What documents do I need for an Australian Visitor visa (600) in 2026?
For a Visitor visa (subclass 600) in the Tourist stream, applied for from outside Australia, the Australian Department of Home Affairs organises your paperwork into three groups: identity documents, genuine visitor documents, and character documents. On top of those, you need extra items if you are under 18 or if you are asking for a longer visa. This reflects the department's "Tourist stream (apply outside Australia) (Subclass Visitor visa (subclass 600))" page as of the July 2026 official page, read alongside the Migration Regulations 1994.
The practical consequence is that a subclass 600 file is not a single stack of forms. It is evidence that answers three separate legal questions, and a weak answer on any one of them can carry the whole application.
How do the three document groups map to the legal tests?
The three groups on the department's page line up with the core criteria in the Migration Regulations 1994. Seeing the mapping makes it easier to decide what to upload.
| Legal test | What it asks | Documents the department lists |
|---|---|---|
| Genuine temporary stay (clause 600.211) | Are you visiting only temporarily, for the purpose the visa is granted? | Your plans in Australia, an invitation letter from a relative or friend, and proof of reasons to return home |
| Adequate means of support (clause 600.212) | Do you have, or can you access, enough money for the stay? | Itemised bank statements, pay slips, tax records, term deposits, credit card statements, audited accounts |
| Public interest criteria, including character and health (clause 600.213) | Do you meet Australia's character and health requirements? | Military service or discharge papers, police certificates if requested, health examinations |
Two further criteria sit in the same subdivision: the special return criteria (clause 600.214), and a rule that a grant leading to more than 12 months' cumulative stay on visitor, Working Holiday or bridging visas generally needs exceptional circumstances (clause 600.215).
Which identity documents do I need?
Start with your passport. The department asks for the pages of your current passport showing your photo, personal details, and passport issue and expiry dates. If you are planning to get a new passport, do it before you apply, because the identity evidence has to match the travel document you will actually use.
Beyond the passport, the identity group is short:
- a national identity card, if you have one
- proof of a change of name, if applicable — a marriage or divorce certificate, change of name documents from an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages or the relevant overseas authority, or documents showing other names you have been known by
How do I prove I am a genuine visitor?
This is the group applicants find hardest, because it is not one certificate. The department asks you to provide as much proof as you can that you are visiting Australia as a temporary visitor only, and it explicitly says the decision may be made without asking you for anything further. In other words, assume the file you lodge is the whole case.
What counts as proof of money?
The department's list is about the form of the evidence rather than a published dollar figure:
- itemised personal bank statements covering a 3 month period
- pay slips
- audited accounts
- tax records
- term deposits
- credit card statements
The underlying test in clause 600.212 is whether you have adequate means to support yourself, or access to adequate means. That distinction matters for a common scenario: suppose an applicant funds the trip partly from savings and partly from a parent. Both halves need paper — the applicant's own statements, and the supporter's funds plus a statement of support.
What goes in an invitation letter?
If a relative or friend in Australia is inviting you, the letter can state:
- their relationship to you
- the purpose of your visit and the length of stay
- whether you will be staying with them
If that person will pay for your stay, the department asks for proof of their funds as well. An invitation letter that names a host but says nothing about who pays for what leaves a gap the decision-maker has to fill in themselves.
What shows my reasons to return home?
The department gives a non-exhaustive list:
- a letter from your employer stating you plan to return to your job
- proof that you study at a school, college or university in your home country
- proof that you have immediate family members in your home country
- proof that you can return home
- proof that you own a house or other major assets in your home country
Combined with "your plans while in Australia", this is where the genuine temporary stay question is really decided. The evidence does not need to cover every bullet — most applicants cannot produce all five — but it should show a concrete, verifiable reason to leave at the end of the trip.
What character documents are required?
The character group is small at lodgement. Provide any military service record or discharge papers, if applicable. The department also states it may ask you to provide a police certificate, so treat that as a "if asked" item rather than something to upload unprompted unless your ImmiAccount requests it.
Health is handled in parallel rather than inside the character group: you can complete health examinations before you apply, or wait until the department tells you to have them.
What extra documents apply if I am under 18?
Applicants under 18 carry an additional layer. Provide a copy of your birth certificate showing the names of both parents. If you cannot, provide one of:
- identification pages of a family book showing the names of both parents
- identification pages of a government-issued identification document
- identification pages of a court-issued document that proves your identity
- identification pages of a family census register
If someone other than your biological parents has legal guardianship — adoptive parents or a court-appointed guardian, for example — you must provide proof of that guardianship, and adoption papers or parental court orders where applicable.
Consent is the part most often missed. Anyone with a legal right to decide where you live, who is not travelling to Australia with you, must complete either Form 1229 (Consent form to grant an Australian visa to a child under the age of 18 years) or a statutory declaration giving consent. Include a document bearing that person's signature and photo, such as a passport or driver's licence. If you are not staying with a relative or legal guardian, the person you are staying with must also sign Form 1257 (Undertaking declaration).
What if I am asking for a longer visa?
Say so in the application. The department's page says this includes parents and step-parents of Australian citizens or permanent residents, and asks for further information about the reason for the request — for example, proof that your child is an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
How should the documents be prepared?
Include English translations of your documents, and provide accurate information. The department's page repeats the point twice: it may decide your application without requesting further information from you. Uploading a partial file and hoping for a request is a strategy with no upside.
If someone is formally helping you, that relationship also needs a document. Use Form 956A to nominate someone to receive correspondence, and Form 956 to nominate a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person to give immigration assistance. Only those three categories of person can give immigration assistance.
This checklist is general information rather than advice about your individual circumstances, so treat the department's current page as controlling and check anything time-sensitive against the latest official publication before you lodge.
What happens after I submit?
Applications in this stream are made online through ImmiAccount, and the Department of Home Affairs will not process your application until the application fee is paid.
You must be outside Australia both when you apply and when the visa is decided, and you should not arrange travel to Australia until the department tells you in writing that the visa has been granted. After lodgement, the department may also ask for biometrics, health examinations, or further documents in ImmiAccount, and you should tell it if your circumstances change — a new address, phone number or passport, a change in relationship status, or the birth of a child.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there a fixed amount of money I must show?
The department's checklist names types of financial evidence rather than a set sum, including itemised personal bank statements for a 3 month period, pay slips, tax records and term deposits. The legal test in clause 600.212 is whether you have, or can access, adequate means to support yourself for the stay you have described.
Do I need to buy a return ticket before applying?
The page asks for "proof that you can return home" as one possible genuine visitor document, alongside employment, study, family and asset evidence. It does not list a purchased ticket as a required item, so the stronger approach is to document the ties and means that make returning the natural outcome.
Do I need a police certificate up front?
Not necessarily. The department says it may ask you to provide a police certificate, and asks you to provide military service records or discharge papers if those apply to you. Anything requested after lodgement should be attached in ImmiAccount as soon as you can.
Do my documents need to be in English?
Yes. The department instructs applicants to include English translations of their documents as part of submitting a complete application, and this applies across identity, genuine visitor and character evidence alike.
Can I travel to Australia while my application is being decided?
No travel should be arranged until you are told in writing that the visa is granted. You must also be outside Australia at the moment the decision is made, because that is a requirement of the Tourist stream applied for from outside Australia.
What if I forget to attach a document?
The department may decide your application without requesting further information from you, which makes completeness at lodgement important. If you did not attach everything, or if more is requested later, attach it as soon as you can in ImmiAccount.