Citizeo Expand your global options
Pathway

Australia Child Visa

Australia Residency
Pathway overview

At a glance

Australia’s Child visas give permanent residence to eligible dependent children of an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen. The child must meet age, relationship, and dependency rules. Use Subclass 101 from outside Australia or 802 from inside Australia, and check citizenship options first.

Parent
An Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen
Age and support
Usually under 18; ages 18–24 need full-time study and financial dependence, with separate disability rules
Relationship status
The child must never have been married, engaged, or in a qualifying unmarried partnership

Summary

The Child visas are permanent family visas for the dependent child of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. Subclass 101 is for a child outside Australia; Subclass 802 is for a child in Australia.

The route can cover a biological child, qualifying adopted child, stepchild in defined circumstances, or a child whose legal parentage follows recognized assisted-conception or surrogacy rules. The child's age, relationship status and dependency must fit at the relevant stages.

Before using a Child visa, check whether a child born outside Australia to an Australian citizen parent can apply for citizenship by descent instead. Citizenship may avoid an unnecessary permanent-visa application.

Applying for a permanent Child visa
  1. Check citizenship and the child’s eligibility Review age, relationship status, study, financial support, or disability evidence.
  2. Confirm the sponsor and custody arrangements Gather parentage, status, consent, and court records where needed.
  3. Use the correct application for the child’s location Follow the current paper instructions for Subclass 101 or 802.

A parent in Australia does not by itself make an independent adult child eligible.

Could this pathway work for you?

Eligibility

The child must depend on the sponsoring parent and must never have been married, engaged, or in a de facto relationship (a marriage-like partnership without marriage).

A child generally fits the age/dependency definition if they are:

The detailed student-dependency rules look at matters such as when full-time study began, whether it has continued, and whether the child remains dependent. A short course started to create visa eligibility does not necessarily qualify. For disability-based dependency, medical and financial evidence must show why the child cannot support themselves.

The sponsor can be the eligible parent or that parent’s spouse or de facto partner. A former stepparent may sponsor a child under 18 if they have the required legal responsibility. Home Affairs must approve the sponsorship. Consent or a court order may be needed where another person has parental responsibility or where removing the child from their home country raises custody issues.

Subclass 101 generally requires the child to be outside Australia at application and decision. Subclass 802 requires the child to be in Australia at application and usually at decision, with permission to make the application from inside Australia. Health, character, identity, government-debt and best-interests requirements apply.

What This Route Allows

Approval gives the child permanent residence. The child may live, work and study in Australia indefinitely, enroll in Medicare if eligible, and later seek citizenship under the normal rules.

The visa usually lets the child leave and return as a permanent resident for 5 years. Permanent residence may continue after that, but return travel generally requires a Resident Return visa or other valid permission to return as a permanent resident.

What This Route Is Not

This route is not automatically available to every adult child. An applicant aged 18 to 24 must meet the full-time-study and financial-dependency rules unless the child qualifies under the disability rules. A financially independent adult child does not qualify just because a parent lives in Australia.

It is not the same as the Dependent Child visa (Subclass 445), which is temporary and connects a child to a parent's unresolved permanent Partner visa application. It is also not the Adoption visa for an overseas adoption still within that process.

Family relationships created through step-parenting, international surrogacy, informal adoption or guardianship can be legally complex. Everyday use of the word "child" does not guarantee that the migration-law parent-child definition is met.

Next Steps

  1. Check citizenship by descent before starting a visa application if a parent was Australian at the child's birth.
  2. Obtain the child's full birth record and documents proving the sponsor's Australian status.
  3. For an applicant aged 18 or older, document full-time study and financial support or the disability preventing work.
  4. Resolve custody and parental-consent issues before applying.
  5. Choose Subclass 101 or 802 based on the child's location and eligibility to apply, not simply family preference.
  6. Follow the current Home Affairs paper-application instructions. Eligible applications can now be imported into ImmiAccount for management after submitting the paper application.

Stay up to date on this pathway

Get an email when something important changes.

No account needed. Unsubscribe anytime.

Discussed in these reports

Other routes in Australia.

Sources