403 Visa – International Relations

TEMPORARY WORK (INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS) SUBCLASS 403

This visa allows you to come to Australia on a temporary basis:

  • in relation to a bilateral agreement (Government Agreement stream)
  • to represent a foreign government or to teach a foreign language in an Australian school (Foreign Government Agency stream)
  • to do domestic work for a diplomat (Domestic Worker stream)
  • as a person with statutory privileges and immunities (Privileges and Immunities stream)
  • to participate in the program of seasonal work (Seasonal Worker Program stream)

This is a temporary 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.

Note: The Seasonal Worker Program stream visa can only be applied for and granted outside Australia.

Requirements

The Temporary Work (International Relations) visa (subclass 403) allows you to come to Australia under one of five streams:

you meet the requirements for one of the streams within this visa.

  • Government Agreement stream: to come to Australia under the terms and conditions of a bilateral agreement between the Australian Government or an Australian state or territory government and the government of another country.
  • Foreign Government Agency stream: for a representative of a foreign government who will not be given official status in Australia by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), or a person who is to be employed as a foreign language teacher by a foreign government in an Australian school.
  • Domestic Worker (Diplomatic or Consular) stream: to do domestic work in the household of someone who holds a Diplomatic (Temporary) visa (subclass 995).
  • Privileges and Immunities stream: for a person with privileges and immunities under the International Organisations (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1963 or the Overseas Missions (Privileges and Immunities) Act 1995.
  • Seasonal Worker Program stream: to come to Australia to work as a seasonal labourer in selected industries for Australian employers who cannot source local labour You must be invited by an approved Temporary Activities sponsor to participate in the Seasonal Worker Program. This program is limited to selected countries only.

A sponsorship lasts for up to five years.

If you are approved as a temporary activities sponsor, you can apply to vary (extend) your sponsorship before it expires to allow you to continue to sponsor people. If the sponsorship period expires, you will need to reapply and be approved as a sponsor, to sponsor further visa applicants.

Who can sponsor a Seasonal Worker

For the Seasonal Worker Programme, the sponsor must be an approved employer recruiting seasonal workers for the horticulture, tourism (accommodation), aquaculture, sugar cane and cotton industries.

To be a sponsor, your organisation must be lawfully established and actively operating in Australia. In addition:

  • you must be an Australian organisation or government agency
  • there must be nothing adverse known about your organisation or it is reasonable to disregard any adverse information
  • if your organisation has previously sponsored overseas workers to Australia, you must have a satisfactory record of complying with Australian laws.