Sporting Activities 408 Visa

Sporting Activities 408 Visa

Subclass 408 – Temporary Activity Visa Sporting Activities stream allows sportsperson, elite level trainees and adjudicators to come to Australia for up to 2 years to play, coach, instruct or adjudicate for an Australian sporting team or organisation or engage in high-level sports training. With this visa, you can:

Take part in a structured sports training program at the national or international level
Play for, coach instruct or adjudicate for an Australian sporting team or sporting organisation for a season
Travel to and from Australia as many times as you want while your visa is valid
Include members of the family unit in your application

To be eligible for this visa:

Have a sponsor or supporter
You must not work outside of the contracted sporting activity
Take part in full-time structured sports training aimed at achieving a high performance outcome with an internationally recognised sports training organisation (only if applying as a sports trainee)
Meet health and character
Have adequate health insurance

Related: Sports Visa Lawyers: Tailored visa advice for sporting visits to Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Canada and the UK

Sponsorship test

The sponsor must be a relevant ‘sporting organisation’ and must apply to be an approved temporary activities sponsor. Applicants for this visa need a sponsor if they apply in Australia or apply outside of Australia and intend to stay in Australia for more than 3 months. The sponsor must:

Be an approved sponsor
Agree in writing to sponsor the visa applicant and members of their family unit who intend to travel with them
Not withdraw that agreement

Support test

The supporter must be a relevant ‘sporting organisation’ and must pass the support test. Applicant’s for this visa do not need a supporter if they apply outside Australia and intend to stay in Australia for less than 3 months. To be a supporter, you do not need to submit an application.

To meet the support test, supporter must provide a letter of support on an organisation’s letterhead and must identity:

The visa applicant and any family members who intend to travel with them
The work and the applicant will take do
What the applicant’s activities will be
When and where the applicant will be engaged

What is a sporting organisation?

For the purpose of this visa, sporting organisation can be an Australian organisation, government agency or foreign government agency that administers or promotes sport or sporting events.

If the organisation is supporting a spots trainee, the organisation:

Must have an international reputation for training elite sportspeople or adjudicators
Can’t be a sporting cub that primarily competes below the Australian national level for the sport