Australia
Remaining Relative
Visa

Sponsorship means that your Australian sponsor gives a written undertaking to provide support for you during your first two years in Australia, including accommodation and financial assistance as required to meet your family's reasonable living needs.

Yes – the sponsor must be aged 18 years or over.

Yes, you can if they are aged over 18 and are an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. Sponsors must also be usually resident and settled in Australia.

A child of 18 years of age or over will not be considered dependant unless the Remaining Relative Visa applicant can show that they are wholly or substantially reliant on them for financial support for their basic needs of food, shelter and clothing. The Australian Remaining Relative Visa applicant must also show that they have provided support for a substantial period and that the child is more reliant on them than on any other person or source. Unless this evidence can be provided, they should apply separately.

An eligible New Zealand citizen is someone who held a Special Category Visa (SCV) on 26 February 2001; or held a SCV for at least one year in the 2 years preceding that date; or has a certificate, issued under the Social Security Act 1991, that states that the citizen was, for the purposes of that Act, residing in Australia on a particular date; and who would have met health and character requirements on their last entry in Australia.

An Assurance of Support is a legal commitment by a person (not necessarily the visa sponsor) to repay to the Australian Government certain welfare payments paid to migrants during their respective Assurance of Support period. You should not lodge an Assurance of Support application until asked to do so by the department.

The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs will send you a letter advising that you need to obtain an Assurance of Support.
You must forward this letter to your potential assurer. The Assurance of Support should be organised by your assurer with Centrelink. Your assurer will be assessed whether he/she is capable to provide an Assurance of Support and will be advised of the requirements he/she should meet. Once the Assurance of Support is finalised Centrelink will advise both the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs and the assurer.

The person giving Assurance of Support must be:

• An adult (over 18) Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen;
• Usually resident in Australia; and
• Financially able to support the sponsored person or persons and repay certain social security payments should they be made to the person(s) covered by the assurance.

All Family Stream applicants and their dependent family members must meet strict health standards designed to protect Australia from high health risks and costs, and overuse of health resources. If you are applying from outside Australia you do not have to complete health checks before you lodge your application. The relevant Australian commission will advise you when the medical examination needs to be conducted. If you are applying from in Australia, you should see a Commonwealth medical officer at Health Services Australia for your medical examination before you lodge your visa application.

No, you do not need to send original documents with your Australian Relative Visa application. You should provide certified copies of original documents. If the Australian Immigration authorities require an original document at any later stage they will ask for it.

A certified copy is a copy which has been authorised as a true copy by a person before whom a Statutory Declaration may be made e.g. magistrates, Justice of the Peace, Commissioner of Declarations, Commissioner for Affidavits, solicitors, registered medical practitioners, bank managers etc.

Yes. Documents in languages other than English must be accompanied by an English translation. If you are applying in Australia, the translator must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters (NAATI). If you are overseas, you should ask at your nearest Australian commission for further information about how to get your documents translated.

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