Yes. If your visa includes condition 8501, you must maintain health insurance for 8501 visa condition requirements throughout your stay in Australia.

The type of cover you need depends on your visa. For example, Student visa (subclass 500) holders must hold Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC), while other temporary visa holders with condition 8501 need Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC) or a policy that meets the Department of Home Affairs’ requirements.

Your cover should remain active for the period required by your visa. The Department of Home Affairs may also ask you to provide evidence of adequate health insurance for the visa you hold.

The best way to confirm if your visa has visa condition 8501 (health insurance requirement) is to check your visa grant letter or VEVO record., or your listed visa conditions. If your visa includes “Condition 8501 – Maintain adequate health insurance”, you must keep the required cover in place for the whole time you are in Australia.

Not every temporary visa includes this condition. For some visa types, including Visitor visa subclass 600 , it only applies in specific circumstances. Always check your own visa documents to confirm.

Condition 8501 can apply to a range of temporary visas, including visitor, working, student, sponsored parent, student guardian and working holiday visas. In some cases, Visitor visa health insurance requirements may depend on the visa stream. Examples include subclasses 600, 870, 590, 482, 485, 417 and 462.

Some visas include condition 8501 as a mandatory requirement. For others, it may be applied depending on the circumstances of the visa grant. Always check your visa grant notice or VEVO to confirm whether it applies to you.

Start by confirming your visa type and whether condition 8501 applies to you. Student visa holders need OSHC. Many other temporary visa holders need cover that meets the Department of Home Affairs’ (DHA) visa health insurance requirements for condition 8501.

Wondering what level of cover is right for you? You can choose health insurance for visa condition 8501 that meets the minimum visa requirement, or a higher level of cover with additional benefits. These may include out-of-hospital treatment or general treatment (extras) such as dental, optical or physiotherapy. The DHA’s minimum requirement does not make all of those services mandatory for many holders of visas for visitors and workers.

Yes. We offer eligible Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC) options for people on visas that require visa condition 8501 (adequate health insurance), including health insurance for Visitor visas (subclass) 600 and Sponsored Parent visas (subclass 870). We also offer eligible Medibank overseas health insurance options for a range of temporary visas.

The Department of Home Affairs states that visa condition 8501 only applies in certain streams or situations. The 870 Sponsored Parent visa is included on the list of visas for which this condition always applies. If you are applying for a 600 Visitor visa, check your visa conditions carefully as visa condition 8501 may be applied to your visa.

If you are arranging cover for yourself or health insurance for parents visiting Australia, we can help you choose an OVHC option that suits your visa and health needs.

The right health insurance for parents visiting Australia depends on the visa they hold and whether condition 8501 applies. Parents may come to Australia on different visas, including Visitor visas (subclass 600) and Sponsored Parent visas (subclass 870).

If their visa includes condition 8501, they must maintain the required health insurance for that visa. Even when health insurance is not required as a visa condition, many families still arrange cover. Hospital and medical treatment in Australia can be expensive for overseas visitors without health insurance, Medicare access or ambulance cover for overseas visitors.

If you are wondering what insurance meets visa condition 8501, OVHC is commonly used to help meet this requirement.

Overseas visitor health cover (OVHC) is used by many visitor or working visa holders who do not have access to Medicare, including those on subclasses 600, 870, 590, 482 and 485. It is designed for visitors to Australia and may help provide an appropriate level of cover. You should check that the policy meets your visa requirements. 

Overseas Student Health Cover (OSHC) is the health cover required for Student visa holders. It is specifically designed for overseas students and helps cover medical and hospital treatment in Australia, plus ambulance and limited pharmaceuticals. 

Travel insurance is different again. It is usually designed for short-term travel and may include benefits like trip cancellation, lost luggage and emergency assistance. It should not be assumed to meet the health insurance requirements of a visa with condition 8501.

Yes. You can arrange how to get health insurance (hospital cover, or hospital and medical cover) for Visitor visa needs before traveling to Australia, so your cover is ready from when it is needed

Whichever country your parents are visiting from, buying cover before departure can make planning easier and give you more time to choose a level of cover that suits the visa type, length of stay and health needs of the person traveling.

If you don’t know how to get health insurance for Visitor visa needs, you can contact Medibank for help choosing the right option. 

If you purchase eligible Medibank OVHC online, your visa health insurance certificate can be issued immediately after purchase, ready for your visa application or departure paperwork.

Yes, as long as you continue to maintain health insurance that meets visa condition 8501 requirements without any gap in cover. The key thing is to make sure your new cover starts before or on the day your old cover ends. This ensures that there’s no gap in cover and your new policy still meets your visa requirements.

If you’re switching to Medibank from another Australian private health insurer, we will honour the waiting periods you’ve already served, so you won’t need to start them again.

To make things simple, we can contact your old fund, cancel your old membership and organize the transfer certificate, helping make the switch easier.

Most Visitor visa holders instead rely on Overseas Visitor Health Cover during their stay. Medicare is generally only available to Australian citizens, permanent residents, and people from countries with Reciprocal Health Care Agreements.

If your visa includes condition 8501, you will need eligible Overseas Visitor Health Cover (OVHC) to meet your visa requirements and help pay for hospital and medical services in Australia.