Child Visa for Sponsors
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Overview
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About this visa
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Eligibility
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Step by step
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When you are a sponsor
Stay
Permanently
Cost
Processing times
For an indication of processing times for this visa, use the visa processing time guide tool. This will show the processing times for recently decided applications. It is a guide only and not specific to your application.
With this visa the child can
- migrate to Australia as a permanent resident
- study and access Medicare
- apply for Australian citizenship if eligible
See all conditions
Check your eligibility
Things to note
- you must be an Australian citizen or eligible New Zealand citizen, or holder of an Australian permanent visa
- you must provide adequate accommodation and enough financial support to meet the child's reasonable living needs for their first 2 years in Australia
Scope
This visa lets you sponsor a child to move to Australia.
Cost for the sponsor
There is no cost to apply for sponsorship. However, as a sponsor you will have financial obligations.
Apply for sponsorship from
You don't need to be in Australia when the visa application is submitted. You can still sponsor the child if you:
- have entered Australia before but are outside Australia when the application is submitted
- have been granted an Australian permanent resident visa but have not yet entered Australia
Sponsor obligations
You must agree that for the first 2 years the child is in Australia on this visa you will assist them, and any dependent children who are granted the visa with them, with accommodation and financial support.
Be suitable to sponsor
To sponsor a child for this visa you must:
- be an Australian citizen or eligible New Zealand citizen, or hold an Australian permanent visa
- be aged 18 or older
You must also be:
- the child's parent, or
- their parent's current spouse or de facto 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.
You can sponsor a child for this visa if you are their adoptive parent and you adopted them before becoming an Australian citizen or eligible New Zealand citizen, or the holder of an Australian permanent visa.
If the child was adopted after you became an Australian citizen or eligible New Zealand citizen, or the holder of an Australian permanent visa, the child will have to apply for an Adoption visa (subclass 102).
We must approve the sponsorship. We might not approve sponsorship if the parent or their partner has been charged or convicted of offences involving children. Learn more about measures for the protection of children.
Step 1
Before you apply
Make sure the child is eligible for the visa and you are an eligible sponsor.
Step 2
Gather your documents
Provide evidence to support your sponsorship application.
Identity documents
Provide the pages of your current passport showing your photo, personal details, and passport issue and expiry dates.
If you have changed your name, provide proof such as:
- a marriage or divorce certificate
- change of name documents from an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, or the relevant overseas authority
- documents that show other names you have been known by
Relationship to the applicant documents
Give us:
- a birth certificate
- marriage certificates
- death certificates
- adoption certificates
- family status certificates or family books, if officially issued and maintained
If you are a step-parent but no longer in a relationship with the child's parent, you must provide documents to show:
- you were the partner of the child's parent
- you have legal parental responsibility for the child
- the child's parentage
- that the child is under 18
Residence and citizenship documents
Provide evidence that you are an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen such as:
- a birth certificate
- evidence you hold an Australian passport or that you are a permanent resident
- an Australian citizenship certificate
- if you are a New Zealand citizen, evidence to show how long you have lived in Australia and your continued links to Australia
Financial documents
You might need to give us:
- income records
- tax records
- other evidence you can support the child
If you pay child support or have provided an assurance of support for anyone else, you must provide a statement that shows:
- your relationship with the person you support
- when you submitted any other sponsorship applications or assurances of support
- how much and how often you make any support payments
Police check documents
If the child will be under 18 when we make a decision on the application you must give us:
- an Australian National Police Certificate if you have lived in Australia for any length of time since turning 16
- an overseas police certificate from every country, where you spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16.
For Australia, we only accept National Police Certificates applied for under Code 33 – Immigration/Citizenship. The Australian Federal Police issue these certificates. We don't accept standard disclosure certificates or certificates issued by Australian state or territory police.
If you have a spouse or de facto partner they must also provide these documents.
For immigration purposes, police certificates are valid for 12 months from the issue date.
Learn more about measures for the protection of children.
Translate
Have all non-English documents translated into English.
Provide original and translated documents in your application.
Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Acreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.
Translators outside Australia do not have to be accredited. But on each translation, they must include their:
- full name
- address and telephone number
- qualifications and experience in the language they are translating.
These details must be in English.
Step 3
Apply
Complete Form 40CH Sponsorship for a child to migrate to Australia (544KB PDF). Submit this form with the child's visa application and all supporting documents.
You must complete the form in English.
Step 4
After you apply
Wait for our decision. Don't arrange the child's travel to Australia until we advise in writing that we have granted a visa.
It might take longer to process the child's application if:
- they need character or health checks
- we need more information
- the application is not complete
Tell us if things change
Things you need to let us know about after you have applied include:
- changes to your phone number, address or passport
- changes to your marital or de facto status
- the birth of a child
See how to tell us if your situation changes.
Withdraw sponsorship
You can withdraw your sponsorship before we grant the visa. You can't withdraw after we grant the visa.
We might not grant the child a visa if you withdraw your sponsorship before we make a decision on the application.
Write to us at the office where the application was sent if you want to withdraw your sponsorship.
Your request must include your:
- full name and date of birth
- file reference number
- client ID or transaction reference number
Step 5
Visa outcome
We will let the visa applicant know our decision.
If we grant the visa, we will tell you:
- the visa grant number
- the date the visa starts
- any conditions attached to the visa
- the date by which the child must enter Australia, if we granted the visa when they were outside Australia
If we refuse the visa, we will tell you:
- why we refused the visa
- whether there is a right to a review of the decision
Your obligations
You must agree that for the first 2 years the child is in Australia on this visa you will assist them, and any dependent children who are granted the visa with them, with accommodation and financial support.
You can' t withdraw as a sponsor after we have granted the visa. But if you don't comply with your sponsorship obligations for 2 years after we grant the visa, we might cancel it.