Invited for other social and cultural activity

Subclass 408 – Invited for other social and cultural activity (Invited Participant) lets you come to Australia if you are invited to participate in a community-based event, including sporting events. You and your family who travel on the visa with you can stay here for up to 3 months.

With this visa, you can

Examples of cultural or social events

You might be:

• an individual sportsperson or member of a sports team, or team support staff such as a manager, medic, coach, referee or official. But you are not eligible for this stream if you have been contracted to play for or coach an Australian team
• a minister conducting religious services or taking part in other religious activities as the guest of an Australian religious institution
• working at a religious event
• an academic invited by a tertiary academic institution to lecture, hold workshops or take part in research
• a public speaker or lecturer
• speaking, presenting or lecturing at a trade fair, expo, exhibition, conference, workshop or seminar
• an entertainer attending specific promotional events, but not performing
• an artist making visual art or exhibiting your work
• an author, presenting your work to an audience at a writers festival
• a choreographer conducting a dance workshop that includes an unticketed closing performance

If you are a competitor in a non-sporting competition such as a dance competition, music competition, online gaming competition or student competition, you might also consider a Visitor visa.

Other visa options

Depending on your reasons for travel, another stream of this visa or a different visa might be more suitable.

The Entertainment stream must be used if you are:

• an entertainer or performer working in the Australian Entertainment industry
• production crew for a competition being filmed in Australia
• a journalist or other media personnel covering an event for an Australian audience

The Sports stream might be more suitable if you are:

• a sportsperson contracted to play for or coach an Australian sporting team
• a sports trainee taking part in a high-level structured sports training program of more than 3 months

The Religious Work stream might be better for you if you are doing full-time religious work.

The Research stream might be better for you if you are invited by a tertiary academic institution to take part in research for more than 3 months.

The Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) (subclass 400) visa might be more suitable if you are:

• a journalist or other media covering an event, where coverage is not intended for an Australian audience
• someone else working at the event,such as a project manager or specialised construction worker

A Visitor visa might be more suitable if you are:

• attending or taking part in a trade fair, expo, exhibition, religious or cultural event, conference, workshop or seminar, but you are not entertaining or being paid to contribute
• an amateur sportsperson training or taking part in a recreational match
• an unpaid volunteer supporting an amateur sportsperson or team