Universal Visa – Study & Settle Abroad

Child Visa

This visa lets a child outside Australia move to Australia to live with their parents.

With this visa the child can

  • stay in Australia indefinitely
  • work and study in Australia
  • enrol Australia’s public healthcare scheme, Medicare
  • sponsor relatives to come to Australia
  • apply for Australian citizenship, if eligible

Travel to and from Australia for 5 years

The child can travel to and from Australia as many times as they want for 5 years from the date we grant this visa. This is as long as the travel facility of this visa remans valid.

If the child wants to travel after the inital 5-year travel facility:

  • they will need to apply for and be granted a Resident Return (RRV) visa so they can re-enter Australia as a permanent resident
  • they might also want to consider Australian citizenship. If they become an Australian citizen, they don’t require a visa to re-enter Australia. See more about eligibility requirements and current processing times for Australian citizenship

To see when the child’s travel facility ends, use VEVO.

Adopted children

To be granted this visa, an adopted child must have been adopted before they turned 18 by a parent who was not an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen at the time of adoption.

A child adopted before they turned 18 by a parent who was already an Australian citizen, permanent visa holder or eligible New Zealand citizen at the time of adoption might be eligible for an Adoption visa (subclass 102).

How long the child can stay

This is a permanent visa. It lets the child stay in Australia indefinitely.

Include other children

If the child has siblings who also want to apply, submit separate applications for each sibling.

The child’s dependent children can be included on their application when they apply or at any time before we decide the application.

Dependent children of the child who apply for the visa must meet our health requirement.

Family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet our health requirement.

Apply from

The child must be outside Australia when the application is submitted and when we make a decision.

Processing times

The application might take longer to process if:

  • it is not filled in correctly
  • it does not include all the documents we need or we need more information
  • it takes us time to verify the information

We can’t process the application if the correct visa application charge is not paid. We will let the applicant know if this is the case and if necessary return the application.

The child’s obligations

The child and any dependants must obey all Australian laws.

Visa label

We will digitally link the child’s visa to their passport. They will not get a label in their passport.

 

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