Child Visa

To live abroad without your complete family can be quite challenging and lonesome; more so when children are the absent parties. Children born in Australia receive Australian citizenship automatically when at least one parent is either an Australian citizen or holds an Australian PR.

Child Visa 101:-

This visa is suitable is granted to the eligible parents’ biological child who is out of Australia. With this visa, the child can come to Australia and live with its parents. The parents can apply on behalf of a child younger than 18 years of age. It is important to remember that this visa application must be made outside Australia and the child too must be outside Australia when the visa is granted.

Child Visa 102:-

This visa is granted to the eligible parents’ adopted child who is out of Australia. With this visa the child can come to Australia and stay with the adoptive parents. The parents can apply on behalf of a child younger than 18 years of age. It is important to remember that this visa application must be made outside Australia. The child must already be adopted or in the process of being adopted. Also, the adoptive parent or prospective adoptive parent must prove their position to sponsor the child.

However, children born outside Australia must:

Obtain a permanent visa if neither parent is an Australian citizen
Apply for Australian citizenship if at least one parent is an Australian citizen

Child Visa in Australia is divided in to 4 subclasses:

Child Visa 101
Child Visa 102
Child Visa 802
Child Visa 445

An Eligible parent is:

An Australian citizen
The holder of an Australian permanent resident visa
An eligible New Zealand citizen.

Child Visa 802:-

This visa is granted to the eligible parents’ child who is in Australia to continue staying in Australia. The eligible parents can sponsor the child for as long as they want. The parents can apply on behalf of a child younger than 18 years of age. They will need to prove their ability to sponsor the child. It is important to note that the must be residing in Australia at the time of application.

Child Visa 445:-

This visa is a temporary visa and it is granted in order that the child may travel to and from Australia until the eligible parents permanent Partner visa is finalized. After a temporary Partner visa has been granted to the parent, they can add the child to their permanent Partner visa application. The child needs to be younger than 18 years of age. If the child is more than 18, then they must financially dependent on the parent with the Partner Visa or prove to be incapable to work due to challenging mental or physical problems.

Benefits

With Child Visa subclasses 101/102/802/445, the child can reap following benefits:

Use free will to travel to and from Australia indefinitely keeping disturbances to family life at minimum.
Earn the right to study and consequently study in Australia.
Apply for Australian citizenship when eligible.
Sponsor for eligible relatives to Australia for permanent residence.

Eligibility

The child’s relationship with the sponsor must fall in either one of the two following categories: The child is:

The biological child or adopted child of the eligible parent.
An under-18 step child of a step-parent who is no longer the partner of the child’s parent but has a legal responsibility to care for the child.

In case of an adopted child, the adoption process ought to be completed before their parent became an Australian citizen or the holder of an Australian permanent resident visa or an eligible New Zealand citizen.

Best interests of the child:

This visa will not usually be granted if it is against the best interests of a child younger than 18 years of age. Measures for the Protection of Children has more information.

Assurance of support:

We might ask for an assurance of support for the child so that welfare costs for some migrants are not borne by the Australian community. Do not provide an assurance of support unless we ask for one and tell you what you need to do.

Health requirements:

The child must meet certain health requirements. The results are usually valid for 12 months. This also applies to any dependent family members included in your application, whether they are migrating or not.

Character requirements:

A child older than 16 years of age must meet certain character requirements. They must be prepared to provide a police certificate from each country they have lived in for 12 months or more during the past 10 years after they turned 16 years of age. Do not arrange for police certificates until we ask you to. This also applies to all dependent family members in the application who are 16 years of age or older.

Debts to the Australian Government:

The child must have no outstanding debts to the Australian Government or have arranged to repay any outstanding debts to the Australian Government

Children younger than 18 years of age:

Cannot have a spouse or de facto partner.
Cannot be engaged to be married.

Children between 18 and 25 years of age:

A child between 18 and 25 years of age who does not have a disability that prevents them from working must:

Never have had, and not now have, a spouse or de facto partner.
Not be engaged to be married.
Not be in full-time work.
Be a full-time student.

To be a full-time student, the child must:

Be currently enrolled and participating in a full-time course of study leading to a professional, trade or vocational qualification.
Have started that course since turning 18 years of age or within six months or a reasonable time after finishing school.

The child must be a full-time student when they apply for this visa. Any gaps of more than six months between the final year of school and tertiary studies must be explained.

Children with a disability aged 18 or older:

A child with a disability is eligible for this visa if they:

Are not engaged, married or have a de facto partner.
Are not in full-time work.
Are dependent on the sponsoring parent.

Disability means that the child has total or partial loss of their bodily or mental functions, and they are unable to work because of it. To be dependent they must be reliant on the sponsoring parent for financial support because they are not able to work because of their disability.

Parental responsibility:

This visa can be granted only if you can show one of the following for a child younger than 18 years of age:

you have the written consent of each person who can legally decide where the child lives.
The laws of the child’s home country permit the removal of the child.
It is consistent with any Australian child order.

The documents checklist lists you the documents you must provide with your application to support this claim.