Adopted Child to Australia in 2026: Subclass 101 or Subclass 102?

Plain-language guide · general information, not immigration advice

The line between the two visas is drawn at a single moment in time: the adoptive parent's status on the day the adoption took effect, not their status today. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs Child visa (subclass 101) official pages (as of the August 2026 version), an adopted child fits subclass 101 only if they were adopted before turning 18 by a parent who was not an Australian citizen, Australian permanent visa holder or eligible New Zealand citizen at the time of the adoption; where the parent already held one of those statuses at that point, the Department points instead to the Adoption visa (subclass 102). Everything here is general information about how those criteria are written, not advice about an individual family — overseas adoption orders can raise questions the criteria don't settle, so the current official wording, or a registered professional's view on your own documents, should be the final reference.

What actually separates the two visas?

Both are described against the same pivot point: the parent's immigration status at the moment of adoption. Subclass 101 covers families where the Australian status arrived after the adoption; the Adoption visa is the counterpart for families where it existed before.

Test	Child visa (subclass 101)	Adoption visa (subclass 102)
Timing of the adoption	Before the child turned 18	Before the child turned 18
Parent's status at adoption	Not yet an Australian citizen, permanent visa holder or eligible New Zealand citizen	Already one of those
Parent's status now	Australian citizen, eligible New Zealand citizen or permanent visa holder, because sponsorship depends on it	The Department's page presents it as the stream to consider
Where the requirements are set out	The child visa (subclass 101) page	Its own Departmental page; not covered in detail here

Note the direction of travel this implies. A family that looks "settled in Australia" today can still be a subclass 101 case, as long as the Australian status postdates the adoption order.

How does this work in practice?

Two hypothetical applicants make the split clear.

Assume an adoptive parent finalised an adoption in 2019 while holding no Australian permanent status, then became a permanent resident in 2024. Nothing about the family's current life changes the test: the adoption predates the status, so the child is assessed against subclass 101.

Assume instead that the adoptive parent was already an Australian citizen in 2021, when the overseas adoption order was made. Here the status existed on the day of adoption, so the Department's page routes the child toward subclass 102 rather than 101.

Does the adoption have to be finalised before the child turns 18?

Yes, on the wording used for both routes. The official page only describes adopted children in terms of adoption completed "before they turned 18." An adoption finalised after the child's 18th birthday does not match either description, which means the family's adoption paperwork and the child's date of birth carry most of the analytical weight in the file — the decision rests on dates, not on how long the family has lived together.

Who can sponsor the child?

The child must be sponsored, and sponsorship has to be approved before the visa can be granted. The sponsor is an eligible parent, or that parent's spouse or de facto partner. Separately, the child must be dependent on a parent who is an Australian citizen, an eligible New Zealand citizen or an Australian permanent visa holder — an adopted child can satisfy this relationship requirement just as a biological child does.

Sponsorship has its own limits. If the sponsor, or their spouse or de facto partner, has a pending charge for a registrable offence, the Department will refuse both the sponsorship and the visa application. If either has a registrable offence conviction, sponsorship can only be approved in very limited circumstances.

What counts as a dependent child?

"Dependent child" is defined by age and life circumstances, not only by the parent–child relationship. The child must be either:

under 18, or
18 to 24 and studying full time, or
18 or older with a disability.

The child also cannot be, or ever have been, married, engaged to be married, or in a de facto relationship.

What if the child is already 18 or over at lodgement?

Then the conditions tighten. A child aged 18 to 24 must be a full-time student both when they apply and when the application is decided, must not work full time, and must be financially dependent on their parent more than on any other person. "Full-time student" means enrolment in a full-time course leading to a professional, trade or vocational qualification, plus actually attending classes. Study should have begun after turning 18, or within six months (or a reasonable time) of finishing school, and any gap longer than six months between the final year of school and the start of further study has to be explained.

The disability route is different: the child must have totally or partially lost their bodily or mental functions, and must be unable to work full time.

What else has to be true for subclass 101?

Beyond the adoption test and dependency, the official page sets a cluster of standard requirements:

Place of application: the child must be outside Australia when the application is submitted.
Health: the child, any dependants applying with them, and sometimes family members who are not migrating must meet the health requirement.
Character: the child must meet the character requirement if aged 16 or over; other family members may also be asked to.
Debts: money owed to the Australian Government must be repaid or covered by a formal arrangement.
Values: children aged 18 or over must read, or have explained to them, the Life in Australia booklet and sign the Australian Values Statement.
Consent and welfare: for a child under 18, the visa is only granted with written consent from everyone legally able to decide where the child lives, or where the home country's law permits departure, or where it is consistent with an Australian child order. The visa may also not be granted where doing so would not be in the best interests of an applicant under 18.

What happens once the visa is granted?

Subclass 101 is permanent. The holder can stay indefinitely, work and study, enrol in Medicare, sponsor relatives, attend Adult Migrant English Program classes if eligible, and later apply for Australian citizenship if eligible.

Travel is time-limited even though residence is not. The child can travel to and from Australia as often as they like for five years from the date of grant; after that they need a Resident Return visa (subclass 155 or 157) to re-enter as a permanent resident, unless they have become an Australian citizen. The child must enter Australia before the date in the grant letter, which is generally set at 12 months from grant. VEVO shows when the travel facility ends.

A sibling who also wants to apply needs a separate application, but the child's own dependent children can be added to the application before a decision is made.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can we choose subclass 102 even if the parent became a permanent resident only after the adoption?

The routes are not a matter of preference. Subclass 102 is presented for children adopted before 18 by a parent who already held Australian citizenship, permanent residence or eligible New Zealand citizenship at the time of the adoption. If the parent acquired that status later, the child visa (subclass 101) criteria are the ones that fit.

Is there any point applying if the adoption was finalised after the child turned 18?

The adopted-child provisions described for both streams apply to adoptions completed before the child turned 18. An adoption finalised later sits outside those descriptions, so it is worth checking the current official wording before building a case around either visa.

Does the child have to lodge the application from outside Australia?

Yes. For subclass 101 the child must be outside Australia when the application is submitted. Entry then has to happen before the first-entry date in the grant letter, which the Department generally sets at 12 months from the date of grant.

How long does subclass 101 processing take?

The Department publishes no fixed timeframe. It directs applicants to its visa processing times tool, which reflects recently decided applications and is a guide only, not a prediction for any individual case. Applicants should receive an acknowledgement roughly one month after lodgement, and delays commonly follow from incomplete forms, missing documents, verification needs or unpaid charges.

How much does the visa cost?

The official page states the visa cost for the main applicant, and points users to the Department's Visa Pricing Estimator, noting separate possible costs for health exams, police certificates and biometrics. There is also a charge for each of the child's dependent children who apply for the visa. Since 1 July 2026, a lower visa application charge applies to eligible citizens of specified Pacific Island countries and Timor-Leste lodging a valid application, based on holding a valid passport from one of those countries.

Do adult siblings or the child's own children come along in one application?

Siblings need their own separate applications. The child's dependent children, however, can be included on the application either at lodgement or at any time before the decision is made, provided they meet the health requirement.