Australian visa reporting and departure conditions: 8401, 8402, 8510–8512 (2026)
Yes — some Australian visas require the holder to report to Immigration, show a valid passport, show a ticket out of Australia, or leave by a set date. Those obligations are written as conditions 8401, 8402, 8510, 8511 and 8512 in Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994, and this article follows the Schedule 8 text published by the Australian Federal Register of Legislation, as at the September 2026 official page. It is general information about how the conditions are drafted, not an assessment of any individual visa; because conditions 8401, 8510, 8511 and 8512 leave the operative time, place, method or date to a specification made by the Minister, anything that turns on your own deadlines has to be read against your grant record and the official text, or taken to a registered migration professional.
Which visas can carry these conditions?
None of them attaches automatically to every Australian visa. Each condition in Schedule 8 carries the same note: whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to the condition depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994. In practice this means the condition has to be imposed on the visa under the rules for that visa class, rather than applying to everyone holding a temporary visa.
Each condition is assessed on its own: whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to a given condition depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994 for that visa class.
What does condition 8401 require?
Condition 8401 is the most open-ended of the group. It states that the holder must report at the time or times, and at a place or in a manner, specified — orally or in writing — by the Minister from time to time. Everything concrete about it lives outside the condition itself: nothing in Schedule 8 fixes a number of days, an office or a format, because those come from whatever specification applies to the holder.
There is a defined pause. Under regulation 2.25AF, a visa is taken not to be subject to 8401 during any period in which the holder is:
- under arrest or detained in custody; or
- admitted as an in-patient to receive treatment at a public or private hospital, a registered mental health facility, or another registered medical facility.
How is condition 8402 different from 8401?
Condition 8402 sets its own reporting rhythm inside the condition text, so it does not depend on a separate specification. The holder must report to an office of Immigration within 5 working days of grant, and then report to that office on the first working day of every week after reporting under the first limb.
That structure changes what compliance looks like. Under 8401 there is no frequency to count; under 8402 there is a weekly obligation that begins once the first report is made, and the clock starts from the grant of the visa rather than from arrival.
What does condition 8510 require about passports?
Condition 8510 gives the holder a choice of two routes, to be completed within the time specified by the Minister for the purpose. The holder must either show an officer a passport that is in force, or make an arrangement satisfactory to the Minister to obtain a passport.
The wording matters here: the condition is discharged by an arrangement the Minister finds satisfactory, not only by producing a travel document on the spot. A holder who cannot yet produce a passport is therefore not automatically in breach — but whether a given arrangement satisfies the Minister is a judgement the condition leaves to the Minister.
What does condition 8511 require about onward travel?
Condition 8511 requires the holder, within the time specified by the Minister, to show an officer a ticket for travel to a country other than Australia that the Minister is satisfied will allow the holder to enter on arrival. It is a single requirement with two elements: the ticket itself, and the Minister's satisfaction about admission at the destination.
Suppose a hypothetical applicant holds a confirmed onward ticket to a country whose entry rules they cannot meet at the time of travel. The ticket exists, but the second element — the Minister being satisfied that the destination will allow entry on arrival — is where the condition may still bite. The condition does not say the ticket must be to the holder's country of nationality or residence, only that the destination is a country other than Australia.
What does condition 8512 say about leaving Australia?
Condition 8512 is the shortest: the holder must leave Australia by the date specified by the Minister for the purpose. As with 8510 and 8511, the date is not written into Schedule 8; it arrives through the Minister's specification, which is why two holders of the same visa class can face different departure dates.
What about notifying your address — condition 8526?
A related condition sits next to this group. Condition 8526 requires the holder to notify the Secretary in writing of their place of residence in Australia by posting the notification to the Central Office of Immigration in the Australian Capital Territory. The window is tight: not earlier than 7 days before the day the visa ceases to be in effect, and not later than that day. It is a residence-reporting obligation tied to the visa's end date rather than to the grant.
How do the six conditions compare?
| Condition | What it asks for | Where the timing comes from |
|---|---|---|
| 8401 | Report at the time/place/manner the Minister specifies | Minister's specification, oral or written, from time to time |
| 8402 | Report within 5 working days of grant, then weekly | Written into the condition itself |
| 8510 | Show an in-force passport, or arrange one satisfactorily | Time specified by the Minister |
| 8511 | Show a ticket to a country other than Australia that the Minister is satisfied will admit you | Time specified by the Minister |
| 8512 | Leave Australia by the specified date | Date specified by the Minister |
| 8526 | Notify your Australian residence in writing to Immigration's Central Office in the ACT | From 7 days before the visa ceases, up to that day |
What happens if one of these conditions is breached?
The note attached to each condition in Schedule 8 does not spell out the consequences; it cross-refers. "As to cancellation for breaches of conditions," the note reads, see the Migration Act 1958 sections 41 and 116 to 119. That is where the cancellation framework sits, and the Schedule 8 text used here does not set out how those provisions operate in any particular case. The practical takeaway is narrow but firm: breach of a visa condition is treated in the legislation as a matter that can lead to cancellation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these conditions attached to every Australian temporary visa?
No. The note to each condition says whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to it depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994. The condition has to be imposed under the rules for that visa class.
Does condition 8511 mean I must show a return ticket to my home country?
The condition requires a ticket for travel to a country other than Australia; it does not require that the destination be your home country or country of nationality. It also has a second element — the Minister must be satisfied the destination will allow you to enter on arrival.
What counts as reporting under condition 8401?
Whatever the Minister has specified, because the condition covers the time or times, the place, and the manner of reporting, and allows the specification to be made orally or in writing. No single method or interval is fixed in the condition text.
If I am in hospital, do I still have to report under 8401?
Not while the exclusion applies. Under regulation 2.25AF, the visa is taken not to be subject to 8401 during any period the holder is admitted as an in-patient for treatment at a public or private hospital, a registered mental health facility, or another registered medical facility. The same applies while the holder is under arrest or detained in custody.
How soon must I report under condition 8402?
Within 5 working days of the grant of the visa, to an office of Immigration. After that first report, the holder must report to that office on the first working day of every week.
Does condition 8512 itself contain my departure date?
No. It requires the holder to leave Australia by the date specified by the Minister for the purpose, so the operative date comes from that specification rather than from Schedule 8.
Can I satisfy condition 8510 without holding a passport yet?
The condition allows either showing an officer a passport that is in force or making an arrangement satisfactory to the Minister to obtain a passport, within the time the Minister specifies. Whether a particular arrangement is satisfactory is determined by the Minister.