Child Migration

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Australia is a nation that prides itself on being family-focused and supporting family migration.  On account of these values, Australia offers a range of child-related visas that allow an Australian citizen, Australian Permanent Resident or an Eligible New Zealand citizen to sponsor their child to Australia on a permanent or temporary basis.

Child-related visas include:

• Child – Subclass 101 (offshore) / 802 (onshore)
• Adoption – Subclass 102
• Dependent Child – Subclass 445

To to be eligible for any of the above visas subclasses the applicant needs to be:

• a dependent child* of an Australian citizen, Permanent Resident or Eligible New Zealand citizen who is over 18 years old at the time of  visa application;
• under 23 years old**;
• not engaged to be married or have a spouse of De Facto partner;
• not engaged in full-time work; and
• engaged in a full-time course of study if over 18 years old at the time of visa application.

*Child refers to a biological child, stepchild or a lawfully adopted child

** For an adopted child, the applicant is required to be under 18 years old at the time of visa application

For Adoption - Subclass 102 cases:

• the applicant must be adopted outside of Australia
• the applicant must be residing outside of Australia
• at the time of adoption, the applicant must be adopted by an Australian citizen, Permanent Resident or an Eligible New Zealand citizen who has been residing overseas for more than 12 months at the time of visa application;
• the sponsor must satisfy that their residence overseas was not contrived to circumvent requirement for entry to Australia of children for adoption; and
• the adoptive parent has lawfully acquired full and permanent parental rights by the adoption

Dependent Child – Subclass 445

This visa is a temporary visa that can be lodged both in Australia and overseas.  The purpose of the visa is to provide a dependent child of a valid Australian temporary or provisional visa-holding parent with a pathway to Australia to be included in the visa-holding parent’s permanent visa application.

Note:

• Children born to an Australian citizen in or outside Australia may be eligible for Citizenship by Descent.  
• Children born to an Australian Permanent Resident in Australia may be eligible for Australian citizenship at birth.

Let AusVisa Link help you with the visa process so you can focus on planning your family’s future in Australia