Help with applying for a visa: Contact us on (02) 8268 4000 for expert advice, preferably well ahead of the expiry of any current visa.
An Accredited Specialist in Immigration Law (as certified by the Law Society of New South Wales) leads our team of migration lawyers and agents.
Craddock Murray Neumann is a law firm, which can also assist with applications to the Migration Review Tribunal and the Federal Court if a visa application is unsuccessful. (Migration agents who are not lawyers cannot assist with applications to the Federal Court).
If you are an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident you may be able to bring your family to Australia to live with you.
Usually you can sponsor your partner (husband, wife, de facto or fiancé) and your dependent children. In some cases – but not always – you can sponsor your parents and/or siblings.
Getting a visa for your family members can complicated. Here are a few things to bear in mind:
- Qualifying for a subclass 820 or subclass 309 visa (the spouse visas), is not as simple as proving that you are married or that you and your partner have been together for more than 12 months; you must demonstrate that your relationship is genuine. There are also a number of technical rules that may prevent you from bringing your spouse to Australia even if your relationship is genuine.
- Qualifying for a subclass 173 or subclass 884 visa (the contributory parent visas) is not just a matter of proving that the visa applicant is your mother or father; you will also have to satisfy the complicated balance of family test.
- Sponsoring siblings on a subclass 835 or subclass 115 remaining relative visa can be extremely difficult, especially when you have more than one sibling living overseas.
- Sponsoring your family to come to Australia can be an expensive business, with the sponsor often being liable to repay any money that the sponsored relative receives by way of a Centrelink benefit after they arrive in Australia.
On top of that, there is critical question of “Which visa do I apply for?” The following are a list of the family visas that are currently available.
- Spouse visa – Subclass 820 visa – Subclass 801 visa – Subclass 309 visa – Subclass 100 visa
- Fiancé visa – Subclass 300 visa
- Parent visa – Subclass 801 visa – Subclass 804 visa – Subclass 103 visa
- Contributory parent visa – Subclass 143 visa – Subclass 173 visa – Subclass 884 visa
- Child visa – Subclass 101 visa – Subclass 802 visa
- Adoption visa – Subclass 101 visa
- Remaining relative visa – Subclass 835 visa – Subclass 115 visa
Advice from an specialist Immigration Lawyer will ensure that you lodge the correct visa application and that the application you lodge has the best chance of success.
Warning: this page states the law as at 15.12.11. The law is complex. The law may have changed when you read this page. Contact us to confirm your rights.