The plain-English guide
Four Australian visas come up for entertainment work and people pick the wrong one every week. Three questions below sort it out. Then read the guide for your kind of job, and if you want it handled, the desk at 408visa takes it from there.
Visa finder
Built on the rules Home Affairs publishes, not on what a promoter told you in 2019. The result names the visa and the Australian-side requirement, and says why.
General information from Department of Home Affairs pages, not advice on your circumstances. Only a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person can give immigration assistance in Australia.
The four options
| 408 Entertainment Activities | 408 Invited Participant | 400 Short Stay Specialist | Visitor visa | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who | Performers, production staff, support staff on film, TV or live productions | Invited to a community-based event: promo appearance without performing, visual artist exhibiting, author at a festival, speaker, unticketed workshop | Highly specialised, non-ongoing work not reasonably available in Australia | Attending or taking part without entertaining or being paid to contribute |
| Maximum stay | Up to 2 years | Up to 3 months | Up to 6 months; over 3 needs a strong business case | Per visa conditions |
| Australian side | Supporter (outside AU, under 3 months) or approved sponsor | Supporter (outside AU, under 3 months) or sponsor (in AU) | None; employer contract or letter of offer | None |
| Apply from | In or outside Australia | In or outside Australia | Outside Australia only | Depends on visa |
| Union consultation | Most categories | Not required | Not required | Not required |
| Family | Can be included | Can be included | Included but cannot work or study | Separate applications |
| Home Affairs charge | From AUD 535 | From AUD 535 | From AUD 535 | Varies |
Home Affairs subclass 408 and 400 pages, checked 19 September 2026. Visitor visa details vary by passport and stream and are not covered here.
Guides
The artist, the band, the techs and the tour manager: one visa stream, three categories, and a rule about who counts as the Australian side.
Subsidised or not, the performer categories differ. Crew sit under production staff. Overseas-market documentaries and commercials have their own category.
Live performance other than film and television is its own category. Comedy festivals, touring theatre, orchestras and ensembles, and the coaches and dressers who travel with them.
Where the Entertainment stream stops and the Invited Participant stream starts: authors, speakers, exhibiting artists, promo appearances and the choreographer whose workshop ends with a show.
Australian Entertainment Visas explains the options in plain words, with every fact traced to a Home Affairs page and a date it was checked. No fees, no forms, no sales pitch on this page.
408visa is the entertainment-visa desk of TourHub Australia Pty Ltd. It sets up the Australian sponsor or supporter, runs union consultation, builds each person's document pack and tracks every application. Same people, different job.
Go to 408visa.com →Questions
Performers, production staff and support staff working on film, television or live productions use the Temporary Activity visa (subclass 408), Entertainment Activities stream. Stay of up to 2 years, multiple entry, family can be included. It needs an Australian supporter (under 3 months, applying from outside Australia) or an approved Temporary Activities Sponsor (in Australia, or 3 months or more).
Not if you are performing or working. Home Affairs points to a Visitor visa only for attending or taking part without entertaining or being paid to contribute. Anyone working in the entertainment industry as a performer, production or support staff must use the 408 Entertainment Activities stream.
Entertainment Activities is for working in the entertainment industry: performing, production or support roles, up to 2 years. The Other Social and Cultural Activity (Invited Participant) stream is for taking part in a community-based event without working as an entertainer, up to 3 months: an entertainer attending a promotional event without performing, a visual artist exhibiting, an author at a writers festival, a choreographer running a workshop with an unticketed closing performance.
Under the 408 Entertainment stream, crew need a supporter if applying from outside Australia for under 3 months, or an approved Temporary Activities Sponsor if applying in Australia or staying 3 months or more. A highly specialised technician doing short, non-ongoing work that cannot be found in Australia might instead fit the subclass 400, which has no sponsor but must be applied for from outside Australia.
The Home Affairs charge for the subclass 408 (both streams) and the subclass 400 is from AUD 535 for the main applicant, plus a charge per family member and any health, police certificate or biometrics costs. Charges usually change on 1 July. Figures checked 19 September 2026.
Home Affairs publishes no fixed processing time for the 408 Entertainment stream; its processing time guide shows recent decisions and incomplete applications take longer. Lodge as soon as contracts are signed and treat the grant, not the flight, as the deadline that matters.
In Australia only a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner or an exempt person can give immigration assistance. Coordinators such as 408visa handle the Australian sponsor or supporter side, union consultation, invitation letters and document packs, and refer to a registered migration agent where advice on a person's circumstances is needed.
A question the site did not answer?
Short questions get short answers, usually within an Australian working day. If it turns into a job, it goes to the desk.