Australian visitor applications are lodged online, decided on paper, and often decided without a follow-up question. Home Affairs says it may decide your application "without requesting further information from you".[1] So what you upload the first time really counts. Flights are a small piece of that. This guide quotes the department's wording, shows where a reservation can help describe your trip, and explains why we agree with Home Affairs that the real ticket should wait until the grant.
Australia Visitor visa (600) key facts for 2026
| Question | Official answer |
|---|---|
| Are flights on the document list? | No. The "Genuine visitor documents" item asks for proof of funds, an invitation if relevant, "your plans while in Australia" and proof of reasons to return home.[1] |
| When to book flights? | "We suggest you book your flight after we grant your visa."[2] |
| How long can you stay? | Up to 12 months, depending on the stay period granted.[1] |
| Where must you be? | Outside Australia when you apply and when the visa is decided (Tourist stream, overseas).[1] |
| Cost | Charged per applicant; Home Affairs points you to its Visa Pricing Estimator for the current amount.[1] |
| Visa label? | None. The visa is linked digitally to your passport.[1] |
| Family applications | Each family member, including those listed on your passport, submits a separate application.[1] |
What does Home Affairs ask for about travel?
Read the Tourist stream page from top to bottom and you won't find "flight ticket" or "itinerary" in the document list. Under "Genuine visitor documents", Home Affairs asks you to "provide as much proof as you can" that you are visiting temporarily. Its examples are:
- proof you have enough money for your stay and to leave Australia, such as three months of itemised bank statements, pay slips, tax records or term deposits;
- a letter from a relative or friend in Australia inviting you, if you'll visit or stay with them;
- "your plans while in Australia";
- proof that you have reasons to return home, such as an employer letter, study enrolment, immediate family or property.[1]
The phrase "enough money ... to leave Australia" is the travel test. As with the UK, it's about being able to pay for the journey home, not having already paid.
Separately, on its "Check twice, submit once" page, the department gives this advice to all visa applicants: "Submit your application well ahead of when you want to travel. We suggest you book your flight after we grant your visa."[2] That is about as clear as official guidance gets.
So where does a flight reservation fit in?
Under "your plans while in Australia". That item is open-ended. A day-by-day plan works. So does a short letter. Many applicants find it easier to anchor the plan with arrival and departure dates, and a reservation is a cheap, honest way to set those dates without ignoring the department's advice about booking.
An example of how the pieces line up: you plan three weeks visiting your daughter in Melbourne, from 2 to 23 February. Your employer's letter grants leave for those dates. Your daughter's invitation mentions she'll host you for three weeks. Your plan lists a week in Melbourne, a few days in Sydney and the rest with family. A reservation from Delhi to Melbourne on 2 February and back from Sydney on 23 February ties all of that together.
Where we'd skip it: if you're a frequent visitor with past Australian visas and a stable job, a short written plan may be enough. A reservation is a convenience, not a box Home Affairs asks you to tick.
Comparing your options for an Australian visitor file
| Approach | What it costs you | Matches Home Affairs advice? | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Written plan only | Nothing | Yes | Repeat visitors, flexible dates |
| Written plan + held reservation | A small fixed fee ($9 / ₹699 with us) | Yes: no fare paid before the grant | First-time visitors, family visits with fixed dates |
| Refundable ticket | Any cancellation charge | Not quite: it is a booking before the grant | Travellers who need the seat locked in |
| Non-refundable ticket | Whole fare at risk | No: the department suggests booking after the grant[2] | Nobody, before a decision |
When should you hold a reservation for an Australia application?
Close to the day you lodge. A visitor application is decided on the documents in ImmiAccount, and you can't predict exactly when an officer will open the file. Home Affairs publishes a processing time guide tool that shows recent decisions but stresses it is "a guide only".[1] Before you pay, our booking form displays the hold window; weigh that against the department's guide.
Pick travel dates that leave room for processing and are realistic for your leave. We'd choose dates at least a few weeks after lodging, then buy the real ticket once the grant arrives. If the grant comes with a different stay period than you asked for, plan the real trip within what was granted.
How to put together the travel side of a subclass 600 application
- Confirm the stream. This guide covers the Tourist stream lodged from outside Australia; you must be outside Australia when you apply and when it is decided.[1]
- Gather three months of itemised bank statements and other proof of funds.
- Get your employer's leave letter stating you will return to your job.
- Write a short plan: cities, rough dates, who you'll stay with.
- Add a held reservation if you want firm arrival and departure dates. Check the PNR opens on the airline website before uploading.
- Include English translations of any documents in another language, as the department asks.[1]
- Lodge in ImmiAccount, one application per family member.[1]
- Book flights after the grant.[2]
What should the reservation show?
- Your name as in your passport, since the visa is linked to that passport digitally.[1]
- Arrival and departure that fit inside your leave and your stated plan.
- A departure from Australia. The genuine-visitor test is about a temporary stay; an open-ended one-way booking says the opposite.
- A booking reference that works on the airline's "Manage booking" page. Our pre-submission check takes two minutes.
Mistakes we see with Australian visitor files
- Paying for flights before the grant, against the department's own suggestion.
- Uploading the reservation and nothing else about the plan. It shows dates, not purpose.
- Weak funds evidence. A reservation can't make up for bank statements that don't cover the trip.
- Calling the reservation a "ticket" in the application or a letter.
- Using a made-up PNR from a generator site. Providing false documents to Home Affairs can have consequences well beyond one refusal.
- Combining family members into one application when each must apply separately.[1]
What can "your plans while in Australia" look like?
Home Affairs doesn't prescribe a format, so keep it short and specific. Half a page is plenty. As an example, a plan for the Melbourne trip above might read:
- 2 February: arrive Melbourne, stay with daughter in Box Hill (address on invitation).
- 3 to 10 February: time with family, Great Ocean Road day trip.
- 11 to 14 February: Sydney, staying in a hotel near Central.
- 15 to 22 February: back in Melbourne with family.
- 23 February: depart Sydney for Delhi; return to work on 25 February as per employer letter.
Notice what that plan does. It accounts for every night, names who you're staying with, and ends with a departure and a return to work. The flight reservation then confirms the first and last lines. That's the whole job of a flight document in a 600 application: anchoring a plan that already makes sense.
Don't overdo it. Hour-by-hour sightseeing schedules add pages without adding much. What an officer wants to see is a temporary visit with a clear end.
A quick self-check before you press submit
Home Affairs suggests you "check twice, submit once", and the advice applies neatly to the travel parts of the file.[2] Before lodging, we'd run through these questions:
- Do the dates on the reservation, the leave letter, the invitation and the plan all match?
- Is every name spelt as it appears in the passport?
- Do the bank statements cover three months and show enough for the trip and the journey home?[1]
- Have you described the flight document as a reservation, not a ticket?
- Does the booking reference still open on the airline website today?
Five minutes on this list is cheaper than a refusal you could have avoided.
Visiting children in Australia as a parent
This is one of the most common reasons for a 600 application from India and the Gulf. The invitation letter from your son or daughter carries real weight here: Home Affairs suggests it state your relationship, the purpose of the visit, how long you'll stay and whether you'll live with them, and if they are paying, to include proof of their funds.[1] Your flight reservation should match the length of stay in that letter. If you are asking for a longer visa, Home Affairs wants you to say so in the application and explain why.[1]
Healthcare is the other point parents often miss. Home Affairs states that visitors are liable for all their healthcare costs while in Australia, and suggests insurance to limit that.[1] Line up the insurance dates with the reservation; our note on matching insurance and flight dates explains why that consistency matters.
How does Australia compare with other long-haul visitor visas?
Australia's position is close to the UK's: flights aren't required and the authority prefers you book after a decision. The UK goes a step further and names flight bookings among weak documents, covered in our UK visitor guide. Canada asks for "flight details" as one optional way to show your itinerary; see the Canada TRV guide. New Zealand is different at the border, where onward travel must be booked and paid for; our New Zealand guide explains. For study rather than a visit, see student visas and flights, and for the whole picture, requirements by country. Planning Europe on the same trip? The Schengen guide is a different story, since many consulates list a reservation.
Getting a reservation for your Australia plan
If you want fixed dates for "your plans while in Australia", we place a hold under a real PNR for each traveller. Expect the PDF by email in roughly 10 minutes, then look it up yourself on the carrier's website. Keep in mind it is only a hold, never a purchased fare, so nobody can board with it.
Each price is per passenger for a one-way or round trip; a multi-city route such as Delhi to Melbourne and Sydney back to Delhi is priced per pair of legs, as set out on the price page. Pay by UPI, card or netbanking through Razorpay. A hotel booking is available too if you won't be staying with family. Background reading: flight reservations for visas and our main page.
Fix your Australia dates without buying a fare
Held booking in your name, verifiable PNR, ₹699 / $9.
Australia visitor visa and flights: your questions answered
Do I need a flight ticket for an Australian tourist visa?
No. The subclass 600 Tourist stream document list does not include a flight ticket. Home Affairs asks for proof of funds, your plans while in Australia and reasons to return home. Its separate advice to applicants is to book flights after the visa is granted, so paying for a ticket beforehand is neither required nor recommended.
Can I use a flight reservation for an Australia visa application?
Yes, as part of describing your plans, provided it is genuine and you call it a reservation. It shows the dates you intend to arrive and leave, which helps the officer read your plan alongside your leave letter and invitation. It does not replace funds evidence or proof of ties to home, which carry far more weight.
When does Home Affairs say I should book flights?
After the grant. The department's "Check twice, submit once" page says to submit well ahead of when you want to travel and suggests booking your flight after it grants your visa. We agree: hold a reservation if you want firm dates, then buy the real ticket once you have the grant notice.
How long does a held reservation last?
It varies by booking, so we don't quote a fixed period. You will see the hold window for your particular booking on our form, ahead of payment. Because processing times vary, we suggest booking it shortly before you lodge in ImmiAccount rather than weeks in advance, so it is current when you submit.
Will Home Affairs check my booking reference?
Home Affairs does not publish how it verifies individual documents. A real booking reference can be looked up on the airline's website, so make sure yours opens and shows the right name and dates before you upload it. A fabricated document is a serious problem in any Australian application, far worse than sending no flight details.
My parents are visiting me in Australia. What flight details should they show?
Dates that match your invitation letter and their leave or retirement situation, with a clear departure. Each parent needs a separate application, and each name must match the passport. If you are paying for the trip, Home Affairs suggests including proof of your funds. Health cover is also worth arranging, as visitors pay their own healthcare costs.
Should I add a hotel booking to my Australia application as well?
Only if you are not staying with family or friends. Home Affairs asks about your plans and, where relevant, an invitation saying whether you will stay with your host. If you will use hotels for part of the trip, a reservation for those nights helps the plan add up. If your daughter is hosting you for the whole visit, her letter already covers accommodation.
Can I lodge a 600 application while I'm in Australia on another visa?
Not for the Tourist stream covered here. Home Affairs says you must be outside Australia both when you apply and when the visa is decided. Different streams apply to people already in the country, so check the department's site for the stream that matches your situation before you lodge anything.
Sources
All sources last checked: October 2026.
- Australian Government, Department of Home Affairs, Visitor visa (subclass 600): Tourist stream (apply outside Australia): eligibility, genuine visitor documents, cost, stay, family applications, health insurance (page last updated 1 July 2026).
- Australian Government, Department of Home Affairs, Check twice, submit once: advice to book flights after the visa is granted.
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