The person whose circumstances the visa is mainly assessed on. Partners and children included in the application add their own charges, and where the primary applicant was at lodgement can decide their place in the processing order.
Australian immigration glossary
The terms you meet in visa letters, Home Affairs pages and our guides, each in plain English and linked to the guide that explains it in full. Checked 8 November 2026.
64 terms defined40 guides linked8 Nov 2026 last checked
- Administrative Review TribunalART
The tribunal that reviews most refused visa decisions on their merits. The deadline is short, commonly 21 calendar days from the decision for onshore refusals, with no extensions. Some decisions can't go to it: a refused 8503 waiver, for example, is final.
- ANZSCO
The Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations. Your occupation, matched to an ANZSCO code, decides which visas and occupation lists are open to you, and a skills assessment checks your qualifications and experience against the code you claim.
- Balance of family test
The test parent visas apply to the parent's children. The parent passes if at least half of their children (stepchildren included) are Australian citizens, or permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens usually resident in Australia, or if more of their children are eligible than live in any other single country. A child here on a temporary visa doesn't count. The Department says it won't waive the test, even in compelling or exceptional circumstances.
- Bridging visaBVA, BVB, BVC, BVE
A visa that keeps you lawful while something else happens: a new application is decided, a review runs, or you arrange to leave. The letter decides whether you can work, travel and re-enter. A Bridging Visa A comes with a valid onshore application, a Bridging Visa B is the only one that allows travel, a Bridging Visa C covers applications lodged without holding a visa, and a Bridging Visa E is the last-resort lawful status.
- Capping and queueing
The limit on how many visas of a type the Department can grant in a program year. Every parent visa is capped and queued: once the year's number is reached, nothing more is granted until the next year, however complete an application is, and applications wait in the queue meanwhile.
- Character requirementsection 501
The requirement under section 501 of the Migration Act that visa applicants must satisfy: broadly, no substantial criminal record (12 months or more of imprisonment, counted cumulatively), no serious conduct concerns, and honest disclosure. Police certificates are usually needed from Australia and every country you've lived in for 12 months or more, cumulatively, in the last ten years since turning 16.
- Citizenship by conferral
The usual way a permanent resident becomes an Australian citizen. It generally requires four years of lawful residence, including the final 12 months as a permanent resident, with no more than 12 months away in the four years and no more than 90 days in the last year. Most applicants sit a 20-question test and attend a ceremony.
- Competent English
The English level most skilled and employer-sponsored permanent visas ask for, roughly IELTS 6 in each band. The five levels, lowest to highest, are functional, vocational, competent, proficient and superior. The points test pays 10 points for proficient and 20 for superior.
- Condition 8503No Further Stay
A visa condition that stops the holder being granted another substantive visa, other than a protection visa, while they remain in Australia. It can be placed on many temporary visas, including the Visitor visa (subclass 600). Home Affairs can waive it only where compelling and compassionate circumstances outside your control have developed since the grant, and its decision on a waiver is final.
- Confirmation of EnrolmentCoE
The enrolment document a Student visa application needs for every course. Without a CoE at lodgement the application is invalid, and the course must be full time and registered on CRICOS.
- Contributory parent visa
A parent visa that costs close to six times the non-contributory version, much of it a large second instalment, and in return moves through the queue faster. The Department's estimates are about 15 years for a contributory parent visa lodged today, against about 33 years for a non-contributory one.
- Core Skills Income ThresholdCSIT
The salary floor for the Core Skills stream of the Skills in Demand (482) visa. It is indexed each 1 July and is $79,423 from 1 July 2026.
- Core Skills Occupation ListCSOL
The list of around 456 occupations that governs the Core Skills stream of the 482 and the employer-sponsored permanent pathways. Lists are reviewed periodically, so check the current CSOL against your nominated occupation before gathering documents.
- De facto relationship
A couple in a genuine relationship who aren't married. A partner visa usually needs 12 months of de facto history before you apply, although registering the relationship in your state generally removes that requirement.
- Designated regional area
The postcodes regional visa holders must live and work in. They cover everywhere except Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, so Perth, Adelaide, the Gold Coast, Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra and Hobart all qualify.
- Direct Entry stream
The subclass 186 stream for skilled workers without the sponsored work history the Temporary Residence Transition stream needs, most commonly someone an employer is recruiting from overseas. It asks for a suitable skills assessment and at least three years of relevant experience.
- Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186)ENS
The main way an employer turns a sponsored worker into a permanent resident. Most applicants come through the Temporary Residence Transition stream after two years of sponsored work, or through the Direct Entry stream.
- Expression of InterestEOI
Your profile in SkillSelect for a points-tested skilled visa, carrying your claimed points score. An EOI is free, lasts two years and can be updated, but only an invitation lets you apply. Updating your score resets your place among candidates on the same score.
- Family violence provisions
An exception in the partner visa rules. If the relationship was genuine and ended because of family violence from the sponsor, the permanent partner visa may still be granted, provided the other requirements are met.
- Form 888
The form a supporting witness can use to confirm a partner visa relationship, signed as true. Two witnesses aged 18 or over who know you both usually provide statements, alongside the couple's other evidence. Home Affairs notes that Form 888 is not a statutory declaration.
- Functional English
The lowest English level, roughly IELTS 4.5 overall. On some permanent visas, a family member aged 18 or over who can't show at least functional English attracts a second instalment, paid when the Department asks.
- Genuine and continuing relationship
What a partner visa has to show. The 820/801 and 309/100 pathways assess it against the same four categories of evidence: financial, household, social and commitment.
- Genuine Student requirementGS
The test every Student visa (subclass 500) applicant must satisfy: a structured assessment, through targeted questions about your circumstances, your course choice and what it does for your future, of whether you genuinely intend to study. It replaced the old genuine temporary entrant essay.
- Health requirement
The requirement most visa applicants meet through examinations by approved panel physicians (Bupa Medical Visa Services onshore). The question isn't whether you are healthy but whether a condition is likely to mean significant healthcare and community-service costs, or limit access for Australians. Several permanent visas carry health waivers.
- ImmiAccount
The Department of Home Affairs' online account for lodging and managing visa applications and paying the charges. The total on its payment screen is what you pay.
- Labour agreement
An agreement an employer negotiates directly with the government to sponsor workers for genuinely unlisted, essential roles. It can carry its own terms on things like age and salary, and the lower-paid Essential Skills stream of the 482 runs through labour agreements.
- Labour market testingLMT
The requirement that an employer advertise a position in Australia before nominating an overseas worker, so Home Affairs can see a genuine attempt to find a suitable Australian or New Zealand citizen or permanent resident first. The standard is two advertisements, each running for at least four weeks, within the four months before the nomination is lodged. Citizens of some countries are exempt under Australia's trade agreements.
- Merits review
A fresh look at a refused decision by the Administrative Review Tribunal, which stands in the shoes of the original decision-maker and can consider new evidence. It isn't a court appeal. The other options after most refusals are a fresh application, ministerial intervention and judicial review in the courts.
- Ministerial Direction
A written direction from the Minister that sets how the Department handles applications, for example the order they are processed in. Direction 117 sets the family visa order, Directions 121 and 122 set the skilled visa order, and Direction 123 replaced Direction 110 on character decisions.
- National Innovation visa (subclass 858)
Australia's permanent visa for people with an internationally recognised record of exceptional achievement in research, business, technology, sport or the arts. It replaced the Global Talent visa on 6 December 2024 and is invitation-based: you submit an expression of interest, and only invited candidates can apply.
- Nomination
The employer's application to fill a specific position with a sponsored worker, separate from the worker's own visa application. The nomination fee and the Skilling Australians Fund levy are the employer's costs by law and can't be recovered from the worker.
- Partner visa820/801, 309/100
A two-stage visa: a temporary partner visa first and a permanent one about two years later, on one application and one fee. Apply in Australia (820/801) and you usually wait here on a bridging visa with work rights; apply from overseas (309/100) and you wait outside Australia.
- Permanent residencePR
Holding a permanent visa, which lets you live in Australia indefinitely. The right to come back after travelling runs on a separate clock, the travel facility, usually five years from your first permanent visa grant.
- Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) visa (subclass 191)
The permanent visa that follows the 491 or 494. You need three years in designated regional Australia and ATO notices of assessment for three income years. There is no second nomination, no new points test and no minimum income.
- Points test
The scoring system for the 189, 190 and 491 skilled visas. You need at least 65 points to lodge an expression of interest, with points mainly from age, English, work experience and qualifications, but invitations go to the highest-ranked candidates, so competitive scores usually sit well above 65.
- Primary applicant
- Priority sectors
The occupations Ministerial Directions 121 and 122 process first, wherever the applicant was when they applied: construction, healthcare, teaching, agriculture, aquaculture, fishing, resources, and law enforcement and defence.
- Prospective Marriage visa (subclass 300)
A visa that lets you travel to Australia to marry your sponsor, then apply for a Partner visa (subclass 820 and 801) before it expires. It doesn't depend on the 12-month de facto rule.
- Public Interest Criterion 4020PIC 4020
The rule that deals with false or misleading information and non-disclosure in an application. A PIC 4020 finding attaches a three-year bar and follows you across future applications.
- Registered migration agentMARN
A migration agent registered with the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA). Each holds a Migration Agents Registration Number (MARN), which anyone can check on OMARA's public register.
- Request for informationRFI
A request from the Department for more documents or details while it processes an application. Every RFI adds a round trip measured in weeks or months, and most are avoidable at lodgement.
- Resident Return visa (subclass 155)RRV
The visa a permanent resident needs to come back to Australia as a permanent resident once the travel facility on their permanent visa has expired. Spending at least two of the last five years in Australia is the usual basis.
- Second instalment
A further visa charge paid before some visas are granted, on top of the charge at lodgement. It applies to contributory parent visas, and to adult family members without functional English on some applications. If it isn't paid, the application is refused.
- Section 48 bar
The rule in section 48 of the Migration Act that stops someone in Australia without a visa granted since a refusal from lodging most new visa applications onshore. A small list of visas, including partner and protection, are exceptions.
- Skilled Employer Sponsored Regional visa (subclass 494)
A five-year regional visa sponsored by an employer, tied to one job with one sponsor in a designated regional area, with a three-year path to the permanent 191.
- Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189)
A permanent points-tested visa for skilled workers who aren't nominated by a state or sponsored by an employer. You can only apply once invited through SkillSelect.
- Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)
A permanent points-tested visa for skilled workers nominated by a state or territory. The nomination adds 5 points, and each state runs its own occupation list, criteria and opening windows.
- Skilled Work Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 491)
A five-year points-tested visa for skilled candidates nominated by a state or territory or by an eligible family member, in exchange for living and working in designated regional Australia. It adds 15 points and leads to the permanent 191 after three years.
- Skilling Australians Fund levySAF levy
A levy the employer pays at nomination for each year of the sponsored worker's visa, at a higher rate for businesses with turnover of $10 million or more. It is the employer's cost by law and can't be passed on to the worker, directly or indirectly.
- Skills assessment
A formal ruling by the assessing authority for your occupation (for example ACS for ICT, Engineers Australia, VETASSESS for many professions or TRA for trades) that your qualifications and experience match the ANZSCO occupation you're claiming. Most skilled and many employer-sponsored visas need a positive one.
- Skills in Demand visa (subclass 482)SID
Australia's main employer-sponsored work visa, which replaced the Temporary Skill Shortage (TSS) visa in December 2024. It has three streams: Specialist Skills for high earners in almost any occupation, Core Skills for occupations on the CSOL, and Essential Skills for lower-paid essential work through labour agreements.
- SkillSelect
The system that ranks expressions of interest for points-tested skilled visas. It is a ranking, not a queue: periodic invitation rounds invite the highest-ranked candidates, and on the same score the earlier EOI wins.
- Special Category visa (subclass 444)SCV
The visa most New Zealand citizens living in Australia hold. Since 1 July 2023 its holders can apply directly for Australian citizenship once they meet the four-year residence requirement, without needing a permanent visa first.
- Specialist Skills Income ThresholdSSIT
The salary floor for the Specialist Skills stream of the Skills in Demand (482) visa, which largely ignores occupation lists for roles that clear it. It is indexed each 1 July and is $146,576 from 1 July 2026.
- Standard business sponsor
An employer approved to sponsor overseas workers. Approval starts ongoing legal duties: keeping records, notifying the Department within 28 days of listed changes, paying and treating the worker no less favourably than an equivalent Australian employee, and never recovering certain costs from the worker.
- State or territory nomination
A state or territory's nomination of a skilled candidate for the permanent 190 (worth 5 points) or the regional 491 (worth 15). Each jurisdiction runs its own occupation list, criteria and opening windows, layered on top of the federal rules.
- Student visa (subclass 500)
The visa for full-time study in a course registered on CRICOS. Since 2 October 2026, holders of 17 temporary visas, including the Working Holiday, Work and Holiday, Temporary Graduate, 482 and visitor visas, can't apply for one from inside Australia and must be outside Australia when it is granted.
- Substantive visa
Any visa other than a bridging, criminal justice or enforcement visa, as the Migration Act defines it. Condition 8503 is framed around substantive visas, so it doesn't stop a bridging visa being granted.
- Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485)
A visa giving eligible recent graduates full work rights, usually two years after a bachelor's or master's coursework degree and three after a research degree. You must generally be 35 or under and apply within six months of completing your course.
- Temporary Residence Transition streamTRT
The subclass 186 stream for workers sponsored on an employer visa, usually a 482, who have two years of sponsored work behind them. Since 29 November 2025, time spent working for an employer who wasn't an approved standard business sponsor doesn't count.
- Travel facility
The right to leave and come back to Australia that comes with a permanent visa, usually for five years from the first permanent visa grant. Once it expires, you need a Resident Return visa to return as a permanent resident.
- Visa application chargeVAC
The fee to lodge a visa application, set for each visa and charged per application. Family members included in the application add their own charges, the charges rose about 25% on 1 July 2026, and a refused application doesn't usually get its charge back.
- Visa condition
A numbered rule on a visa that controls what you can do, such as 8503 (no further stay) or 8558 (visitors can't stay more than 12 months in any 18). Breaching one risks cancellation. Your exact conditions are on your grant notice and in VEVO.
- Visitor visa (subclass 600)
The visa for tourism or family visits, usually for stays of three, six or occasionally twelve months. No work, limited study, and condition 8558 means no more than 12 months in Australia in any 18.
Checked 8 November 2026. These definitions are general information drawn from our Academy guides and the Department of Home Affairs pages they cite, not migration advice. Figures change, most often on 1 July: the linked guide and the immigration changes log carry the current position.
Know the terms, still not sure where you stand?
A consultation with a registered migration agent applies them to your situation, before you lodge.