Sponsorship Duties for Australia's Remaining Relative (115) Visa in 2026
Sponsoring a Remaining Relative visa (Subclass 115) comes down to four duties: complete Form 40 Sponsorship for migration to Australia, have the Department of Home Affairs approve that sponsorship, stay eligible as a sponsor from lodgement until the visa is decided, and keep the sponsorship valid for every family member applying on the same form. The financial side runs on a separate track — the applicant must be able to obtain an assurance of support, which Services Australia assesses. This reflects what the Australian Department of Home Affairs sets out on its Remaining Relative visa (Subclass 115) official pages, as of July 2026 official pages, read together with the sponsorship criteria in the Migration Regulations 1994. Everything below is general information about how the rules fit together rather than advice on any one family's case; sponsorship limits and "settled" assessments turn on individual facts, so check your own position against the Department's current published guidance or with a professional who is authorised to give immigration assistance.
What does sponsoring a Subclass 115 visa actually involve?
Sponsorship is not a letter of support you write once and forget. The Department states plainly that "we must approve the sponsorship" — approval is a decision the Department makes, and it sits alongside the applicant's own criteria rather than replacing them. In practice the sponsor's job is to qualify, to evidence that qualification, and to remain qualified while the application is assessed.
The sponsorship also has to cover the people travelling with the applicant. Under the criteria in the Migration Regulations 1994, a secondary applicant's place on the application depends on the main applicant's sponsorship being approved and covering them, so a sponsorship that only names the main applicant leaves accompanying family members unsupported.
Who can be a sponsor — and who can't?
The Department limits sponsors to people in a defined family relationship with the applicant: an eligible parent or step-parent, sibling or step-sibling, or an eligible partner of one of those relatives. Aunts, uncles, grandparents and cousins fall outside that list, however close the relationship.
The sponsor must also be aged 18 or over and be a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen. The Migration Regulations 1994 materials add that the sponsor must be usually resident in Australia — short trips abroad don't disturb that, but a life centred overseas can. Assessment of "settled" and "usually resident" is fact-specific, so treat any summary of those tests as a guide only and check the criteria against what the Department publishes for the Remaining Relative visa (Subclass 115).
One further limit is worth checking before anyone commits: regulations summarised in the Migration Regulations 1994 materials restrict how many times a person, or their partner, can sponsor in this family stream, including where they have previously sponsored successful 104, 115, 806 or 835 cases. Because limits like this are amended over time, verify the current version of the regulations or the Department's guidance before relying on it.
What does the sponsor have to provide with Form 40?
Form 40 Sponsorship for migration to Australia is the sponsor's own document, completed in English and lodged with the application. Alongside it, the Department asks for two kinds of proof.
First, proof of the family relationship between sponsor and applicant: birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, adoption certificates, or officially issued and maintained family status certificates or family books. Second, proof of the sponsor's own status: a citizenship certificate, a passport, or — for an eligible New Zealand citizen — a valid visa.
The main applicant files Form 47OF Application for migration to Australia, pays the first instalment at lodgement, and must be outside Australia both when applying and when the Department decides the case. There is no bridging visa available to wait in Australia on this pathway.
Does the sponsorship have to stay valid after it's approved?
Yes, and this is the duty sponsors most often underestimate. The criteria in the Migration Regulations 1994 require the approved sponsorship to remain in force at the time of decision — approval at lodgement is not the end of the obligation.
If the original sponsor stops meeting the requirements, the applicant can move to a different sponsor before the decision, provided the replacement meets the same sponsorship criteria described above. That flexibility is useful, but it costs time: a new sponsor means a new Form 40, fresh relationship and status evidence, and a further assessment.
Is the sponsor on the hook for the applicant's living costs?
Not directly through the sponsorship itself. The Department's sponsorship requirement is about eligibility and approval; the mechanism aimed at living costs is the assurance of support, which the applicant must be able to obtain and which Services Australia assesses. The assurance covers the applicant and any family members coming to Australia on the visa, and it is the Department's way of being satisfied the applicant will not need to rely on government assistance after arriving.
Timing matters here: the Department tells the applicant when to provide the assurance rather than expecting it up front, and the visa cannot be granted until the second instalment is paid once invoiced. Any bond amount or financial test attached to an assurance of support is set by Services Australia and changes over time, so treat published figures as historical and check the current position directly.
What if the sponsor's circumstances change before the decision?
Changes in the sponsor's life are not neutral. A sponsor who relocates overseas for work, loses permanent residency, or whose own relationship status changes can slip out of the "settled" and "usually resident" requirements, and a sponsorship that no longer meets the criteria cannot carry the application to a grant. The safer response is early: identify a backup sponsor who independently qualifies, and be ready to substitute before the decision stage.
Changes on the applicant's side matter too. Marriage, separation, the birth of a child or a death in the family can reshape who counts as a near relative, and the criteria require the applicant to keep satisfying the remaining relative test through to the decision. Home affairs processing runs on the information the Department holds, so both applicant and sponsor should keep their details current.
What does sponsorship mean once the visa is granted?
The Subclass 115 is a permanent visa, and the Department's published steps end with a written decision recording the visa grant number, the start date and any visa conditions. The sponsor's formal role is complete at that point; the Department's pages do not describe an ongoing maintenance duty owed by the sponsor after grant, which is one reason the assurance of support exists as a separate assessment before then.
Certain conditions can still be attached. The Migration Regulations 1994 materials note that the visa holder must make their first entry by the date specified, and that conditions such as 8502 or 8515 — restricting marriage or a de facto relationship before or after entry — may be imposed in some cases. Read the grant letter carefully, because the conditions recorded there govern what happens next.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the sponsor need to lodge a separate form?
Yes. The sponsor completes Form 40 Sponsorship for migration to Australia, in English, and it is lodged together with the applicant's Form 47OF paper application. The Department must approve the sponsorship for the application to succeed.
Can the sponsorship be changed after lodgement?
The applicant can move to a different sponsor before the decision, as long as the new sponsor meets the same criteria — correct family relationship, aged 18 or over, and a settled Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. The replacement sponsor must complete their own Form 40 and supply relationship and status evidence.
Does sponsoring mean the sponsor pays for the applicant's living costs?
The sponsorship itself is an eligibility and approval requirement, not a bill-paying commitment in the Department's published criteria. Financial support is handled through the assurance of support, which the applicant must be able to obtain and which Services Australia assesses; it covers the applicant and accompanying family members.
Can a relative living overseas act as the sponsor?
Being settled and usually resident in Australia is part of what makes a sponsor eligible, so a relative whose main life is based overseas is at real risk of not qualifying. Assessment is fact-specific, and the same facts matter both for the sponsorship and for whether the applicant has near relatives living outside Australia.
Is the assurance of support the same thing as sponsorship?
No. Sponsorship is the family member's Form 40 undertaking, assessed and approved by the Department of Home Affairs. The assurance of support is a separate financial assessment made by Services Australia, requested by the Department at a later point in processing.
Does one sponsorship cover everyone on the application?
It has to. The criteria in the Migration Regulations 1994 require the approved sponsorship to cover secondary applicants as well as the main applicant, so family members applying together cannot rely on a sponsorship that names only one person.
Can someone who has sponsored a relative before sponsor again?
Not necessarily. The Migration Regulations 1994 materials describe limits on repeat sponsorship in this family stream, including cases where the person or their partner has already sponsored a successful 104, 115, 806 or 835 visa. Because these provisions change, check the current version of the regulations or the Department's guidance before relying on a sponsor's history.