Australia Family Visa
Australian Family Visas
If you plan to marry, are married to, or are in a committed relationship with an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you may be able to obtain a partner-based visa for immigration to Australia.
The Australian citizen/permanent resident will act as a sponsor for your visa. This means that your sponsor will provide a written statement pledging to support you for your first two years in Australia, including accommodation and financial assistance to meet reasonable living needs. Family migration applicants are assessed on an individual basis by the Australian immigration authorities, and are assessed against Australia’s health and character requirements.
Spouse Visa
If you are married to an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, or have been in a defacto relationship (common law) with one for at least 12 months, you may be eligible for immigration by obtaining a Spouse Visa to Australia. Your spouse may sponsor you for a period of two years. After this, if the relationship is still genuine and continuing, you may be eligible for permanent residence.
Requirements
In order to be eligible for a spouse visa to Australia, you must fulfill the following requirements:
- You and your spouse have a commitment to a shared life as husband and wife, whether or not you are legally married, to the exclusion of all others.
- Your relationship is genuine and continuing.
- You and your spouse live together, or don’t live separately and apart on a permanent basis.
- Unless you are legally married, you must have been in a spouse relationship for the last 12 months, which usually involves showing that you have lived together during this period
- Generally, you both need to be aged 18 or over.
- You must pass health and character criteria.
Rules and procedure
You may either be in Australia or overseas when applying for a spouse visa for Australia, although there are advantages to applying from within Australia. Please contact us for advice on obtaining a spouse visa.
Once your initial application is granted, you will be issued with an Extended Eligibility Temporary Visa. This will allow you to stay in Australia for two years and you will have full work rights during this period.
In some circumstances, it is not necessary to wait the two-year period before applying for permanent residence. This may happen if:
- You have been in the relationship with your spouse for five years or more at the time of application.
- You have been in the relationship for two years where there are dependent children of the relationship.
- Your spouse was granted a permanent visa under the humanitarian program or was granted a protection visa and was in the relationship with you before the visa was granted and this relationship was declared to Australian immigration officials at the time.
After the two-year period, you will be entitled to apply for permanent residence in Australia provided that your relationship still continues.
In some circumstances, you may be eligible for permanent residence even if the relationship has broken up before the end of the two-year period. These circumstances include:
- If your spouse has died during this period.
- If you and your Australian spouse have children under 18 years of age.
- If you or your dependents have been subject to domestic violence during this period.
Fiancé Visa
If you intend to marry an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you may be able to obtain a fiancé visa for immigration to Australia. Your fiancé can sponsor you for temporary residence in Australia for up to nine months during which the marriage must take place.
Requirements for an Australian fiancé visa
In order to be eligible for a fiancé (prospective marriage) visa, you must fulfill the following requirements:- You must be engaged to an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.
- You must be able to show that your relationship is genuine. This will involve demonstrating that you genuinely intend to marry your fiancé (e) within nine months from the date you are granted a visa, and that you intend to then live with your partner as their spouse.
- You will have to prove that you and your fiancé have met face to face and know each other.
- Both you and your fiancé(e) must be aged 18 years or over unless one of the following circumstances applies:
- Australian authorities are satisfied that you and/or your fiancé are due to turn 18 before the end of the period within which the intended marriage is to take place; or
- An Australian judge or magistrate has made an order under section 12 of the Marriage Act 1961 authorising you to marry your fiancé or vice versa as required, and that order is in force and DIMIA is satisfied that the marriage will take place.
Rules and procedure
You must be outside Australia when you apply and when you receive your Australia fiancé visa. Depending on the circumstances, you may wish to employ the services of a migration agent. Please contact us for advice on obtaining a fiancé visa. A fiancé visa lasts nine months, during which you must marry your sponsor. You will be entitled to full work rights for the duration of the fiancé visa. Once you are married, you will be eligible to apply for permanent residence through a spouse visa.Please contact us for further information about how to proceed with your application for this type of visa.
Interdependent Partner visa
If you are in a genuine interdependent relationship with an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen and wish to enter and remain permanently in Australia, you will need to obtain an Interdependent Partner visa. This provision includes same sex couples.
You may apply for an Interdependent Partner Visa if you:
- Are in an interdependent relationship with an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.
- Have been in this relationship for at least 12 months immediately prior to applying for the visa.
- Are able to be sponsored by your partner.
- Are in a relationship that is genuine and continuing and are able to provide evidence of this.
- Have a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of any spouse or other interdependent relationship.
- Live together, or do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis.
- You and your partner are over 18 when you apply.
Rules and procedure
The Interdependent Visa may be applied for from inside or outside Australia. If you are applying while you are in Australia you must hold a valid substantive visa. These are temporary visas. Once granted, they are valid for two years from date of application. If the relationship is still genuine and ongoing at the end of the two years, applicants may apply for a permanent visa.Parent Visa
Applicants for a visa in the Parent category must be sponsored. If you are the parent of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen you may be able to qualify for this type of visa if your child is willing and able to sponsor you. Please note that there are 1,000 places available for regular parent visas, and there is a long wait for this type of visa.
There are two visa subclasses in the parent category:
- For parents residing outside Australia: Subclass 103 Parent (Migrant) visa
- For parents residing in Australia: Subclass 804 Aged Parent (Residence) visa
Requirements:
Generally, the following are requirements for visas in the parent category:- The applicant must be a parent of a child who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen.
- The applicant’s child must be settled in Australia (in most cases, lawfully and permanently resident for at least 2 years) and generally must sponsor the applicant.
- The applicant must meet health and character requirements
- The applicant must pass the balance of family test. That is, the number of children who are lawfully and permanently resident in Australia must be:
-
- Greater than the greatest number of children who are resident in any single overseas country.
- Greater than, or equal to, the total number of children who are resident overseas; or
- An Assurance of Support and an Assurance of Support bond (held for 2 years) must be provided. Lodgement of this bond is not required until just before grant of a visa.
Contributory Parent Visas
The contributory parent category has 3,500 places and normally a shorter waiting period than the already-mentioned parent visas.
There are four parent visa subclasses in the contributory category:
For parents residing outside Australia:
- Subclass 143 Contributory Parent (Migrant) visa; and
- Subclass 173 Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa.
For parents residing in Australia:
- Subclass 864 Contributory Aged Parent (Residence) visa; and
- Subclass 884 Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) visa.
Parents of any age residing outside Australia will be able to apply, but only aged parents residing in Australia will be able to apply. Aged refers to men over 65 and women the qualifying age is 62.5.
Payments
There are two payment options for contributory parent visa applicants:
- Permanent visa: pay a A$25,000 second Visa Application Charge (VAC) per person ($1050 for dependents under 18); or
- Temporary visa: pay a A$15,000 second VAC per person (A$1050 for dependents under 18) which would entitle parents to a two-year temporary residence visa including Medicare access and work rights. During that period, parents may apply at any time for a permanent visa at which time the remaining payment of AU$10,000 is required (nil for dependents under 18).
The contributory parent visa category also requires a 10-year, AU$10,000 AoS bond for main applicants and A$4,000 for adult secondary applicants (for temporary visa holders, this is payable during processing of the permanent visa).
Requirements
Generally, the following are requirements for visas in the Contributory Parent category:
- The applicant must be a parent of a child who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen.
- The applicant’s child must be settled in Australia (in most cases, resident for at least 2 years) and must sponsor the applicant.
- The applicant must meet health and character requirements
- The applicant must pass the balance of family test. This means:
- at least half of their children living lawfully and permanently in Australia, or
- more children living lawfully and permanently in Australia than in any other single country overseas
- An Assurance of Support and an Assurance of Support bond (held for 10 years) must be provided for people applying for a permanent visa in the Contributory Parent category. Lodgement of the bond is not required until just before the visa is granted.
Family Relationship Visa
The Australia Family Relationship visa is designed to give a young family member the opportunity to live and learn in Australia for up to 12 months.
The Australia Family visa is intended for the temporary stay of unmarried people of secondary school age to have an extended holiday of up to 12 months, with an opportunity to learn about Australia while staying with relatives or close family friends.
At least one member of the family/close family friends must be an Australian citizen, permanent Australian resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.
The main purpose of stay must not be to improve your proficiency in English or to undertake formal studies. This means any course or studies over three months. This visa does not give you the right to work.
Other Types of Family Visas:
We can also help you with the following types of family visas
Remaining relative visa is for people who are the only members of their family left outside Australia, apart from young children. If you are married, your spouse must also be without close relatives, either in your present country, or in any other overseas country.
If you plan to migrate to Australia on a Carer Visa, you must have a relative in Australia who needs you to look after them. They must need your care because they cannot care for themselves – either because of illness, or mental or physical disability. This need for personal care must be likely to continue for at least two years.
Resident Return Visas (RRV) is for permanent residents, or former citizens who have lost their citizenship, to return to Australia.
To be eligible under the Former Resident category, you must have either: spent 9 out of your first 18 years in Australia as an Australian permanent resident, be under 45 at time of application, have never become an Australian and have maintained close ties with Australia; or have completed at least 3 months continuous Australian Defense service or were discharged before completing 3 months service on the basis that you become medically unfit because of that service.
Aged Dependant Relatives visa allows elderly relatives to reunite with family in Australia. If you are an elderly person, you need to have been largely supported, financially, by your Australian relatives for the last three years. Your relative needs to be an Australian citizen or to have been a permanent resident in Australia for the last 2 years.
Aged Parents Migration Visa is for the parents of Australian citizens or legal residents to reunite with their children in Australia. If you have children living in Australia, you may be able to join your family and see your grandchildren growing up. To apply for this visa, one of you – if you are a couple – must be over the legal age for retirement in Australia.
Working-Age Parents Migration Visa is for the working-age parents of Australian citizens or legal residents to reunite with their children in Australia. If you have children living in Australia, you may be able to join your family and see your grandchildren growing up.
Orphan Child Migration visa is for children under 18 who have no parent to care for them overseas, but they do have family in Australia. Their Australian relatives need to be grandparents, brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles, or a niece or a nephew (or the step equivalents).
Adoption Migration Visa (subclass 102) is for citizens or legal residents of Australia to bring a child under 18 years of age into Australia for adoption. The Australian adoption papers must have been completed before you apply for the child to migrate, or be in process.