Subclass 408 Temporary Activity Visa — Streams, Sponsorship and Timing

MARN 1576536

What the 408 is for

The Temporary Activity visa (subclass 408) lets a person come to or stay in Australia to do a specific activity that an Australian organisation supports or sponsors. It is not an employer-sponsored work visa in the 482 sense: there is no occupation list, no salary threshold and no labour market testing. Instead the Department asks whether the activity fits one of the streams, whether the organisation behind it is appropriate, and whether the applicant is genuinely coming for that activity and that period.

The streams

• Research activities: observing or participating in a research project at an Australian research institution or university, typically as a visiting academic or research fellow.
• Sporting activities: playing, coaching, instructing, adjudicating or participating in high-level sporting competition or training with an Australian organisation.
• Religious work: full-time religious work for a religious institution.
• Entertainment activities: performing, or supporting a production, film, television or live performance.
• Special program: approved programs such as youth exchanges, cultural enrichment and community-based programs.
• Staff exchange arrangements: skilled staff exchanged between an overseas organisation and an Australian one.
• Domestic worker (executive), superyacht crew, Australian Government endorsed events, and invited participant / other social and cultural activity streams for narrower cases.

Support versus sponsorship

For a stay of up to three months, the Australian organisation can simply support the application with a letter. For a stay longer than three months, the organisation generally must be approved as a temporary activities sponsor and lodge a nomination before the visa can be granted, which adds a sponsorship application, obligations, and time. Universities and sporting bodies that regularly host visitors usually hold sponsorship already; a first-time host does not, and the sponsorship application has to be built into the timeline. Getting this wrong at the start is the most common reason a 408 misses its intended start date.

Research activities

The research stream suits visiting fellows, PhD visitors and collaborators with a defined project. The invitation letter from the institution has to describe the project, the applicant’s role, the dates, funding (a grant, the institution, the applicant’s own means), and the institution’s support or sponsorship. Stays of up to two years are possible. Processing for this stream has been slow in 2026; applications lodged in mid-year have waited several months with no request issued. An applicant with a fixed start date needs the file lodged early and complete, and a plan for the gap if the visa is not decided in time.

Sporting activities

Players, coaches and instructors engaged by an Australian club, league or sporting organisation use this stream. The organisation’s letter or contract has to show the level of competition or activity, the role, the period and the remuneration. Where the role is in substance ongoing employment, the Department may question the fit; sporting organisations wanting to retain a person long term should plan the next visa (often the 482 or a direct-entry 186 where the occupation is listed) early, because the 408 holder onshore can apply for it.

Cost, timing and onshore applications

The visa application charge is $535 for the main applicant, $535 for each additional adult and $135 per child, plus $700 subsequent temporary application charge where the application is made in Australia. The visa can be applied for onshore by a person holding a substantive visa, which makes it a lawful bridge for people whose current visa is ending and whose next step is a defined activity; it does not, however, give work rights beyond the activity. Family members can be included.

What the application turns on

• The organisation’s letter saying exactly what the stream requires: activity, role, dates, funding, support or sponsorship.
• The right decision on support versus sponsorship for the length of stay.
• The applicant’s genuineness: qualifications and background that fit the activity, intention to leave or move lawfully to the next visa.
• Health insurance for the stay, and the health and character criteria.
• Lodging early enough for the current processing time, with everything attached so no request for information is needed.

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.