Subclass 400 Short Stay Specialist Visa — Who It Fits, Limits, Cost and Timing

MARN 1576536

What the 400 is for

The Temporary Work (Short Stay Specialist) visa (subclass 400) lets a person come to Australia to do short-term, highly specialised, non-ongoing work. The typical user is an overseas manufacturer sending an engineer to install equipment it sold to an Australian buyer, a multinational flying in a specialist for a project phase, or an Australian business engaging an overseas expert for a defined task that no one locally can perform. It can also be used, in limited circumstances, to participate in an activity at the invitation of an Australian organisation.

Highly specialised and non-ongoing

Two tests decide most applications. Highly specialised means the work needs skills, knowledge or experience that are not reasonably available in Australia: proprietary equipment knowledge, a rare technical skill, or expertise tied to the overseas organisation. The application should show why an Australian worker could not do it. Non-ongoing means the work has a defined end; it is not a role in the business. Work that would continue after the specialist leaves, or that is the kind of work the business employs people to do, points to the 482 instead.

What the Australian business provides

• A letter of support describing the business, the work, why it is specialised, why it is non-ongoing, the dates and who pays.
• The contract or purchase agreement that gives rise to the work, where there is one.
• Evidence that Australian workers were not reasonably available, where the point is not obvious from the nature of the work.
• Confirmation of the applicant’s remuneration and that Australian workplace law and conditions will be observed.

There is no sponsorship application, no nomination and no labour market testing. The business does not take on sponsorship obligations. That simplicity is why the 400 is preferred for genuinely short work, and why the Department polices the specialised and non-ongoing limits.

Stay period and repeat use

The visa is usually granted for a stay of up to three months. A stay of up to six months can be granted where a strong business case is made, typically for a project phase that genuinely needs the longer period. Repeated 400 visas for the same person with the same business, back to back, are treated as evidence that the work is in fact ongoing, and later applications are refused on that basis. A business that needs the person for longer should move to the 482 while the 400 holder is still lawfully in the arrangement.

Cost and processing

The visa application charge is $535 for the main applicant, $535 per additional adult and $135 per child. The application is made from outside Australia, and the applicant must be outside Australia when it is decided. Processing is generally measured in weeks rather than months, which is the point of the visa, but a file that raises questions about the specialised or non-ongoing nature of the work can be delayed by a request for information, which is why the support letter is written carefully the first time.

When the 400 is the wrong visa

• The work is ongoing or is a role in the business: 482 Skills in Demand.
• The person is coming for a research project, sporting activity, religious work or entertainment production: 408 Temporary Activity.
• The person is in Australia already: the 400 cannot be applied for onshore.
• The purpose is structured training rather than specialist work: 407 Training visa.
• The visit is for meetings, negotiations or conferences without hands-on work: a business visitor visa.

General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.