Check the visa before collecting files
This guide covers the Visitor visa (subclass 600) Tourist stream for applicants outside Australia. Other Visitor 600 streams, an ETA or an eVisitor can have different eligibility and application steps. Home Affairs requires you to be outside Australia when you apply for the overseas Tourist stream and when it decides your application.
There is no universal file bundle or fixed bank balance that guarantees approval. Read the official “Step by step” tab and the attachment prompts in ImmiAccount, then use the groups below to organise evidence that is relevant to you.
Official overseas Tourist stream · Read our full Visitor 600 guide →
Make your identity easy to verify
Prepare the pages of your current passport showing your photo, personal details, issue date and expiry date. Home Affairs also asks for a national identity card if you have one and evidence of any name change, such as a marriage certificate or other official change-of-name document. Check that every name and date in your form matches the documents.
If you plan to renew your passport, read the official advice before applying. A mismatch between passport details and the application can create avoidable follow-up work.
Show why you are travelling
Describe the purpose, approximate dates and plans for your stay. An itinerary can help, but it should reflect your actual intentions. Outline your previous travel history if you have one. If the trip is urgent or compassionate, include evidence explaining why. If you are visiting family or friends, an invitation can explain your relationship, the length and purpose of the visit and whether you will stay with them. If they will pay for your stay, Home Affairs says to provide proof of their funds too.
An invitation is supporting evidence, not a visa approval or a substitute for your own application. The Tourist stream differs from the Sponsored Family stream, which has separate formal sponsorship requirements.
Download a travel-plan outline ↓ · How to write an invitation → · Official genuine-visitor examples
Connect the trip to your circumstances
Home Affairs asks for evidence that you have, or can access, enough money for the stay and departure. Its examples include itemised personal bank statements covering three months, payslips, tax records or other financial records. Choose truthful documents that show the money actually available for your visit and who will pay.
Also show why the visit is temporary. Examples on the official page include an employer letter confirming your return to work, current study, immediate family, a right to return to your country of residence, or major assets. Use what actually applies; you do not need to claim every example.
How to show funds and plan a trip budget → · How to show reasons to return → · Official funds and return-evidence examples · Home Affairs visitor application tips
Check parental and care documents
Applicants under 18 need extra evidence. Home Affairs lists a birth certificate naming both parents and copies of parent or guardian passports. If a parent or guardian is not travelling, consent evidence may be required, using Form 1229 or a statutory declaration. If the child will stay with someone other than a relative or legal guardian, check the Form 1257 undertaking requirement.
Review the exact instructions for the child’s circumstances before collecting signatures or uploading forms.
Child Visitor 600 consent and document guide → · Official under-18 document guidance · Official Form 1229
Translate and check before submitting
Scan or photograph documents in colour so every page is legible. Keep a multi-page document together as one file. Translate non-English documents into English; Home Affairs explains which translator details to provide inside and outside Australia. Upload requested documents through ImmiAccount and check its messages after lodgement. Home Affairs may decide an application without asking for missing information.
Biometrics, health examinations and police certificates depend on the application and later requests. Follow the instructions Home Affairs sends rather than booking every service in advance. See our biometrics guide if you receive a request letter.
How to translate and upload documents → · Official decision-ready advice · Open ImmiAccount
Only asked for a travel document before payment?
Do not infer from one visible prompt that identity is the only evidence relevant to a Visitor 600 Tourist application. Home Affairs says the online form tells you whether attachments are required before or after submission. Read the overseas Tourist stream's Step by step → Gather your documents section for the evidence that fits your trip, then follow your own ImmiAccount prompts.
If you already submitted and the application is still awaiting a decision, open View details → Attach documents in ImmiAccount. Add omitted relevant evidence as soon as you can under the appropriate type or Additional documents → Other Documents, then check for Received. Home Affairs can decide on what it has; a later upload is not a promise that an incomplete application will be held. You cannot attach files once the application is finalised.
Full after-submission upload steps → · Tourist stream evidence examples · Official attachment guidance · Home Affairs decision-ready warning
Organise your Visitor 600 evidence
Use a three-page planning sheet to explain your trip, map supporting documents and track any request. You can also build a passport and residence checklist in the planner.