How Do I Apply for the Subclass 116 Carer Visa Step by Step in 2026?
Applying for the Carer visa (Subclass 116) runs in four stages: establish that you are eligible and get the Bupa medical assessment started, collect identity and relationship documents, lodge a paid paper application on Form 47OF to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth, then manage the file in ImmiAccount while you meet the remaining requirements. You must be outside Australia both when you apply and when the decision is made. This walkthrough follows the Australian Department of Home Affairs Carer visa (Subclass 116) official page, as of July 2026; this article is general information only and not personalised advice, so confirm anything that turns on your own circumstances against the Department's current guidance or a registered migration agent or legal practitioner.
What does the Subclass 116 actually require you to prove?
The visa is built around one specific care relationship, and every stage of the process tests a different part of it.
To be eligible you must:
- be outside Australia when you apply and when the Department decides your application
- be sponsored by your relative, or their partner, for your first 2 years in Australia
- provide care for a relative — or a member of their family who lives with them — who has no reasonable access to care options in Australia
That last point carries two separate evidentiary burdens. The medical side comes from Bupa Medical Visa Services. The care-availability side is yours: you must give written evidence that your Australian relative, or their family member, does not have reasonable access to care options in Australia.
If those facts do not hold, the rest of the paperwork will not rescue the application. It is worth testing them before you spend money on forms and certified copies.
Before you apply: what has to be in place first?
Has the Bupa medical assessment started?
The person needing care must be assessed by, and get a medical certificate from, Bupa Medical Visa Services. The certificate must state that the person has a medical condition and requires a certain amount of care for it.
You do not have to hold the final certificate on the day you lodge. The Department will not accept the application unless it has evidence that this process has at least begun — so if the assessment is underway but not finished, include a letter from Bupa Medical Visa Services confirming that, and send the certificate as soon as you receive it.
Who can sponsor you, and who can help with the paperwork?
Your sponsor is your Australian relative or their partner, and the sponsorship covers your first 2 years in Australia.
If you want someone to act for you, the categories are narrow. A person giving you immigration assistance must be a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person. Anyone at all can be appointed simply to receive documents on your behalf. The appointment forms are Form 956 (immigration assistance) and Form 956A (authorised recipient), and they go in with the paper application.
Which documents does the Department expect?
Documents fall into groups by person, not by formality. The main ones:
| Who | What is required |
|---|---|
| You | Passport pages showing photo, personal details, issue and expiry dates; national identity card if you have one; proof of any change of name |
| The person needing care | Bupa Medical Visa Services certificate; written evidence of no reasonable access to care options in Australia |
| Partner | Identity documents; character documents; documents about former relationships; current marriage certificate, or proof of a de facto relationship of at least 12 months before you apply, except in limited circumstances |
| Dependent children under 18 | Identity documents; proof of your relationship (birth or marriage certificate); character documents if applicable |
| Dependent children over 18 | Identity documents; proof of dependency; completed Form 47a; evidence such as bank statements, money transfers and rent receipts |
Identity is a hard gate. If you cannot prove your identity, the Department will refuse the application, and it might not grant you — or any family member listed on your application — another visa for 10 years.
Two document rules are easy to get wrong. Do not arrange police certificates until the Department asks you to; character documents are requested, not volunteered. And every person included in the application needs 4 recent passport-size photographs (45mm x 35mm), less than 6 months old, good quality colour (no laser copies), showing the full face against a plain light-coloured background. Untinted prescription glasses are acceptable, and a religious head covering may be worn as long as the face is visible.
An adult child can only be included if they are over 18 but not yet 23 and dependent on you or your partner, or over 23 and unable to earn a living due to physical or cognitive limitations and dependent on you or your partner. If the child is 23, or likely to turn 23 while the application is being processed, you also need a report from a qualified medical practitioner stating they are dependent due to the total or partial loss of their bodily or mental functions.
How do you lodge the application?
Which form, and where does it go?
The Subclass 116 is a paper application. There is no online lodgement path for it. You submit:
- a completed Form 47OF (Application for migration to Australia by other family members)
- your supporting documents
- your sponsor's form, with the sponsor's other documents
The forms must be completed in English.
Pay the application before it is submitted, using the online portal payment function in ImmiAccount, and include evidence that it has been paid. Then send the application by post or courier to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth, at the address shown on the form.
Send certified copies only — never originals — and keep a complete copy of the application and supporting documents for your own records.
What makes a paper application invalid?
Missing any of the required steps can make the application invalid, and the Department does not process invalid applications. It will notify you if this happens and, if requested, return the application to you.
The self-check before sealing the envelope is short: Form 47OF complete and in English, payment made and evidenced, sponsor's form included, Bupa process started and evidenced, certified copies rather than originals, and your own copy set aside.
What happens after you lodge?
Can you manage it online?
Yes — after the paper application is in. Once you receive your acknowledgement letter, you can import the application into your ImmiAccount using your application ID, date of birth, and identity document number (passport, ImmiCard or Titre de Voyage). Applications made outside Australia on or after 25 June 2020 can be imported.
Importing gives you online services: attaching supporting documents, viewing messages, updating your details, checking application status, applying for a Bridging Visa, and withdrawing the application.
One expectation to set now: the Department does not provide progress updates within normal processing times. It will contact you if something further is needed.
What still has to be delivered after lodgement?
Three items commonly come due after the envelope is posted:
- The Bupa certificate. If you did not include it when you applied, provide it within 3 months of applying. If the certificate is not on file when the Department decides, the visa cannot be granted.
- Health examinations and biometrics. The Department tells you if these are needed, including whether an adopted child must provide biometrics.
- The second instalment. You are invoiced for it after you have met all other visa requirements, and the visa will not be granted unless it is paid. The Department may consider reducing your second instalment to nil if you can show it is likely to cause severe financial hardship to you or to the person you are caring for — not for anyone else applying with you — and such a request must be made in writing.
If you cannot use ImmiAccount, or you lodged outside Australia before 25 June 2020, additional documents go to the Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form instead.
What if something changes?
Tell the Department as soon as you can. Changes to your phone number, address or passport, changes to your marital or de facto status, the birth of a child, or a decision to withdraw all need to be reported. If you have experienced domestic or family violence, the family violence provisions are the relevant pathway.
Mistakes on the application are corrected with Form 1023 (Notification of incorrect answers), which can be uploaded through ImmiAccount once the application is imported. To end someone's authority to receive correspondence or give immigration advice, use Form 956A or Form 956 respectively.
Do not arrange travel to Australia until the Department tells you in writing that the visa is granted.
What does the decision look like?
The decision is made in writing, and you must be outside Australia when it is made.
If granted, you receive your visa grant number, the date the visa starts, the date you must enter Australia by, and your visa conditions. Keep a copy of the decision. The Subclass 116 is a permanent visa: it lets you stay in Australia indefinitely, work and study, enrol in Medicare, sponsor relatives, travel to and from Australia for 5 years, attend free English classes under the Adult Migrant English Program if eligible, and apply for Australian citizenship if eligible.
If refused, the written notice explains why and whether you have a right to a review of the decision. The application fee is not refunded if the application is refused.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I lodge the Subclass 116 online?
No. The visa must be applied for on paper, using Form 47OF, sent to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth. ImmiAccount is used for two things instead: paying the application before it is submitted, and importing the file after lodgement so you can manage it online.
Do I need to be outside Australia for the whole process?
You must be outside Australia when you apply and when the Department decides the application. Practically, that means not arranging travel until you have written confirmation that the visa has been granted.
What if the Bupa assessment is not finished when I am ready to lodge?
You can still lodge, as long as you include a letter from Bupa Medical Visa Services confirming the assessment has begun — the Department will not accept an application with no evidence the process has started. The certificate itself must follow, and if it was not included at lodgement it should reach the Department within 3 months of applying.
Can my partner and children be included in the same application?
Yes, with their own documents. A partner needs identity and character documents plus a marriage certificate or proof of a de facto relationship of at least 12 months before you apply, except in limited circumstances. A child over 18 can only be included if they are under 23 and dependent, or over 23 and dependent because of physical or cognitive limitations, with Form 47a and financial dependency evidence.
I made a mistake on my form — what now?
Notify the Department as soon as you can using Form 1023 (Notification of incorrect answers). If you have imported your application into ImmiAccount, you can upload the completed form there; otherwise it goes with the Other Family Visa Processing Centre online form.
Is there a second payment after lodgement?
Yes. The second instalment is invoiced once you have met all other requirements, and the visa will not be granted until it is paid. The Department may consider reducing it to nil where paying it would likely cause severe financial hardship to you or the person you are caring for; the reduction does not extend to anyone else applying with you.
Will I get a refund if my application is refused?
No. The Department states that the application fee is not refunded if the application is refused. A refusal notice will explain the reasons and whether you have a right to seek review.