| email | visa information | contact | news | home | AUSTRALIAN VISA INFORMATION For an obligation free assessment of the likelyhood of obtaining an Australian Visa, click here; There are four main visa types which allow work in Australia; Tourist Visa Class 676 (no work permitted); The 676 visa is a tourist visa, with no ability to work in Australia. Should a person on this type of visa wish to take up employment, a business sponsorship is required. Transferring to a business visa would negate the ability to claim a living away from home allowance as the traveller has come to Australia of their own free will. Working Holiday Visa Class 417 (max 90 days work at any employer); The 417 visa is aimed a young people who wish to work primarily to support a holiday. The visa conditions do not allow the holder to work for one company for a period of longer than 3 months. Should a person on a working holiday visa require to work for longer periods of time, it may be possible to sponsor them on a business visa. Transferring to a business visa would negate the ability to claim a living away from home allowance as the traveller has come to Australia of their own free will. Short Term Business Visa (456/956 unrestricted work up to 90 days); The 456 visa is a work visa which is aimed at short term work requirements. It allows the holder to stay in the country and work unrestricted for a period of up to 3 months. The holder must then leave the country but may re-enter and continue working. This is intended for business persons who travel to Australia regularly. If full time work for longer than 90 days is undertaken, then the long term 457 visa is required. For speed of processing, it may be convenient to use the 456 (or the electronic version of this known as a 956, in the countries where this is available, e.g. UK, NZ)to arrive in Australia, and transfer this to a long term business visa, type 457, after arrival. Long Term Business Visa (457 unrestricted work for sponsor for up to 4 years); The 457 visa is a long term work visa which requires the holder to be sponsored by an Australian business. It allows the holder to work for the sponsor and leave and re-enter the country unrestricted. The only restriction is that the holder must work for the sponsor. For qualified IT contractors wishing to obtain the long term business visa, it is possible to arrange sponsorship while the contractor is still in their home country. However this can be slow to grant 457, typically it is 4 - 6 weeks and may take longer, depending on country. Another option is to obtain the 456 Visa in the home country. Some countries, such as the UK and US, have arrangements whereby this type of visa may be obtained electronically (type 956) from an approved travel agent at the same time as obtaining a ticket. This allows entry and work, and this visa may then be converted to a 457 after arrival. Note: If you intend to work in Australia, we suggest that you do not travel on a tourist visa, as you will not be able to work at all until the long term business Visa Type 457 is approved (probably 4-8 weeks). For an obligation free assessment of the likelyhood of obtaining an Australian Visa, please click here.