Can My Sibling Apply With Me for the 117 Orphan Relative Visa in 2026?
No — a sibling cannot be added to your Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117) application. The Department of Home Affairs states on its Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117) page that if the child has siblings who also want to apply, a separate application must be made for each sibling, while the child's own dependent children can be included in the child's application when they apply or at any time before a decision is made (as of the August 2026 version of the official page). Everything below is general information drawn from published rules rather than advice about one family's situation, so current figures and requirements should be checked against the Department's latest official pages or with a qualified professional.
Why does each sibling have to lodge separately?
The subclass 117 is built around one child and the Australian relative who sponsors that child. Under the Migration Regulations 1994, a secondary applicant must be a member of the family unit of the main applicant, and the Department's Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117) page says a separate application must be made for each sibling who wants to apply. So the sibling relationship is not a "bring them along" relationship here: each sibling is their own main applicant, with their own sponsorship, their own evidence, and their own decision.
A useful way to think about it is that the visa tests an individual child's circumstances — that the child is an orphan relative of an Australian relative, and that the sponsorship behind them works. Two siblings can share the same story and the same sponsor while still being two separate cases, because what is being assessed is each child's own situation.
Who can be included in a single application instead?
Only the applicant's own dependent children. The Department's official page says these dependent children can be added when the child applies, or at any time before the application is decided. Once a decision has been made on a subclass 117 application, dependants cannot be added to that visa.
That distinction is the one families most often mix up:
| Relationship to the applicant | Can they join the same 117 application? |
|---|---|
| The applicant's dependent children | Yes — at lodgement or any time before decision |
| The applicant's siblings | No — each sibling needs a separate application |
| Family members not coming to Australia | Not included, but may still have to meet the health requirement |
What does separate filing mean for the sponsor?
The sponsor does not have to be a different person for each sibling — one eligible Australian relative can sponsor more than one child. What changes is that the sponsorship has to be assessed for each application.
The sponsorship is made on Form 40CH (Sponsorship for a child to migrate to Australia), which is lodged together with Form 47CH (Application for migration to Australia by a child). Because each sibling files their own application, the practical effect is one complete pair of forms and one application charge per child, sent by post or courier to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth.
Under the Migration Regulations 1994, the sponsor must be at least 18 and a settled Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen — or the spouse or de facto partner of that relative, who must also be at least 18 and a settled Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and living with them. PAM3 notes that the sponsor undertakes to provide financial and accommodation support for the two years after the child's first entry, and that the case officer must assess whether the sponsor can actually meet that undertaking, with particular attention where the sponsor is sponsoring several people at once. Multiple sibling applications are exactly that situation, so evidence of income, housing and ability to support two children at once becomes more important than it would be for a single application.
An Assurance of Support is not automatic. It can be requested where the child might need to rely on social security payments, and if the main applicant is asked for one, any secondary applicant must be covered by that assurance or provide their own.
Does one sibling's refusal sink the other's application?
Not automatically. The "one fails, all fails" consequence described in departmental guidance applies to people who are actually on the same application — if a member of the family unit included in an application fails the character or health criteria, the whole application can be refused. Because each sibling is decided under their own application, a refusal in one file does not mechanically refuse the other.
What the two files do share, though, is the sponsor. A sponsorship problem — the sponsor's eligibility, their capacity to support the children, or a registrable offence that limits approval of the sponsorship — can affect every application that depends on the same sponsor. That is the real point of vulnerability in a two-sibling plan, not the sibling relationship itself.
What does each sibling still have to prove on their own?
Every application carries its own evidence set, even where the underlying family story is identical:
- Identity: passport pages showing photo, personal details and issue/expiry dates, plus a national identity card if they have one and proof of any name change.
- Orphan relative status: a death certificate or other official document, or evidence such as a medical report showing why the parents cannot care for the child; if a parent cannot be found, evidence of how long they have been missing and what efforts were made to find them.
- Relationship to the Australian relative: documents such as a birth certificate, marriage certificate, adoption certificate, or a family status certificate or family book that is officially issued and maintained.
- Character: children over 16 must provide police certificates from every country where they spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16, and complete Form 80. Police certificates are valid for 12 months from issue.
- Health: the applicant's dependent children must meet the health requirement, and family members who are not coming to Australia may also have to.
Four recent photographs (45mm x 35mm) are required for the child and for any dependant included in that application.
How do cost and timing work when there are two applications?
The visa application charge is set for the main applicant, with an additional charge for each dependent child who applies. Two siblings means two main applicants, so two application charges — the Department's Visa Pricing Estimator is the tool it points to for working out what a given application will cost, and it does not include health checks, police certificates or biometrics.
Timing is also per application. The child must be outside Australia both when the application is made and when it is decided, and the Department says an acknowledgement should arrive within about one month of lodgement. Because decisions are made independently, one sibling can be granted while the other is still being processed, and each granted child gets their own five-year travel facility from the date of grant, after which a Resident Return visa is needed to re-enter as a permanent resident.
One cost note worth knowing: from 1 July 2026 a lower visa application cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application, and family members are eligible for the lower cost based on the passport of the primary applicant. With separate sibling applications, each child is the primary applicant of their own case, so the qualifying passport question is answered for each file individually.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I add my sibling to my 117 application after I have already lodged it?
No. The Department's rule is that siblings who want to apply must each have a separate application, and there is no stage at which a sibling becomes a later addition to your file. Your sibling needs their own Form 47CH and Form 40CH and their own application charge.
Can my sibling include their own children in their application?
Yes, if they are the sibling's dependent children. They can be included when the sibling applies or at any time before a decision is made, and each dependent child adds a charge and must meet the health requirement.
Do my sibling and I need different sponsors?
Not necessarily — the same eligible Australian relative can sponsor both children. What is required is a sponsorship assessment for each application, and the sponsor's ability to support both children, particularly across the two years after first entry, is part of that assessment.
If my sibling fails the health requirement, will my application be refused too?
A failure inside one application can bring down everyone included in that application, but a sibling is not included in your application. Your case is decided on its own evidence, although any problem that affects the sponsor can reach both files.
Will both applications be decided at the same time?
Not necessarily. Each application is processed and decided separately, even when they are lodged together and share a sponsor, so grants and refusal decisions can arrive at different times.
Does the lower cost for Pacific Island and Timor-Leste applicants cover my sibling?
The Department says family members are eligible for the lower cost based on the passport of the primary applicant. Where each sibling lodges their own application, each is the primary applicant of that application, so eligibility is assessed against that child's own valid passport from a listed country.