Reporting, passport and departure conditions: 8401, 8402, 8510, 8511, 8512 (2026)
Plain-English guide to Australian visa conditions 8401, 8402, 8510, 8511 and 8512: reporting, passport, onward travel and leaving by a set date.
Yes — Australian law can require a temporary visa holder to report to Immigration, to produce a valid passport or an onward travel ticket, and to leave Australia by a set date. Those obligations are conditions 8401, 8402, 8510, 8511 and 8512 in Schedule 8 of the Migration Regulations 1994. The wording set out below follows the Federal Register of Legislation page for the Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 8 (visa conditions), as at September 2026. Whether any particular condition binds you is a separate question, dealt with further down.
| Condition | What you must do | By when |
|---|---|---|
| 8401 | Report | At the time or times, and at the place or in the manner, specified by the Minister |
| 8402 | Report to an office of Immigration | Within 5 working days of grant, then on the first working day of each following week |
| 8510 | Show an officer a passport in force, or arrange to obtain one | Within the time specified by the Minister |
| 8511 | Show an officer a travel ticket | Within the time specified by the Minister |
| 8512 | Leave Australia | By the date specified by the Minister |
What do reporting conditions 8401 and 8402 require?
Condition 8401: report as the Minister directs
Condition 8401 says the holder must report at the time or times, and at a place or in a manner, specified by the Minister from time to time. The direction can be given orally or in writing. The practical effect is that the obligation has no fixed shape in the condition itself: the times, the place and the method all come from what the Minister specifies, and those specifications can change over the life of the visa.
There is one carve-out worth knowing. Under regulation 2.25AF, a visa is taken not to be subject to condition 8401 during any period in which the holder is under arrest or detained in custody, or is admitted as an in-patient to receive treatment at a public or private hospital, a registered mental health facility or another registered medical facility. The reporting duty does not simply lapse because of those circumstances — it is treated as not applying while they continue.
Condition 8402: report within 5 working days of grant, then weekly
Condition 8402 works differently, because the timetable is written into the condition. The holder must report to an office of Immigration within 5 working days of grant, and must then report to that same office on the first working day of every week after that first report.
Suppose a person is granted a visa carrying condition 8402. The first obligation is to attend an office of Immigration within 5 working days of the grant. From then on, the obligation repeats on a weekly cycle: the first working day of every week, at the office where the holder first reported. Missing either the opening report or any weekly report is a failure to meet the condition as written.
The contrast between the two matters in practice: 8401 leaves the schedule to ministerial direction, while 8402 sets a schedule the holder can work out from the condition itself.
Do you have to show a passport or an onward ticket?
Condition 8510: a passport in force, or an arrangement to obtain one
Condition 8510 requires the holder, within the time specified by the Minister for the purpose, to do one of two things: show an officer a passport that is in force, or make an arrangement satisfactory to the Minister to obtain a passport.
That second limb is the one people overlook. The condition does not assume every holder already holds a valid passport. If a holder cannot produce one, the alternative is to put in place an arrangement to obtain a passport that the Minister finds satisfactory, within the specified time. Which limb applies depends on the holder's circumstances and on the time the Minister has specified.
Condition 8511: a ticket to a country that will let you in
Condition 8511 requires the holder, within the time specified by the Minister for the purpose, to show an officer a ticket for travel to a country other than Australia, and the Minister must be satisfied that the destination country will allow the holder to enter on arrival.
So it is not satisfied by just any ticket. Two elements have to line up: the travel must be to somewhere other than Australia, and the Minister must be satisfied the holder will actually be admitted there on arrival. A ticket to a country the holder cannot enter does not meet the condition as it is written.
What does condition 8512 mean by leaving "by the date"?
Condition 8512 is the shortest of the group and the easiest to breach: the holder must leave Australia by the date specified by the Minister for the purpose.
The condition does not itself contain a date, and it does not contain a grace period. The operative date is the one specified by the Minister for that purpose, and the obligation is to have left Australia by it. For anyone planning travel, the specified date is the only number that governs, and it is worth reading it alongside the end date of the visa itself, since the two are set differently.
What about telling Immigration where you live?
A related condition, 8526, deals with residential address rather than departure. It requires the holder to notify the Secretary in writing of the holder's place of residence in Australia, not earlier than 7 days before the day the visa ceases to be in effect and not later than that day, by posting the notification to the Central Office of Immigration in the Australian Capital Territory.
Two features stand out. The window is narrow — the notice cannot be sent more than 7 days before the visa ceases, and cannot be sent after that day. And the method is specified: written notification posted to the Central Office of Immigration in the ACT.
What happens if you breach one of these conditions?
Each of these conditions carries the same note in Schedule 8: as to cancellation for breaches of conditions, see the Migration Act 1958 sections 41 and 116 to 119. That is where the consequences live. A breach of 8401, 8402, 8510, 8511, 8512 or 8526 therefore exposes the visa to cancellation under those provisions of the Act rather than under the condition itself.
What this article sets out is how the conditions read in general terms; it is not personalised advice about your visa, and how those cancellation provisions would bear on your circumstances is a question for the official text and, if needed, a registered migration professional.
How do you know which of these conditions apply to you?
None of the five applies universally. Every one of them carries the note that whether a visa of a particular class may be made subject to the condition depends on the relevant provision in Schedule 2 of the Migration Regulations 1994. Schedule 2 is what determines, visa class by visa class, which conditions can be imposed.
That means the conditions above are possibilities created by the regulations, not a checklist that attaches to every temporary visa. The conditions that actually govern a person's stay are the ones attached to their own visa grant, so the list recorded against your visa is the one that controls. Where a condition such as 8510, 8511 or 8512 depends on a time or date "specified by the Minister", that specification is also part of what applies to you individually.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is there any grace period after the date in condition 8512?
Condition 8512 requires the holder to leave Australia by the date specified by the Minister for the purpose, and the wording does not build in extra days. The date that governs is the one specified for you, so it should be treated as a hard departure deadline rather than a target.
What is the difference between condition 8401 and condition 8402?
Condition 8401 requires reporting at the times and place, or in the manner, specified by the Minister from time to time, either orally or in writing. Condition 8402 fixes its own timetable: report to an office of Immigration within 5 working days of grant, then to that office on the first working day of every week after the first report.
I do not hold a valid passport — does condition 8510 mean I have already breached?
Not automatically. Condition 8510 is satisfied either by showing an officer a passport in force within the specified time, or by making an arrangement satisfactory to the Minister to obtain a passport. The second option exists precisely for holders who cannot produce a valid passport.
Does any ticket to another country satisfy condition 8511?
No. The ticket must be for travel to a country other than Australia, and the Minister must be satisfied that the country will allow the holder to enter on arrival. A booking to a destination the holder is not able to enter does not meet the condition as drafted.
Can I be excused from reporting under condition 8401?
Under regulation 2.25AF, a visa is taken not to be subject to condition 8401 while the holder is under arrest or detained in custody, or admitted as an in-patient for treatment at a public or private hospital, a registered mental health facility or another registered medical facility.
Do these conditions attach to every temporary visa?
No. Each condition's note 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. The applicable set is the one attached to your own visa grant.