Does My Child Have to Be Outside Australia to Apply for Subclass 101 in 2026?
Yes. As of the August 2026 version of the Australian Department of Home Affairs' official Child visa (Subclass 101) page, one of the eligibility requirements is that the child must be outside Australia when the application is made. The same page repeats it under "Apply from": the child must be outside Australia when the application is submitted. If your child is physically in Australia on the day the application goes in, the application is not a valid Subclass 101 application, and the department states it does not process invalid applications. This is general information about how one published rule works, not advice about your family's circumstances — before acting, check the current official criteria or get advice from someone qualified to assess your situation.
Does "outside Australia" mean at the moment the application is posted?
Yes — the requirement is about the child's physical location at the time of lodgement, and Subclass 101 is a paper application, so lodgement happens when the package is sent.
The eligibility list on the department's page sets four conditions for the child: being a dependent child of a parent who is an Australian citizen, eligible New Zealand citizen or Australian permanent visa holder; being under 18, or 18–24 and a full-time student who depends financially on that parent, or over 18 and unable to work because of a disability; being single and dependent on the parent; and being outside Australia when the application is made. All four sit together, which is why location is treated as an eligibility criterion rather than a formality that can be fixed later.
The same requirement appears in the subclass 101 criteria of the Migration Regulations 1994, and the department's PAM3 procedural guidance lists "the applicant was in Australia at the time of lodgement" among commonly recorded reasons a child visa case fails.
What makes an onshore application invalid rather than just delayed?
An invalid application is not refused on the merits — it is not considered at all, so nothing about the relationship, dependency or sponsorship gets assessed.
The department's step-by-step instructions are unusually direct about this. Applications for Subclass 101 cannot be submitted in person, and if you submit the application at any office other than the specified processing centre or in any other way, "it will not be a valid application and cannot be considered further." Because the visa can only be granted to a child who is outside Australia, a child standing in Australia at lodgement fails the criteria on the face of the file, and the papers come back rather than going into the queue.
Two consequences follow from that. First, you lose the time you thought you had secured: a refused-or-returned application gives you no place in the processing order. Second, the department states it will notify you if the application is invalid and, if requested, return it; for applications that are refused, the fee is not refunded.
Does the child also have to be outside Australia when the visa is granted?
Yes, with one stated exception. The department's visa outcome section says it can grant a visa to any child who is outside Australia and who meets the grant requirements, and that this may not apply if you are eligible for a COVID-19 visa concession.
So there are two separate points in time to plan around: the day the application is submitted, and the day it is decided. A child who was offshore at lodgement but has since travelled to Australia is not automatically safe — the grant criterion is assessed again at decision time. The grant letter sets out the date by which the child must enter Australia, and the department notes the first entry date is generally set at 12 months from the date of grant. After entry, the visa allows five years of travel to and from Australia from the grant date, after which a Resident Return visa (subclasses 155 and 157) is needed to re-enter as a permanent resident.
If my child is already in Australia on another visa, what does this change?
It changes the sequence, not the rule. Subclass 101 cannot be used as a way to regularise a child who is already here, because both the lodgement point and the grant point are offshore.
Assume a parent is an Australian permanent resident and the child entered Australia as a visitor and is now staying with family. On these facts the child may satisfy every other criterion — age, dependency, relationship, sponsorship — and still be ineligible for Subclass 101 until they are outside Australia when the papers are lodged. Waiting until the child travels out, and lodging only once they have left, is the shape of the problem the rule creates; which other visa options exist for a child in that position is outside what the official Subclass 101 page and the Migration Regulations 1994 criteria cover here.
Where does the application actually have to go?
By post or courier to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth — nowhere else, and never in person.
The department requires two completed forms sent together: Form 47CH (Application for migration to Australia by a child) and Form 40CH (Sponsorship for a child to migrate to Australia). The forms must be completed in English. The addresses given are:
- By post (with correct prepaid postage): Department of Home Affairs, Child and Other Family Processing Centre, Locked Bag 7, NORTHBRIDGE WA 6865
- By courier: Department of Home Affairs, Child and Other Family Processing Centre, Wellington Central, 836 Wellington Street, WEST PERTH WA 6005
The application charge must be paid before the application is posted, and the package should include evidence of payment plus the supporting documents. The department will not process an application until the charge is paid, and says it may return the application if the correct charge is not paid. It advises sending certified copies rather than originals, and keeping a copy of the whole application.
What can you check before the application leaves your hands?
The validity failures here are all mechanical, so a short pre-lodgement check prevents most of them.
- Location on the day of posting: the child is outside Australia, and the date is recorded.
- Right forms, right versions: 47CH and 40CH, both completed in English, sent together.
- Payment first: the visa application charge is paid before posting, with evidence included.
- Right destination: post or courier to the Perth processing centre; no in-person lodgement, no other office.
- Supporting documents: passport pages showing photo, personal details and issue/expiry dates; evidence of the relationship to the sponsoring parent such as a birth certificate; four recent passport-size photographs (45 mm × 35 mm, under six months old); police certificates for children over 16 who have spent 12 months or more in any country in the last 10 years since turning 16; and Form 80 for children over 16.
- Dependency evidence for older children: if the child is over 18 at the time of application, evidence that they depend on the parent for food, shelter and clothing, and for how long.
On cost, the department's page does not publish a figure in the eligibility text and directs applicants to its Visa Pricing Estimator; there may also be separate costs for health exams, police certificates and biometrics. From 1 July 2026 a lower visa application cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens lodging a valid application, based on the primary applicant's passport.
For timing, the department says you should receive an acknowledgement approximately one month after lodgement, and points to its visa processing time guide for recently decided applications — a guide only, not a prediction for your case. Applications can take longer if they are not filled in correctly, documents are missing, information needs verification, or the charge is not paid in full at lodgement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I lodge while my child is visiting Australia on a tourist visa?
No. The criterion is physical location on the day the application is submitted, not the visa the child holds or their intention to leave. A child holding a visitor visa who is inside Australia at lodgement fails the requirement.
Does the child have to leave Australia before I pay the application charge?
The charge must be paid before the application is posted, and the child must be outside Australia at the moment of submission. In practice both conditions point to the same moment: pay first, then post once the child is offshore.
My child went offshore to lodge, then came back while the case is being processed. Is that a problem?
It can be. The department states it can grant the visa to a child who is outside Australia and meets the grant requirements, so location is assessed again at decision time, not only at lodgement.
Can I apply online through ImmiAccount instead?
No. The department states this visa must be applied for on paper, using Forms 47CH and 40CH sent by post or courier. ImmiAccount is used after lodgement — you can import the paper application once you receive the acknowledgement letter to upload documents, check status and manage the case.
How long does the child have to enter Australia after the grant?
The child must enter before the date in the grant letter, and the department says the first entry date is generally set at 12 months from the date of visa grant. After entry, the visa's travel facility runs for five years from the grant date; check the end date using VEVO.
What happens if the application is judged invalid?
The department says it does not process invalid applications: it will notify you and, if requested, return the application. It also states the application fee is not refunded if an application is refused.
Do siblings apply on the same form?
No. The department requires separate applications for each sibling who wants to apply. The child's own dependent children may be included on their application, either at lodgement or at any time before a decision is made.