Eligibility

Priority is given to those who have been assessed as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and referred to Australia for resettlement. In order to meet the UNHCR’s definition of a refugee, the applicant must be outside their home country and be unable or unwilling to return owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.

Family members

Dependent children: A person is a dependent child if they are the applicant’s child or stepchild and they meet at least one of the following requirements:

• they are under 18 years of age
• if they are aged 18 years or over, they are wholly or substantially reliant on their parent for financial, psychological or physical support.

Note: If a child (regardless of their age) is married, in a de facto relationship or is engaged to be married, they will not be considered to be a dependant.
Dependent children may, in some cases, be added to the application after it has been lodged.

Other dependent relatives: A person is a dependent relative if they are:

• a parent, brother or sister; step-parent, step-brother or step-sister; grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew, step-grandparent, step-grandchild, step-aunt, step-uncle, step-niece or step-nephew
• single
  Example: widowed aunt
• usually resident in the applicant’s household
• wholly or substantially financially reliant on the applicant for financial, psychological or physical support.

For the Refugee visa (subclass 200) only, the first or second cousin of the applicant may also be included in the application as a dependent relative.

Health requirements

Applicants and their dependent family members must meet health requirements in order to be granted a visa for Australia. Applicants will be notified when they will need to have medical and x–ray examinations. They may also undergo medical treatment.

The costs of all medical examinations are covered by the Australian Government.
See: Health Requirements

Character requirements

Applicants and their dependent family members must meet character requirements in order to be granted a visa for Australia. The assessment process may require the Australian Government to conduct character checks on applicants. Details of the application are not passed to the applicant’s home country.
See: Character and Penal Clearance Requirements