The Temporary Work (Long Stay Activity) visa (subclass 401) is for people who want to come to Australia on a temporary basis under one of the four streams:
- Exchange stream: to work in a skilled position under a reciprocal staff exchange arrangement to:
- give participants an opportunity to experience another culture
- enhance international relations
- broaden participants’ experience and knowledge.
- Sport stream: to improve the quality of sport in Australia through participation in high-level competition with Australian residents to:
- participate in a specific event or series of events as an individual or as part of a team or its support staff
- play, coach or instruct for a sporting club for a season under contract
- judge or adjudicate a sporting competition or show.
- Religious Worker stream: to be a full-time religious worker, serving the religious objectives of a religious institution in Australia.
- Domestic Worker (Executive) stream: to work full time in the household of certain senior foreign executives.
This visa involves a three stage process:
- Sponsorship – an organisation, government agency or foreign government agency applies to become a long-stay activity sponsor
- Nomination – the long-stay activity sponsor nominates you to undertake an activity
- Visa – you apply for a Temporary Work (Long Stay Activity) visa (subclass 401).
This is a temporary visa. You can be in or outside Australian when you apply for this visa:
Applying in Australia: If you apply in Australia, you must be in Australia when the visa is granted.
Applying outside Australia: If you apply outside Australia, you must be outside Australia when your visa is granted.
What this visa lets you do
This visa allows you to:
- stay in Australia for the period of the nominated position, with a maximum stay of two years
- do the work or activity specified in your nomination
- bring eligible family members with you to Australia
- enter and leave Australia as many times as you want while your visa is valid.
Before you apply
Before you can apply for this visa:
- an organisation or agency must apply to become an approved sponsor (see the ‘Sponsors’ tab for more information about how an organisation can do this)
- the sponsor must apply to nominate you for a particular position (see the ‘Nominate’ tab for an explanation of how to nominate a visa applicant).
Your passport
If you plan to get a new passport, you should do so before applying for your visa. In most cases, you and your family members must have valid passports to be granted this visa.
No further stay condition
You cannot apply for this visa if you already hold another visa that has a ‘No further stay’ condition.
Contact us if you are not sure whether your current visa conditions prevent you from applying for a further visa while you are in Australia.
Cost
The visa application charges are listed in Fees and charges.
Other costs
You might have to pay other costs, such as the costs of health assessments, police certificates, or any other certificates or tests. You are responsible for making the necessary arrangements.
Definitions
The following definitions are used in these pages:
- Australian organisation: a body corporate, a partnership or an unincorporated association (other than an individual or a sole trader) that is lawfully established in Australia
- foreign government agency:
- an organisation conducted under the official auspices of a foreign national government and operating in Australia, including overseas tourist and media bureaus, trade offices and other foreign government entities
- a foreign diplomatic or consular mission with a presence in Australia
- an organisation conducted under the official auspices of an international organisation that is recognised by Australia and that is operating in Australia (such as the United Nations).
- government agency: an agency of the Australian Government or of an Australian state or territory government
- religious institution: an organisation that is operating lawfully in Australia, provided that:
- the organisation’s objectives and activities reflect its character as a body instituted for the promotion of some religious object
- the beliefs and practices of the members of the organisation constitute a religion
- sporting organisation: an Australian organisation that is lawfully operating in Australia, or an Australian government agency or a foreign government agency, that administers or promotes sport or sporting events.
