Australia Visa Conditions 8573, 8575 & 8576 Explained: Stay Limits and Cancellation (2026)
Plain-English guide to visa conditions 8573, 8575 and 8576: how the stay limits are counted and what a breach means for cancellation.
Condition 8575 means you must not stay in Australia for more than 7 months in any period of 12 months; condition 8573 caps you at 12 months in any period of 24 months, and condition 8576 caps you at 10 months in any period of 12 months. Those are the exact words in Schedule 8 to the Migration Regulations 1994, published on the Federal Register of Legislation (as at September 2026). Each of the three conditions carries the same note: whether a visa of a particular class can be made subject to the condition depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Regulations, and cancellation for breaching a condition is dealt with under sections 41 and 116 to 119 of the Migration Act 1958. In plain terms, going over the cap is a breach of a visa condition, and the cancellation pathway is found in the Act rather than in the condition itself.
What do conditions 8573, 8575 and 8576 actually say?
All three are "stay limit" conditions. They do not say how long your visa lasts — they say how much of a given stretch of time you are allowed to spend inside Australia while holding that visa.
- 8573: "The holder must not stay in Australia for more than 12 months in any period of 24 months."
- 8575: "The holder must not stay in Australia for more than 7 months in any period of 12 months."
- 8576: "The holder must not stay in Australia for more than 10 months in any period of 12 months."
| Condition | Maximum stay in Australia | Measured over | Plain-English effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8573 | 12 months | any period of 24 months | Roughly half of any two-year window, but counted as cumulative presence, not as two neat six-month blocks |
| 8575 | 7 months | any period of 12 months | The tightest of the three; you must spend at least 5 months of every 12 outside Australia |
| 8576 | 10 months | any period of 12 months | More generous than 8575, still leaving 2 months of every 12 outside Australia |
The practical difference between 8575 and 8576 is easy to miss because both use a 12-month window. The number in front changes how much time you must spend outside the country.
How is "any period" calculated?
The phrase "any period of 12 months" (or 24 months for 8573) describes a rolling window, not a calendar year and not a fresh start every time you enter Australia. Any 12-month stretch can be looked at, so the test is whether there is some window in which your total time in Australia exceeds the cap.
To work it out, list your arrival and departure dates, add up the days you were actually in Australia, and then slide the window across those dates rather than picking the window that looks most favourable.
For example, suppose a holder subject to condition 8575 spends four months in Australia, leaves for three months, then returns for another four months. Neither stay looks excessive on its own, but the 12-month window covering both stays contains eight months of presence — over the seven-month cap. That is the trap these conditions are built around: short trips that look safe individually can still add up to a breach.
The condition text itself does not set out how arrival days, departure days or partial days are counted, or how a "month" is converted into days. Because of that, the cautious approach is to count conservatively from your own travel records and leave a margin rather than counting up to the last available day.
Which of these conditions is actually on my visa?
None of the three applies automatically to every visa. The note attached to each condition says that whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to it depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994. So the condition is attached by the provision that governs your visa class, and the reliable place to confirm it is your own visa grant notice, which lists the conditions imposed on that grant.
This matters because the numbers are easy to confuse. If you assume you hold 8576 (10 months in 12) when your grant actually says 8575 (7 months in 12), you could plan around three months of presence you do not have. Conditions can also differ between grants, so a condition on an earlier visa is not evidence of what a later visa says.
Can my visa be cancelled if I go over?
Yes — breaching a stay-limit condition is a breach of a visa condition, and the Schedule 8 note directs readers to sections 41 and 116 to 119 of the Migration Act 1958 on cancellation for breaches of conditions. Section 41 deals with the imposition of conditions; sections 116 to 119 are the cancellation provisions. The condition itself does not set out the cancellation process, the matters to be considered, or any discretion — those sit in the Act.
One point that often surprises holders: a breach can happen while your visa is still valid. The cap limits cumulative presence in Australia, so you can be well inside your visa's expiry date and still have used up more than the permitted share of the window. Staying within your visa's validity dates does not by itself keep you within the condition.
Do other conditions matter at the same time?
Conditions are read together, and a stay-limit condition is rarely the only one on a grant. Two that commonly sit alongside it in Schedule 8 are:
- 8578: the holder must notify Immigration of changes to residential address, email address, phone number, passport details, the address of an employer, or the address of the location of a position in which the holder is employed — within 14 days after the change occurs.
- 8580: if the Minister requests it in writing, the holder must provide evidence of residential address, the address of each employer, the address of each location of each position in which the holder is employed, and the address of any educational institution attended — within 28 days after the date of the request.
Both are separate obligations with their own deadlines, and both are subject to the same cancellation note pointing to sections 41 and 116 to 119 of the Migration Act 1958.
How can I check my own position before it becomes a problem?
Work from documents rather than memory:
- Find the condition numbers on your visa grant notice and confirm whether 8573, 8575 or 8576 applies.
- Reconstruct your arrivals and departures from travel records, not from recollection.
- Total your days in Australia and test every rolling window of 12 months (or 24 months for 8573), not just the current calendar year.
- Check any earlier and later grants separately, because conditions can change between grants.
- Keep a margin. The condition wording does not define a day-counting formula, so counting to the exact limit leaves no room for disagreement about how particular days are treated.
This article explains how the rules are worded in plain English for general information. It is not advice about your own visa, and it does not create a lawyer–client relationship; where your circumstances matter, the operative text is the Regulations and the Act themselves, and any later officially published amendment takes priority.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between conditions 8573, 8575 and 8576?
All three limit how long you can stay in Australia, but the caps and the windows differ: 8573 allows 12 months in any 24-month period, 8575 allows 7 months in any 12-month period, and 8576 allows 10 months in any 12-month period. 8575 is the strictest, requiring at least 5 months outside Australia in every 12.
Does leaving Australia and coming back reset the count?
No. The wording is "in any period of 12 months", which is a rolling window rather than a per-trip or per-calendar-year allowance. Time from separate trips is added together if they fall inside the same 12-month window, so a return trip does not give you a fresh allowance.
How do I find out which condition is on my visa?
Check your visa grant notice, which lists the conditions imposed on that grant. Whether a visa class can carry one of these conditions depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994, so the condition is not automatic and can differ between visa classes and between grants.
Can my visa be cancelled for breaching condition 8575?
Breaching a stay-limit condition is a breach of a visa condition, and the note to the condition points to sections 41 and 116 to 119 of the Migration Act 1958 for cancellation. The cancellation provisions, including any process or discretion, are set out in the Act rather than in the condition.
Is the limit counted per calendar year or per stay?
Neither. The condition refers to "any period" of 12 or 24 months, so the limit applies to a rolling window. The practical consequence is that short stays can add up to a breach if they cluster inside the same window, even when no single stay looks long.
Do these conditions apply to every temporary visa?
No. The note to each condition states that whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to it depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994. Some visa classes can carry a stay-limit condition and others cannot, which is why the grant notice is the place to confirm it.