600 Visitors - Family Or Tourist?

[WayneM 34]

Now that we are settled here and the covid situation is calming down, we have family members that are starting to think about visiting. (We have family from the UK from my side, and Indian citizens on my wife's side).

Just looking at visitor visa 600 there seems to be streams for general tourism and one for family sponsored. These appear to be identical, the difference being that one requires a family member to sponsor the applicant and potentially provide funds to be held to one side until the visitors leave.

I am unsure why anybody would apply for the sponsored route given the complication - though I do wonder if we have elderly parents wanting to visit for a few months or so whether the sponsored route would be looked upon more favourably in terms of the visa length granted.

Is anybody in the know about the difference and why these two routes exist instead of just the one? When we lived in the UK, I sponsored in-laws when they visited and provided a letter stating I would provide accommodation etc.

Edited October 2, 2022 by WayneM
fix title

[NickyNook 676]

Pretty sure that the sponsor/bond visa route is really for certain people from high-risk countries who want to visit - where there's a higher risk that they won't leave at the end of their visa. I think the department advises applicants if this visa is required. 

[Ken 1,524]

We have my mother-in-law visiting. We applied for a 600 Tourist visa for an intended stay of 6 months. We didn't go through the sponsorship hoops but answered the "Give details of how the stay in Australia will be funded" question by saying we would be paying all the costs and included our bank statements. She's visited twice before and the previous visas were just for the visits we asked for but this time they've issued a 3-year visa which allows her to stay for up to 12 months each visit provided she doesn't exceed 12 months in any 18 months.

A condition of the visa is 8501: maintain adequate health insurance.

Edited October 9, 2022 by Ken

[Raul Senise 2,054]

Tourist visas, especially from high risk counties have high refusal rates at the moment. 

A family sponsored family sponsored tourist visa would require a bond be paid by the sponsoring family, which is forfeited if the applicant does not depart by their visa expiry date.

[WayneM 34]

I forgot about this post. Many thanks for your answers.

When I called Home Affairs to enquire, they suggested that their primary concern would be ensuring that their primary concern was about the applicant's ability to meet any incurred costs, both from their welfare point of view, in addition to any state expenses that may occur, i.e. medical bills. Particularly relevant I guess for countries without a reciprocal healthcare agreement.

We went down the sponsored route, so it leaves it at their judgement whether to request a 15k bond or not. I'll post the results for the record, in case it helps anybody in a similar situation.