Visas for living and working in Australia

New Zealand citizens who travel on a New Zealand passport are usually granted a Special Category visa (subclass 444) on arrival. It lets you visit, live, work and study in Australia for as long as you remain a New Zealand citizen. Each family member needs their own visa; family members who are not New Zealand citizens must apply for another visa before they travel.

Many passport holders can visit with an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA, subclass 601), applied for through the Australian ETA app (a service charge of AUD20 applies), or an eVisitor (subclass 651) for European passport holders. Both let you stay up to 3 months per entry within a 12-month validity period, and neither is a work visa: you cannot do paid work for an Australian employer. To live or work here you need one of the visas below, usually granted before you travel.

The Skills in Demand (SID) visa lets an Australian employer sponsor a skilled worker for a position it cannot fill with a suitably skilled Australian. You must be nominated by an approved sponsor, have the skills for the job and meet the English requirement. In the Core Skills stream you also need at least 1 year of relevant work experience.

• Streams: Specialist Skills, Core Skills and Labour Agreement.
• Salary floor: the nomination must meet an income threshold. For nominations lodged between 1 July 2026 and 30 June 2027, the Core Skills Income Threshold is AUD79,423 and the Specialist Skills Income Threshold is AUD146,576, and you must be paid at least the market salary rate for the job.
• Length of stay: up to 4 years (up to 5 years for Hong Kong passport holders).
• Health insurance: you must keep adequate health insurance for your whole stay as a visa condition.
• If your job ends: you have up to 180 days to find a new employer or arrange to leave Australia.
• Next steps: your employer may later sponsor you for permanent residence, for example through the Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186), a permanent visa for workers nominated by their employer.

These permanent visas do not need an employer. You first lodge an Expression of Interest (EOI) in SkillSelect, are ranked against other candidates and may be invited to apply.

• Skilled Independent (subclass 189): you need an occupation on the relevant skilled occupation list, a suitable skills assessment, at least competent English, an invitation, and an EOI score of at least 65 points. You are not invited if you turn 45 before the invitation. A skills assessment without a stated validity period is valid for 3 years.
• Skilled Nominated (subclass 190): similar requirements, but you must be nominated by a state or territory government agency, such as the NSW Government, which can see your EOI.
• Both are permanent: you can live, work and study anywhere in Australia, enrol in Medicare and, if eligible, later apply for citizenship. The travel facility lasts 5 years from the grant.

Invitation rounds and processing priorities change; Home Affairs publishes the current processing dates on each visa page.

The Working Holiday Maker programme is for young adults who want an extended holiday and to work to fund it.

• Working Holiday (subclass 417): for passport holders of eligible countries aged 18 to 30, or 18 to 35 for some countries (including Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom).
• Work and Holiday (subclass 462): for eligible countries, ages 18 to 30, usually with an education requirement (such as a tertiary qualification) and at least functional English. Places are limited for each country except the United States, and passport holders of China, India and Vietnam must enter a pre-application ballot.
• You must apply from outside Australia, cannot be accompanied by dependent children and usually need to show about AUD5,000 to support yourself, plus your fare home.
• Once you enter you can stay up to 12 months, study for up to 4 months, and usually work for the same employer for up to 6 months. Doing 3 months of specified work can make you eligible for a second visa.

Home Affairs says average processing for most working holiday applications is expected to be around three months (October 2026), and asks you not to book flights until your visa is granted.

• Student visa (subclass 500): for full-time study with a registered provider. New rules on who can apply while in Australia and on including family members took effect on 2 October 2026. Student visas usually limit how much you can work; check your conditions in VEVO.
• Partner and family visas: there are partner visas (for example the combined 820/801 and 309/100 applications) and other family visas for some relatives of Australians. Use the Home Affairs visa finder to see which ones fit your situation.

• Check your conditions in VEVO. You can also use VEVO to send proof of your visa conditions to an employer, landlord or bank.
• Enter on the right passport: if you hold more than one passport, travel on the one linked to your visa.
• Keep your details up to date: tell Home Affairs if your passport, address or circumstances change.
• Your workplace rights do not depend on your visa: the Fair Work Ombudsman says migrant workers have the same rights to pay and conditions as other employees, and your employer cannot cancel your visa; only Home Affairs can grant, refuse or cancel visas.

Permanent residents can usually apply for citizenship by conferral when they have lived in Australia on a valid visa for 4 years immediately before applying, including the last 12 months as a permanent resident (or Special Category visa holder), with no more than 12 months' absence in total in those 4 years and no more than 90 days in the last 12 months. In October 2026 the application costs AUD285 for applicants aged 18 to 59 who must sit the citizenship test.