A VEVO check is a free online check of a visa holder's current visa and conditions, run through the Department of Home Affairs' Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) system. Visa holders can check their own visa with their passport and a reference number, and employers and other registered organisations can check a visa holder's work rights through an ImmiAccount, with that person's permission.
This guide covers both sides: how to check your own visa, how a business checks someone else's, how to read the result, and what to do when VEVO returns an error. If you're an employer and want the full compliance picture, read our VEVO check for employers guide as well.
This is general information, not legal advice. Everything here is as at October 2026 and linked to the Department of Home Affairs.
What is VEVO?
VEVO is the Home Affairs system that lets visa holders, employers, education providers and other organisations check visa conditions. It shows the visa that is in effect today: its class and subclass, expiry date, work and study entitlements, and conditions.
A few things it won't do:
- It won't show previous visas or applications Home Affairs is still assessing.
- It can't check Australian citizens. Citizens prove their work rights with an Australian passport or citizenship certificate.
- It may not find people who migrated before 1990 and haven't left Australia since. They may need to request an electronic record of their permanent visa.
Home Affairs calls VEVO a "free online system" in its information for employers. There's no charge to check, and no charge for the app.
Three ways to do a VEVO check
| Visa holder (website) | Visa holder (myVEVO app) | Organisation (employer) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who uses it | The visa holder | The visa holder | A registered business with the visa holder's permission |
| Login | None | A PIN you set in the app (or Face ID / Touch ID) | Your organisation's ImmiAccount |
| What you enter | Travel document, date of birth, reference number | Travel document, date of birth, visa grant number or TRN | Name, date of birth, travel document number and nationality |
| Reference number needed | Yes (TRN, visa grant number, visa evidence number or VEVO password) | Yes (visa grant number or TRN) | No |
| How the result is shared | Email it from VEVO | Email it from the app | Save the result as a PDF |
The visa holder options are useful for proving your rights to a new employer, a landlord or another country's government. The organisation option is the one employers should rely on, because the business runs the check itself instead of trusting a forwarded email.
What you need for a VEVO check
If you're checking your own visa
From the Home Affairs guide to VEVO for visa holders, you need:
- A travel document. VEVO accepts a passport, ImmiCard, Convention Travel Document (Titre de Voyage), Document for Travel to Australia (DFTTA) or PLO56 evidence card.
- Your date of birth.
- One reference number:
- Transaction reference number (TRN). You have one if you applied online. Find it in ImmiAccount on the "online lodgement summary" screen.
- Visa grant number. It's on your visa grant notification letter. Make sure it's for your current visa: a grant number for a visa that isn't in effect won't work.
- Visa evidence number. Only if you have a visa label in your passport.
- VEVO password, if Home Affairs has given you one.
If you can't find any of these, Home Affairs has a VEVO request for reference number form.
If you're checking a worker (employer)
From the Home Affairs guide to VEVO for organisations, you need:
- An organisation ImmiAccount with VEVO access. You need an ABN to register.
- The worker's permission to use their travel document details.
- Their name exactly as it appears on their travel document, date of birth, travel document type and number, and nationality (not needed for an ImmiCard or PLO56 evidence card).
You don't need the worker's TRN or visa grant number.
How to check your own visa in VEVO, step by step
- Go to VEVO for visa holders and select Check your own visa details with VEVO.
- Choose your travel document type.
- In Reference type, choose TRN, visa grant number, visa evidence number or VEVO password, then type the number.
- Enter your date of birth.
- Enter your travel document number. Check you haven't typed a capital O for a zero or a capital I for a one.
- Choose your country of document. With a Titre de Voyage, use the nationality shown on it. With an ImmiCard, skip this.
- Accept the terms and conditions and select Submit.
To send the result to an employer, select Send Email on the results screen, enter their address in Recipient email address and yours in Your email address, then send. Double-check the recipient: the email contains your personal information.
On your phone, the free myVEVO app (Apple App Store or Google Play) does the same thing. You set a PIN the first time, then enter your document details, date of birth and visa grant number or TRN, and you can email the result from the app.
How employers run a VEVO check, step by step
- Register once. Create or join an organisation ImmiAccount and choose Visa Entitlement Verification Online (VEVO) for organisations. Employers and labour suppliers register for the work entitlements category. Home Affairs approves every access request, so set this up before you need it.
- Get permission from the worker and collect their travel document details.
- Log in to VEVO through your ImmiAccount.
- Enter the worker's name, choose the document type, and enter their date of birth, document number and nationality.
- Accept the terms and submit. If VEVO is down, write down the date and time it was unavailable.
- Save the PDF. Home Affairs recommends it, and its compliance officers may ask for it during field inspections. You don't need to keep a copy of the passport.
For when to check, re-checking and the penalties for getting it wrong, see our VEVO check for employers guide. VEVO is one part of right to work checks; the rest is keeping the result on file and checking again when it matters.
How to read a VEVO result
A visa holder's result includes the check date and time, name, document number, visa class and subclass, visa stream, grant date, expiry date, visa status, work entitlements, study entitlements and visa conditions.
An employer's work entitlements check tells you whether the person has:
- Unlimited work rights
- Limited work rights, with a description of the conditions
- No work rights
The conditions you'll see most often:
| Condition | What it means (as at October 2026) |
|---|---|
| 8101 | No work. The person can't work in Australia. |
| 8105 | Student visa work limit. Up to 48 hours a fortnight while the course is in session, once it has started. |
| 8104 | Similar limit for family members of a student visa holder. |
| 8547 | Working holiday makers can't work for one employer for more than 6 months without permission, with exemptions for some industries and locations. |
| 8607 | Sponsored work only: for the approved sponsor, in the nominated occupation. |
Our guide to visa conditions 8104 and 8105 explains the student hours limit and what counts as "in session".
Expiry date. For temporary visas, this is when the period of stay ends. Put it in your calendar (or your onboarding system) before you forget it.
Visa status. VEVO shows the visa in effect. If someone has applied for a new visa, they may be on a bridging visa, and the result may not match what they expect. Read our guide to bridging visa work rights before you roster someone in that position.
VEVO errors and "no record found"
If VEVO can't find a visa, Home Affairs suggests working through these:
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| Typo in the document number | Check for O and 0, I and 1, and details in the wrong field. |
| Reference number for the wrong visa | Use the number for your current, in-effect visa, not an earlier one. |
| Visa has expired | VEVO can't show expired visas. See Home Affairs' guidance for visas that are about to expire or have expired. |
| New passport | Tell Home Affairs about the new passport. Your visa is linked to the old one until you do. |
| Arrived before 1990 and never left | Ask Home Affairs to create an electronic visa record. |
| Conflicting details (for example, a different date of birth) | Follow the error message instructions. |
If the error won't clear, contact Home Affairs through the VEVO enquiry form with a copy of the travel document or ImmiCard and a screenshot of the error. Employers who can't identify a worker should do the same, and say what the error message said.
Until it's resolved, an employer has no confirmed work rights to rely on. Hold the start date rather than guessing.
New Zealand citizens (subclass 444)
New Zealand citizens with a valid New Zealand passport don't apply for a visa before they arrive. They're usually granted a Special Category visa (subclass 444) when they enter Australia, which lets them visit, work and study in Australia. The visa ceases when they leave and a new one is granted on their next arrival.
To check it in VEVO, a New Zealand citizen needs a reference number. Home Affairs suggests calling its service centre for a visa grant number, or using the reference number request form. Employers can run an organisation check with the New Zealand passport details, the same as for any other worker.
How often to do a VEVO check
- Visa holders: check before you start a new job, after any visa change, and before your visa expires.
- Employers: check before the first shift, again before the visa expires, whenever the worker's visa changes, and regularly for anyone on a bridging visa. Save the result every time.
Put the check on your employee onboarding checklist so it happens before day one, not after.
How Canyou handles this
Onboarding gets them into payroll. It doesn't keep them legal to work. In Canyou, the visa check sits inside the onboarding workflow:
- The worker enters their details. A Visa details task collects their visa and passport details from their phone, as part of the same link as their TFN, super and licences.
- An admin runs the check from Canyou. Every check is checked with the Department of Home Affairs (VEVO), and you can review the details first.
- The result lands on the worker's record: visa status, class and subclass, expiry date, work entitlement and conditions.
- Notice before a visa expires. You choose how many days' notice you want.
- Every check kept on file, as an audit trail you can show if Home Affairs asks. Sensitive data is stored in Australia and never sold.
See how right to work checks work in Canyou. Then Try for free (plans are on the pricing page) or Book a demo.
Sources (checked 15 October 2026): Department of Home Affairs, Check conditions online (VEVO); VEVO for visa holders; VEVO for organisations; Information for employers and labour hire intermediaries; Student visa (subclass 500); 6 month work limitation; New Zealand citizens; Special Category visa (subclass 444).
