Sponsor Eligibility

This page provides information on the eligibility requirements for a sponsor for this visa.

Sponsors must be one of the following:

• an Australian citizen
• the holder of an Australian permanent visa
• an eligible New Zealand citizen
  Note: A sponsor who is an eligible New Zealand citizen must also meet health and character requirements.

Sponsors must also be the sponsor of the visa holding parent and have turned 18 years of age.

Sponsorship limitation and best interests of the child

Where an applicant is under 18 years of age, the sponsorship cannot be approved (except in very limited circumstances) where the sponsor or the sponsor's spouse or de facto partner has a conviction or an outstanding charge for an offence against a child. The applicant will also need to satisfy the requirement that there is no compelling reason to believe that the grant of the visa would not be in the best interests of the applicant.

In order to assess the sponsorship application and the best interests of the child requirement, sponsors of children under 18 years of age, and their spouse or de facto partner, are required to submit an AFP National Police Check and/or foreign police certificate/s, depending on their circumstances. If the sponsor, or their partner, has spent a total of 12 months or more in Australia since turning 16 years of age, that person must provide an AFP National Police Check. They must also provide police certificates from each country in which they have spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16 years of age.

Note: Sponsors or partners required to submit an AFP National Police Check must complete the AFP National Police Check application form which is available from the Australian Federal Police website. Sponsors or partners should use Code 33 at Question 1 on the form and include details of all names they have been known by. If an AFP Certificate is provided based on incorrect information, the department may request another certificate. Fingerprints are not required for AFP National Police Checks.
See:
Stronger Measures for the Protection of Children
AFP National Police Checks
Character Requirements Penal Clearance Certificates (233KB PDF file)

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