Australia Family Immigration Visa

If you want to immigrate to this island continent Australia along with your family, there are various visa categories available for immigration. You can understand about the family immigration process in this section. There are many family category visa ranging from Partner Visa, Dependent / Child Visa, Family Sponsorship visa, Relative Visa options, etc.

Migration with family is one of the best highlights of Australia’s immigration programme. Family stream migrant’s offers sponsorship options to eligible family members based on their relationship with the Australian citizen or PR holder. There is no test for language or professional skills as required under Skilled Migration category. 

 Family Stream migration has the following four main categories:

Partner Visa:

There are two visa types in the partner category:

A partner visa (Subclass 309):

• It is for a spouse or de facto partner or same sex partner who can be sponsored by an Australian PR holder or citizen.

A prospective marriage visa (Subclass 300):

• It is for a fiancé who is overseas and plans to marry an Australian PR holder or citizen after reaching Australia.

 Child Visa

If you are an Australian PR holder or citizen and you have a family member who is under 16 years of age and is dependent on you, you can apply for child visa. Child visa is required if:

• The child will need a visa if they are not PR holder
• They intend to enter, travel or live in Australia indefinitely with a Australian PR holder or citizen

There are three types of child category visas:

• Child Visa: It is for dependent child of an Australian PR holder or citizen
• Adoption Visa: It is for a child adopted outside Australia by an Australian PR holder or citizen.
• Orphan Relative Visa: It is for an orphan child who is under 18 years of age at the time of application, who cannot be taken care of by either parents and is sponsored by an Australian PR holder or citizen.

If you are applying for a partner or a child visa, the application can be prioritized if there are compelling and compassionate situation. You need to submit supportive documents in order to demonstrate the urgency of the situation.

Parent Visa

• Parent visas can be filed under 2 subclasses:
  • Parent Visa Subclass 103
  • Aged Parent Subclass 804

 There are two types of Parent category visa:

 Contributory Parent Visa:

• It is for parents of an Australian PR holder or citizen where the applicant pays a higher visa application charges so that visa processing time is faster. The processing time of these visas is about 2-4 years.

Parent Visa:

• It is for parents of Australian PR holder or citizen. These types of visa include Parent (Subclass 103) and Aged Parent (Subclass 804). The processing time for these visas is approximately 30 years.

You can check the eligibility criteria to apply for Parent category visa as listed below:

• If you have a child who is an Australian citizen, an Australian PR holder or an eligible New Zealand citizen.
• If your child has been living in Australia lawfully for a minimum of 2 years before applying for this visa.
• If you have an Australian sponsor
• If you meet the Balance of Family test criteria:
  • Balance of family test requires that at least half of your total number of children live permanently in Australia, or that more of your children live will permanently in Australia than any other country.
• Your children must meet one of the below conditions:
  • Australian citizens
  • Australian permanent residents living in Australia from at least 2 years
  • Eligible New Zealand citizens who are normally residents of Australia
• This test ensures that genuine applicants file for visa under this category.

Other Family

The other family category visas consist of the following three visa types:

• Carer Visa:

 It is for applicants who are willing and want to give substantial, continuing support to an Australian relative or members of their family who have a serious medical condition.

• Aged Dependent Relative Visa:

This visa is for single, widowed, divorced or formally separated applicants who are dependent on Australian relative.

• Remaining Relative Visa:

This visa is for applicants who have no near relatives outside Australia and are closely related as brother, sister, child or step child to an Australian citizen, PR holder.

Sponsorship:

All family stream visas require applicants to be sponsored by a close family relative, a partner, or a fiance depending on the visa category that is applied. The sponsor must be an Australian citizen, PR holder or eligible New Zealand citizen and must usually be at least 18 years of age.

• Partner category applicants must be sponsored by their partners or a partner guardian of their partner if the application is on the basis of marriage.
• Child category applicants must be sponsored by a parent or relative, or that person’s partner who is also an Australian Resident.
• Parent Category: This is for applicants who are usually sponsored by their child or child’s partner. If the child is under 18 years of age, certain other people can sponsor the applicant.
• Other Family Category: This is for applicants who must be sponsored by an eligible relative or their partner.

There are limitations on the number of visa applicants that a person can sponsor as their partner or fiance. A person can only sponsor a maximum of 2 applicants under partner category as fiance or prospective marriage visa applicant.

Permanent contributory parent visa holders who were granted visa on or after 1 July 2009 may be restricted to sponsor partner or fiance for a period of years from date the visa was granted.

A person who entered Australia as a remaining relative or a person who has previously sponsored a person as a remaining relative visa cannot sponsor another person under remaining relative family visa category.

 Processing time of Family Visas:

Processing time of applications submitted under Family stream visa application charges. The family visas have priority groups under which the application is processed:

According to Australian Immigration Department website, the average processing time for applications filed under Family Stream category is mentioned below:

Every case file is unique and requires a fair amount of time for its evaluation. You can track your application online on the department website to know the application status. Please note that some visa classes under Family Stream Visa are subject to being queued having extensive waiting periods.