Some family relationships do not fit the partner, parent or child categories. Australia has a small group of visas for those situations, and they are among the most narrowly defined in the whole program.
The definitions are strict and they are applied strictly. That cuts both ways. People who assume they cannot qualify sometimes do, and people who assume they obviously qualify sometimes find the legislation says otherwise.
For someone coming to Australia to provide substantial and continuing care to a relative with a long term medical condition, where that care cannot reasonably be obtained in Australia.
The medical assessment sits at the centre of it, and it is carried out by an assessment service rather than by the treating doctor. That assessment, not the family’s own account of the need, is what decides the application.
For someone whose only close family lives in Australia. The test asks whether you have any near relatives outside Australia, and the definition of near relative is broader than most people expect. A sibling or a parent overseas will usually rule it out.
For an older relative who has been dependent on an Australian relative for a substantial period. Both the age requirement and the dependency requirement have to be met.
For a child under 18 who has no parent able to care for them, being sponsored by a relative in Australia. The 117 is applied for offshore and the 837 onshore.
Each one is defined by an absence. No other family overseas. No parent able to care. No care available in Australia. No other means of support.
That shapes how the applications are prepared. You are not only establishing a relationship, you are establishing that an alternative does not exist. Evidence of an absence is harder to assemble than evidence of a fact, and it is where these applications most often fall short.
Several of these visas sit in capped categories with long queues. That does not make them not worth applying for, but it does mean the decision to apply should be made with the timeframe understood at the start rather than discovered later.
We will tell you what the position looks like for the visa that applies to you. We will not put a date on it, because no one can.
A relative overseas that the applicant did not think counted. The definitions do not follow everyday usage.
Dependency asserted but not evidenced over the required period.
For carer visas, an assessment that finds the care could reasonably be provided in Australia, or that the condition does not meet the threshold.
Circumstances that change during a long wait, particularly where a relative moves country or a medical situation changes.
Sponsorship eligibility, which is easy to assume and worth checking.
These visas reward careful work at the start. We check the definitions against your actual family circumstances before anything is lodged, and we tell you plainly if the answer is that you do not meet them. That is a better outcome than an application fee spent on a refusal.
Where you do qualify, we build the evidence, prepare the sponsorship, and manage the application through what is often a long process.
We cannot promise an outcome or a timeframe.
Call 1300 368 933 to talk through your situation with an immigration lawyer.
