Child Visa Subclass 802

The subclass 802 Child Visa gives the child you have sponsored permanent residency in Australia. The child must be in Australia when you apply for the visa. The child must be dependent on a parent who is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or a qualifying New Zealand citizen. 

Who can sponsor the child?

To sponsor a child for the 802 visa, you must be:

an Australian citizen or eligible New Zealand citizen, or hold an Australian permanent visa;

aged 18 or older;

the child’s parent, or their parent’s current partner.

You can sponsor a child for this visa if the child is under 18 years old and you are no longer the partner of the child’s parent but you have legal responsibility for the child.

Applying for a Child Visa subclass 802

There are 4 steps in applying for the subclass 802 Child Visa.

Step 1. Prepare your documents.

You will need to provide documents that establish the following:

Identity

            Valid passport pages of the sponsored child.

Change of name documents for the child applicable due to a parent’s divorce, death or remarriage.

Relationship

You will need to provide documents that prove the child’s relationship to their parent. The child can be the parent’s biological, adopted or stepchild.

Adopted Children

To be eligible for this visa, the sponsored child’s adoption must have been finalised before s/he turned 18 years old. The adoption can have happened before or after the sponsoring parent became an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. However, if the child was adopted after their parent became an Australian citizen, permanent resident or New Zealand citizen, they will need meet Australia’s international adoption process.

Stepchildren

To be eligible for this visa, a stepchild must:

be the child of their step-parent’s former partner

be aged under 18

The step-parent must also have either be:

an Australian parenting order in force that says the child is to live with them and be looked after by them, or

guardianship or custody of the child under an Australian law or the law of another country

Parental responsibility documents

You must get consent for any applicant under 18 years of age to migrate to Australia from anyone who has a legal right to decide where the child lives.

They must complete either:

Age

You will need to provide evidence of the sponsored child’s age.

The child must be either:

under 18 years old, or

over 18 and under 25 years and studying full time, or

over 18 years with a disability.

Applicants aged between 18 and 25 years and studying full time

If the child is between 18 and 25 years old when they apply, they must be a full-time student when the visa application is decided, be unable to work full time and be financially dependent on their parent more than any other person.

You will need to provide evidence of their full time study and their financial dependence on their parent. This can be in the form of bank statements and enrolment in a fulltime course that will lead to a professional, trade or vocational qualification and proves they are attending class.

The child should have started study since turning 18 years of age or within 6 months (or a reasonable time) of finishing school. Any gaps of more than 6 months between their final year of school and the start of their further studies must be explained.

Disability

If the sponsored child is over 18 years old and is with a disability, you will need to include evidence from a qualified medical practitioner explaining how their disability stops them from working.

Health

The child you are sponsoring will need to meet Australia’s health requirements. The health checks are usually requested after the visa is lodged.

Character

We might ask you to provide an Australian state or territory police certificate if you have lived in an Australian state or territory for at least 12 months.

If you have lived for at least 12 months in an overseas country, we might ask you to provide a police certificate from that country.

If anyone included in the application has served in the armed forces of any country, they must provide their military service record or discharge papers.

Children over 16 years of age must complete and provide ‘Form 80’.

Australian Values Statement

If the child you’re sponsoring is over 18 years old they will be asked to read or have explained to them the ‘Life in Australia’ booklet and sign the Australian Values Statement.

Step 3. Submit your visa and documents

The visa application, along with the supporting documents and visa fees, are lodged online. You will receive confirmation from the immigration department that they have received your application.

They will also tell you when to arrange the child’s health checks.

If the sponsored child needs to travel outside of Australia while the visa is being processed, you must let the immigration department know. The child must be in Australia when the visa decision is made.

If any circumstances change for the sponsored child, you will need to let the immigration department know.

Step 4. The visa is granted.

Remember, the sponsored child must be in Australia when the visa decision is made. You will receive a visa grant letter which you should keep a copy of while you are in Australia.

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