Australia Child Visa

Summary

Australia's Child visa lets a dependent child live permanently in Australia with a parent who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen.

Subclass 101 is the offshore version. Subclass 802 is the onshore version. The core family logic is similar: dependency, sponsor eligibility, health, character, and consent where needed.

Eligibility

Home Affairs describes the Child visa as covering a dependent child of an eligible parent. A child may fit if they are:

• Under 18.
• Over 18 and under 25, a full-time student, and financially dependent on the parent.
• Over 18 and unable to work because of a disability.

The child must be single and dependent on the parent. The parent sponsor must have qualifying Australian or eligible New Zealand status.

What This Route Allows

If granted, the Child visa gives permanent residence. It can allow the child to live, work, study, use Medicare if eligible, and later apply for Australian citizenship if citizenship rules are met.

What This Route Is Not

Some children of Australian citizens may already have a citizenship route by descent. If a parent was an Australian citizen at the child's birth, check citizenship by descent before treating this as only a visa case.

Next Steps

1. Confirm the parent sponsor's status.
2. Confirm the child's dependency category.
3. Gather birth, custody, adoption, dependency, and identity records.
4. Decide whether the onshore or offshore subclass applies.

Sources

• Department of Home Affairs - Child visa (Subclass 101) - offshore child visa.
• Department of Home Affairs - Child visa (Subclass 802) - onshore child visa.