitor visa stream for frequent travellers permits both tourism and business visitor activities and allows up to ten years’ validity.

The primary requirements of this visa are as follows:

At the moment, this visa stream is only available to citizens of the People’s Republic of China, however a list of additional ‘specified countries’ is intended to be introduced.
The visa applicant must be outside Australia at the time of application.
The visa applicant must have a genuine intent to visit Australia as tourist or to engage in business visitor activity.
The visa applicant must be able to satisfy health requirements and may be requested to undertake a medical examination.

Ten Year Visitor Visa Conditions

The Ten Year Visitor Visa will be granted for up to ten years. It will allow for the following:

Multiple entries and up to a three-month stay period after each entry during the validity period of the visa.
No more than 12 months cumulative stay in Australia in a 24 month period.
The Frequent Traveller stream will permit both tourism and business visitor activities, however use of this visa to maintain de facto residence or to work in Australia will not be permitted and such actions will lead to a consideration of cancellation.

Cost of the Visa

The Visa Application Charge for the Ten Year Visitor visa will be AUD$1,000.

The ‘Frequent Traveller Stream’ as part of the Visitor visa is currently only available to Chinese nationals at this initial stage. However we will keep our clients, colleagues and contacts updated once the list of eligible countries is extended.

For advice regarding Australian visas, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@hartmanlawyers.com.au for Australian immigration assistance.