The Child visa allows a child (or in certain circumstances, a step-child) who is outside Australia (subclass 101) or inside Australia (subclass 802) to live in Australia with their parents on a permanent basis.
To get this visa, the child must be:
1. Sponsored by their parent or their parent’s partner
2. Single
3. Younger than 18 years of age, or:
* A full-time student between 18 and 25 years of age, or
* 18 or older and unable to work due to a disability and dependent on the sponsoring parent.
* The child can include their own dependent children in this application.
The sponsoring parent
The child’s sponsoring parent must be an Australian citizen, the holder of an Australian permanent resident visa or an eligible New Zealand citizen. The spouse or de facto partner of the child’s parent can also sponsor the child.
The child’s relationship with the sponsor
The child must be:
1. the biological child or adopted child of the sponsoring parent; or
2. a step child who has not turned 18 of a step-parent who is no longer the partner of the child’s parent but has a legal responsibility to care for the child.
3. An adopted child must have been adopted before their parent became an Australian citizen or the holder of an Australian permanent resident visa or an eligible New Zealand citizen.
Children younger than 18 years of age
A child younger than 18 years of age:
* cannot have a spouse or de facto partner
* cannot be engaged to be married.
Children between 18 and 25 years of age
A child between 18 and 25 years of age who does not have a disability that prevents them from working must:
- never have had, and not now have, a spouse or de facto partner
- not be engaged to be married
- not be in full-time work
- be a full-time student.
To be a full-time student, the child must:
- be currently enrolled and participating in a full-time course of study leading to a professional, trade or vocational qualification
- have started that course since turning 18 years of age or within six months or a reasonable time after finishing school.
The child must be a full-time student when they apply for this visa. Any gaps of more than six months between the final year of school and tertiary studies must be explained.
Children with a disability aged 18 or older
A child with a disability is eligible for this visa if they:
- are not engaged, married or have a de facto partner
- are not in full-time work
- are dependent on the sponsoring parent.
Disability means that the child has total or partial loss of their bodily or mental functions, and they are unable to work because of it.
To be dependent they must be reliant on the sponsoring parent for financial support because they are not able to work because of their disability.
Parental responsibility
This visa can be granted only if you can show one of the following for a child younger than 18 years of age:
- you have the written consent of each person who can legally decide where the child lives
- the laws of the child’s home country permit the removal of the child
- it is consistent with any Australian child order.
Best interests of the child
This visa will not usually be granted if it is against the best interests of a child younger than 18 years of age.
Assurance of support
The Department might ask for an assurance of support for the child so that welfare costs for some migrants are not borne by the Australian community.
Health requirements
The child will be required to undertake medicals and meet certain health requirements.
Character requirements
A child older than 16 years of age must meet certain character requirements and may be required to provide a police certificate from each country they have lived in for 12 months or more during the past 10 years after they turned 16 years of age.
