Overview

A child does not automatically become an Australian permanent resident or Australian citizen just because it is born in Australia.

If you hold a temporary or provisional visa and have a baby while in Australia, the baby will receive the same visa as you. You do not need to apply for a separate visa but will need to advise the Australian Government of the birth of your child. Your child will then be granted the same visa as you with the same expiry date.

If you are a permanent resident and have a child in Australia, that child is an Australian citizen by birth.

If you are an Australian citizen and have a baby while overseas, you will need to apply to register the baby as an Australian citizen.

But if you are a permanent resident and have a child outside Australia, that child will not hold a visa of any kind. If this situation applies to you or you are thinking of traveling back to your country to give birth, or you are applying to adopt a child from overseas, the child needs to apply for a Child visa to travel back to Australia with you.

Child visa categories

There are 3 types of permanent child visas: Child visa (Onshore and Onshore versions), an Adoption visa, and an Orphan Relative visa for children who are outside Australia and who have a relative in Australia and whose parents are deceased. In addition, the Dependent Child is a temporary visa for children of a parent migrating as the spouse of an Australian citizen.

Child visa
(Subclass 101) - Offshore

This is a permanent visa that allows a child of an Australian permanent resident who is outside Australia move to Australia to live with its parents.

With this visa the child can

  • stay in Australia indefinitely;
  • work and study in Australia;
  • enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare;
  • sponsor relatives to come to Australia;
  • apply for Australian citizenship, if eligible.

Travel to and from Australia for 5 years

The child can travel to and from Australia as many times as they want for 5 years from the date of the visa grant. This is as long as the travel facility on this visa remains valid.

If the child wants to travel after the initial 5-year travel facility:

  • they will need to apply for and be granted a Resident Return (RRV) so that you can re-enter Australia as a permanent resident;
  • they might also want to consider Australian citizenship.

To apply for this visa, the child must be:

  • sponsored by their parent or their parent’s partner;
  • single;
  • 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;
  • meet the health requirement;
  • meet the character requirement;
  • be outside Australia when the application is made.

The sponsor

The child’s sponsoring parent must be an Australian citizen, the holder of an Australian permanent resident visa or an eligible New Zealand citizen.

To discover whether your child is eligible for Child visa (subclass 101), we invite you to book a consultation with one of our expert migration lawyers.

Processing times are indicative only and may vary depending on individual circumstances or government policy. If these processing times are not suitable for your plans, we advise you to contact VisAustralia to discuss alternative processes.

The latest processing times published by the Department of Home Affairs are as follows:

  • 75% of applications: 21 months
  • 90% of applications: 34 months

The visa costs AUD$2,665 for the main applicant.

There might be other costs.

To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not include other costs you might also have to pay such as those for police certificates, health checks, biometrics and professional fees to get assistance with the visa application process from an immigration lawyer/agent.

Adoption visa
(Subclass 102)

This is a permanent visa that allows children adopted outside Australia live in Australia with their adoptive parent. To apply for this visa, the child must be adopted or be in the process of being adopted through one of the following arrangements:

1. An intercountry adoption or arrangement with the involvement of an Australian state or territory central authority; or
2. An intercountry adoption between 2 countries (other than Australia) that are parties to the Hague Convention on the Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption (the Hague Adoption Convention); or
3. An expatriate adoption (with no involvement from an Australian state or territory central authority).

If the child is adopted through an expatriate adoption there are additional rules that must be met:

  • at least one adoptive parent must have resided outside Australia for more than 12 months immediately before lodging a visa application;
  • the adoptive parent must not have resided overseas to avoid Australia’s intercountry adoption laws;
  • the adoptive parent must have full and permanent parental rights (no remaining legal ties between the child and the birth parents can exist); and
  • the adoption must adhere to adoption laws of the home country.

    With this visa the child can

    • stay in Australia indefinitely;
    • work and study in Australia;
    • enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare;
    • sponsor relatives to come to Australia;
    • apply for Australian citizenship, if eligible.

To apply for this visa, the child must be:

  • adopted or be in the process of being adopted as described;
  • sponsored by an eligible adoptive parent or prospective adoptive parent;
  • under 18 at the time of adoption, when the application is submitted and at the time of the visa decision;
  • meet the health requirement;
  • meet the character requirement;
  • be outside Australia when the application is made.

The sponsor/adoptive 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.

To discover whether your child is eligible for Adoption visa (subclass 102), we invite you to book a consultation with one of our expert migration lawyers.

Processing times are indicative only and may vary depending on individual circumstances or government policy.

The latest processing times published by the Department of Home Affairs are as follows:

  • 75% of applications: 21 months
  • 90% of applications: 32 months

The visa costs AUD$2,665 for the main applicant.

There might be other costs.

To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not include other costs you might also have to pay such as those for police certificates, health checks, biometrics and professional fees to get assistance with the visa application process from an immigration lawyer/agent.

Child visa
(Subclass 802) - Onshore

This is a permanent visa that allows a child of an Australian permanent resident in Australia with another kind of visa to Australia apply for permanent residence. On applying for this visa you will be granted a bridging visa that allows you to stay in Australia during the processing period until the visa is decided.

With this visa the child can

  • stay in Australia indefinitely;
  • work and study in Australia;
  • enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare;
  • sponsor relatives to come to Australia;
  • apply for Australian citizenship, if eligible.

Travel to and from Australia for 5 years

The child can travel to and from Australia as many times as they want for 5 years from the date of the visa grant. This is as long as the travel facility on this visa remains valid.

If the child wants to travel after the initial 5-year travel facility:

  • they will need to apply for and be granted a Resident Return (RRV) so that you can re-enter Australia as a permanent resident;
  • they might also want to consider Australian citizenship.

To apply for this visa, the child must be:

  • sponsored by their parent or their parent’s partner;
  • be a dependent child of a parent who is an Australian citizen, eligible New Zealand citizen or holder of an Australian permanent visa;
  • single;
  • 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;
  • meet the health requirement;
  • meet the character requirement;
  • be in Australia when the application is made and at the time of the visa decision.
  • To discover whether your child is eligible for Child visa (subclass 802), we invite you to book a consultation with one of our expert migration lawyers.

Processing times are indicative only and may vary depending on individual circumstances or government policy. On applying for this visa you will be granted a bridging visa that will allow you to continue living in Australia during the process time.

The latest processing times published by the Department of Home Affairs are as follows:

  • 75% of applications: 19 months
  • 90% of applications: 22 months

The visa costs AUD$2,665 for the main applicant.

There might be other costs.

To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not include other costs you might also have to pay such as those for police certificates, health checks, biometrics and professional fees to get assistance with the visa application process from an immigration lawyer/agent.

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