Child Visa Application

Do you know that you have to be a dependent child of your parent to apply for a child visa in Australia?

The child applicant must be single; age 18-25 years old and financially dependent on your parent; full time student and no gap in your studies for more than 6 months after attaining the age of 18 years old. The sponsor parent must be an Australian permanent resident or an Australian citizen or eligible New Zealand citizen.

The criteria seem straightforward but there are various requirements pursuant to the Migration Regulations 1994 (“Regulations”) relating to child visa application. For example, it is not enough that the child must have enrolled in school but it is also required that the child must pass his/her subjects, otherwise, the application will fail. In a case we handled, the child was enrolled in school but failed in all his subjects for one year. Surely, this application was doomed to fail because of clear provision that the child must be progressing in school.

While we were instructed that the child suffered from depression being left alone in the Philippines which was the reason for having failed school result, the child did not want to get his medical record for fear of being branded as having an ‘unsound mind’. It was compounded by the child’s belief that he will not pass the medical criteria if we notify the Immigration of his mental condition.

Another difficulty was his treating doctor moved his clinic and cannot be located. Without the medical evidence, his application will be refused. After a lot of persuasion, we convinced the client to trace the address of the doctor and obtain the medical certificate to enable us to submit to the Immigration. We successfully argued with the case officer of the Department that our client is still a dependent child notwithstanding his failure to pass his subjects as he suffered from a medical condition which justified his failure to pass his subjects.

It is also important that the child must have been financially reliant on the sponsor parent to meet the child’s basic needs for food, clothing and shelter. Evidence required would be money remittances by the sponsor to the child for at least one year. We have seen cases where the Immigration now requires evidence of bank statements from the sponsor as proof of financial support to the child.

It is suggested that you seek legal advice to have a good prospect of success on your application as refusal and appeal is both emotionally and financially draining. Please call us at our office number (02) 96356500 to book for a consultation.