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My teammate and I have been invited to a conference in Australia to present our paper. We think that we need a visitor visa (subclass 600), Business Visitor stream. However, my teammate wants to bring her father. What would the process be?

Do we apply for group processing?

And while applying should I add both of them as travel companions "Are there any other persons travelling with the applicant to Australia?"?

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    Clearly the answer to whether other persons are travelling with you is yes
    – Traveller
    Commented Nov 6, 2023 at 13:39
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    @Traveller, not related to Australia, but if I and some of my colleagues have to travel to a conference and I have to apply for a visa, I'd answer "no" to this question. I mean, we do know each other but it's not like we are family or travel in an organized group. We may not even be taking the same flights, stay at the same hotels or be there during the same days.
    – mintay
    Commented Nov 6, 2023 at 15:37
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    @mintay Border officer: "Why are you traveling to Australia?" Traveler: "My colleague and I are presenting at a conference." Border officer: "You have told us that you're traveling alone. Where is your colleague? Why are you traveling separately?"
    – Midavalo
    Commented Nov 6, 2023 at 21:30
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    @Midavalo when asked by a border officer about my reasons to enter the country, I usually say "to attend a conference" even if me and my colleague(s) are co-authors of the same paper. The officer asks about me, I answer about me.
    – mintay
    Commented Nov 6, 2023 at 22:11
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    @Midavalo "Where's your colleague?" "Travelling separately" "Why are you traveling separately?" "He/I had other work/family engagements so we had to take different flights" or maybe "We booked at different times and got the cheapest flight." I guarantee you immigration officers get these scenarios on every single flight that arrives.
    – user71659
    Commented Nov 7, 2023 at 3:38

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If your colleague and you are not family, you should apply separately. I was in a similar situation as yours some years ago: a colleague and I had to go together to OZ for work. We applied separately - the only coordination we did was ask each other "Got your visa yet?".

Turns out, my colleague wanted to bring the whole family for the trip, and there was no way I would've applied together with them: not family, not even the same citizenship. I did my thing and got my evisa in 2 hours, he did his and family, got it approved pretty fast too, but less quickly (took a day or so).

We didn't even book flights together: my colleague was hunting for the cheapest flights, whereas I wanted the most convenient flight.

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