Family Member Eligibility

The following family members can be included in your application:

• your spouse or de facto partner
• your dependent child
• other dependent relatives.

Family members must meet all of the following eligibility requirements.

Spouse

A person is the spouse of another person if they are in a married relationship. Persons are in a married relationship if:

• they are married to each other under a marriage that is valid for the purposes of the Migration Act 1958;
• they have a mutual commitment to a shared life as husband and wife to the exclusion of all others;
• the relationship between them is genuine and continuing; and
• they live together or do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis.

De facto partner

A person is the de facto partner of another person (whether of the same sex or a different sex) if:

• they have a mutual commitment to a shared life to the exclusion of all others;
• the relationship between them is genuine and continuing;
• they live together or do not live separately and apart on a permanent basis; and
• they are not related by family.

For an application for a permanent, Business Skills (Provisional), Student (Temporary), Partner (Provisional), Partner (Temporary), or a General Skilled Migration visa the de facto relationship must have existed for at least 12 months immediately preceding the date of application.

Dependent child

Your child or stepchild is considered to be dependent when they are one of the following:

• under 18 years of age
• aged 18 years or over and have been wholly or substantially reliant on you for a substantial period for their basic needs (food, clothing and shelter)
• of any age and incapacitated for work (whether or not they migrate with the applicant).

A child of any age is not considered dependent if they are married, engaged to be married or in a de facto relationship.

Other dependent relatives

Your other relatives may be considered dependent if they are all of the following:

• single (has never married or entered a de facto relationship, or is widowed, divorced or separated)
• usually resident in your household
• wholly or substantially reliant on your financial support for their basic living needs (food, shelter and clothing)
• more reliant on you for support than on any other person or source
• have been reliant on you for a substantial period.

Details of each dependent 18 or older, whether migrating or not, must be provided.
See: Form 47A Details of child or other dependent family member aged 18 years or over (248KB PDF file)

Health requirements

Your dependent family members must meet health requirements.
See: Health requirements

Character requirements

Your accompanying family members aged 16 and above must meet character requirements.
See: Character and penal clearance requirements

Australian Values Statement

All visa applicants aged 18 years or over, are required to sign an Australian values statement. The statement is included in the visa application form and all applicants aged 18 years and over will need to sign it. Before signing the statement, applicants for this visa are required to have read, or had explained to them, material made available by the government on life in Australia which is contained in the Life in Australia book.

The Life in Australia book provides more information on the values that Australians share and their way of life.
See:
Australian Values - Overview
Life in Australia Book

 

Before lodging an application, please read all related eligibility requirements.
See: Other eligibility