Can I Bring My Nephew to Australia Permanently

Can I Bring My Nephew to Australia Permanently?

You can definitely bring your nephew to Australia and sponsor their application to become a permanent resident Down Under. If you want to know more about the visa options under which you can sponsor your relative’s application, this blog will cover everything from visa types to eligibility requirements for each visa and more.

Visa Options to Bring Your Nephew to Australia

Are you an eligible family member who plans to have your nephew become a full-fledged Australian permanent resident? Below are the various visa options to guide you and ensure that your loved one can live permanently in Australia.

Subclass 600 Visitor Visa (Family Sponsored Stream)

The 600 Visitor Visa subclass is a temporary visa that allows your nephew to visit family or friends in Australia for up to 12 months. The sponsored family stream allows an eligible family member to sponsor their relative’s visa application.

To become an eligible sponsor, you must be an Australian citizen or permanent resident for at least two years. In addition, you must be recognised by the Australian Government as the visa applicant’s relative.

As the sponsor for your nephew’s visa application, you are responsible for the following:

• Their compliance with their visa conditions
•  Their compliance with Australian employment laws and awards
• Their financial obligations to the Australian government

Visa Application Fee: AUD $200 (offshore applications) or AUD $500 (onshore applications)

Your nephew must complete his health examination before applying for this visa option. Afterwards, he must provide accurate, original and translated documents that can be scanned or photographed in colour.

Listed below are the following documentary requirements:

Identity documents:

• Pages of his current passport showing his photo, personal details,  passport issue and expiry dates.
• A national identity card, if applicable
• Proof of a name change, if applicable. Including:
  • Marriage or divorce certificates
  • Related documents from the Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages or relevant overseas authorities
  • Related documents that show other names you have been known by

Genuine visitor documents:

Provide proof to indicate that he has enough money to stay and leave Australia, such as personal bank statements, pay slips, audited accounts, tax records, or credit card limits. – A letter from you as the eligible family member in Australia inviting your nephew. The letter could state: – Your relationship with each other – The purpose and length of the visit – whether your nephew will stay with you. If you will pay for his stay, provide proof of funds. – His plans while in Australia

Proof to indicate his reasons for returning home, such as:

• A letter from his employer stating his plan to return to his job
• Proof that he studies at a school, college or university in your home country
• Proof that he has immediate family members in your home country
• Proof that he can return home
• Proof that he owns a house or other significant assets in your home country

Character documents:

• Any military service records or discharge papers, if applicable.

Additional documents (for applicants under 18)

• Consent allowing any applicant under 18 years of age to migrate to Australia by:
  • Anyone who has legal rights to decide where the child lives
  • Anyone who is not coming to Australia with the child
• Form 1229 granting an Australian visa to a child under the age of 18 years (276KB PDF)
• A statutory declaration that gives consent for the child to visit Australia on this visa

To apply as a sponsor for your nephew’s visa application, you must fulfil the following:

• Complete and scan Form 1149 Application for sponsorship for Sponsored Family Visitors (329KB PDF). Make sure the scanned document is clear.
• Send the scan to the Visitor visa applicant(s) you are sponsoring. Each applicant you are sponsoring must attach it to their online application.

As the sponsor, you are required to pay the application fee for your nephew’s visa. However, you might be asked to pay a security bond that must be paid in full before the application is finalised. The bond shall be refunded once your nephew complies with the visa conditions and leaves Australia before the visa expires.

Also, your sponsorship lasts until the expiration of the visitor visa, and you cannot withdraw once the visa is granted. Moreover, your nephew’s visa might be cancelled if you cannot comply with the sponsorship obligations.

If any unforeseen changes could affect your nephew’s visa application, please notify the Department of Home Affairs immediately.

If you have sponsored a subclass 600 visa holder who failed to comply with their visa conditions in the last five years, you may not be allowed to sponsor another applicant.

Furthermore, your nephew cannot work or study for more than three months under this visa. His stay in Australia may be extended under certain circumstances. Therefore, you can sponsor his application for a new visa to Australia and make your nephew’s stay permanent.

Subclass 491 Skilled Work Regional Family Sponsored Visa

You can also bring your nephew or relatives to Australia through the 491 visa or Skilled Work Regional Visa. Eligible family members can sponsor relatives to live, study, and work in designated regional areas of Australia initially for five years.

Additionally, your nephew can travel to and from Australia while the visa is valid. He or she can also be eligible to become an Australian permanent resident through the Subclass 191 Permanent Residence (Skilled Regional) Visa after holding the 491 visa for at least 3 years and complying with visa conditions.

Visa Application Fee: AUD $4,910 (primary applicant), AUD $2,455 (additional applicant 18+), AUD $1,225 (additional applicant under 18)

The following requirements must be met for you to be considered an eligible sponsor:

• You must be 18 years of age or older.
• You must be a resident of a designated area of Australia.
• You must either be an eligible Australian or a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident.

Your nephew must comply with the following conditions to become a Skilled Work Regional Visa holder:

• Must be under 45 years of age at the time of invitation.
• Must have a skilled occupation on the relevant list.
• Must be able to demonstrate ‘Competent English.
• Must have a positive skills assessment based on the relevant skills assessing authority with their nominated occupation.
• Must obtain the minimum Points Test score at the time of invitation.
•  Must meet the Australian government’s health and character requirements.

Before submitting his visa application, your nephew must send an Expression of Interest (EOI) through SkillSelect.

After submitting the EOI, SkillSelect will estimate your nephew’s points score based on the claims made. Once they have achieved an estimated score of at least 65 points, they might be invited to apply for this visa.

To apply for this visa, your nephew must provide supporting documents to show that he has complied with the visa criteria. Among the required documents are the following:

• Identity documents
• Relationship documents
• Character documents
• Competent English documents
• Dependants over or under 18 documents
• Skills assessment documents
• EOI documents
• Sponsor documents
• Nomination documents

Subclass 115/835 Remaining Relative Visa

Another family-sponsored visa Australia offers that can help make your nephew a permanent resident is the Remaining Relative Visa. The Subclass 115/835 visa lets people settle permanently in Australia to join their only close family members.

The difference is that subclass 115 is issued to applicants outside Australia, while subclass 835 is issued to applicants within Australia. Therefore, an applicant must be in Australia under a valid visa to apply for subclass 835.

Visa Application Fee: From AUD $5,125 (primary applicant), AUD $2,565 (additional applicant 18+), AUD $1,285 (additional applicant under 18)

Processing Time Warning: Current estimated processing time is approximately 50 years for applications that meet the criteria to be queued due to annual caps and extremely high demand.

With this visa, your nephew or relatives can work, study, and enrol in Medicare, Australia’s public healthcare scheme. In addition, newly arrived residents can sponsor other relatives to migrate to Australia. However, they may have to wait before accessing certain Australian Government payments and benefits.

This visa also allows applicants to include family unit members in their application and at any time before a decision is finalised. The application form should include details of all your family members, whether they are migrating or not.

Family members who apply for the visa must likewise meet their health and character requirements.

Lastly, once the applicants have secured permanent visa residence, they can be eligible to apply for Australian citizenship.

Sponsorship for this visa also covers the family members included in the application. As a sponsor, you are required to provide support, accommodation, and financial assistance to the applicant and their dependents for the first two years in Australia.

To be considered an eligible sponsor, you must be a remaining relative of the applicant, 18 years of age or older, and have either settled or secured Australian/New Zealand citizenship.

Once you have met the criteria for eligibility, you must provide evidence to support your application. Additionally, you might be asked to submit sponsor documents to prove that you are related to the applicant, such as:

• birth certificate
• marriage certificates
• death certificates
• adoption certificates
• family status certificates or family books, if officially issued and maintained

You might also be asked to provide additional documents to prove you are an Australian or New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, such as:

• citizenship certificate
• passport
• valid visa (for eligible New Zealand citizens)

Lastly, financial documents that support evidence that you have been employed during the past two years, such as:

• An Australian income or overseas tax assessment notice
• A letter from your employer confirming how long you have worked for them
• Payslips, and
• If you are self-employed or self-funded, a letter from your accountant or other business documents.

To secure the remaining relative visa, the applicant must comply with the following:

• Pay the first instalment.
• Apply for the visa.
• Wait for the initial evaluation.
• Wait for the second assessment.
• Pay the second instalment.

Subclass 116/836 Carer Visa

Finally, you can reunite with your nephew or other eligible relatives with their Subclass 116/836 visa application. The carer visa allows people to stay in Australia permanently to care for someone with a long-term medical condition and no access to local care options.

Visa Application Fee: From AUD $2,175 (with potential second instalment waiver for financial hardship)

Processing Time: Up to 4.5-7 years due to high demand and limited places available

With this visa, your nephew or relative can work, study, and travel to and from Australia for five years. To apply for this visa:

• You must be within Australia when applying for the visa and finalising the application.
• You must be a carer for a relative who requires care or a family member living with them who needs care and has no reasonable access to care in Australia.
• An eligible family member must sponsor you.

Your nephew or relative must also be capable and willing to provide substantial and ongoing support to their family member. To prove this, they must thoroughly understand their relative or family member’s medical condition and their care requirements.

To become eligible to apply for this visa, they must comply with their health and character requirements, as well as financial obligations to the Australian government. As a qualified sponsor, you must be:

• an Australian citizen, or
• an Australian permanent resident, or
• an eligible New Zealand citizen

Additionally, you must be a close or distant family member of the applicant and agree to provide support, housing, and financial help for the applicant’s first two years in Australia. 

You must also support any family members of the applicant who apply with them.

Furthermore, a family member who lives with the applicant must be assessed as having a medical condition which:

• Is long-term or permanent
• Requires help with practical aspects of daily life for at least two years

Lastly, a family member who lives with the applicant must be unable to reasonably obtain the care they need in Australia, whether from another relative, welfare, a hospital, or a community nursing service.

The following documents must be submitted when applying for a carer visa:

• Carer visa application form.
• Visa photographs.
• A valid passport. You may also be asked to provide a copy of your ID card and other documents for proof of identity or name change (if applicable).
• Sponsor Documents.
• Sponsorship Form.
• A medical certificate from approved panel physicians (in Australia, this is facilitated through Bupa Medical Visa Services, while offshore applicants use different approved panel physicians).
• Evidence that you are of good character.
• Documents for dependents over 18.
•  Documents for dependents under 18.
•  Help forms.

Speak to an Immigration Agent From Parish Patience

If you need assistance with visa-related concerns, consulting with an Immigration Lawyer or a qualified migration agent ensures that you get only expert advice.

Parish Patience Immigration Lawyers is Australia’s trusted migration law firm for all types of visas, including partner visa, parent visa, child visa, and family visas in general. Our team of Australian immigration consultants is here to help you expedite your visa or citizenship application process.

For your unique enquiries, give our office a call via 02 9286 8700 or send an email to: ppmail@ppilaw.com.au  

Book a consultation today and get professional visa assistance from our immigration