Bring Children to Australia

One of the biggest considerations for families is how to bring children to Australia. If you have a child overseas, then you will need to know how to get an Australian visa for your child.

This guide includes:

how to add children to your partner visa application;
how to apply for a child visa after you get your partner visa;
getting a bridging visa for your child;
when your child can get free schooling in Australia; and
how to get Australian citizenship for your child.

Bring children to Australia by adding them to a Partner visa application

If you want to bring your partner to Australia on a Partner visa, you can add children to the application. There are two types of partner visa.

The 309/100 for applications submitted while the applicant is outside Australia. And the 820/801 for applications submitted while the applicant is in Australia. Here I discuss how to bring children to Australia by adding them to your application.

309/100 Offshore Partner Visa application

Add children to a 309/100 application by including them in the original paperwork. This can be a paper application or an online application. Through the IMMI account.

Children get added at time of application. There will be extra fees to bring children to Australia this way.

820/801 Onshore Partner visa application

When you add children to the onshore partner visa application, they will get a bridging visa. Allowing them to stay in Australia. To add children to an 820/801 Partner visa, they must be in Australia.

How to bring children to Australia after you get your Partner visa

After you get your partner visa. Subclass 309 or 820. You will need to apply for a 445 dependent child visa to bring children to Australia.

After approval of the 445, the children can go onto the 801 or 100 application.

Bring children to Australia with a Visitor visa

Visitor visa applications are all separate. This means that a child cannot be added to a parent’s Visitor visa application.

You will need to make separate applications for each child. Once granted, the child will normally be able to visit Australia. For at least three months.

We have written a complete article about what to do if immigration refused your girlfriend’s visitor visa.

Once inside Australia, you might be able to apply for a new visa. This depends on whether the visitor visa has condition 8503 – no further stay.

Bring children to Australia on a Bridging visa

When you apply for a visa in Australia. You will get a Bridging visa. So that you can stay until the decision.

This means that children added to a Partner visa will also get a Bridging visa. The key is that they must be in Australia when applying.

Bring children to Australia for free education

Education is a key factor if you want to bring children to Australia. Most States will only provide free education, once the Partner visa has been granted.

This means you face a long wait before you can access free education. Education is still available. But you need to pay until your Partner visa reaches the approval stage.

Bring children to Australia with a citizenship application

Your child can also apply for Australian citizenship. If the child is yours, its called citizenship by descent. Applications are made directly to the Department of Home Affairs and normally take around three months to approve.