Travelling with children on a BVB while your partner visa is pending in 2026: consent rules

If someone other than you has a legal right to decide where your child lives and that person is not travelling with the child, their written consent has to be in place before the child can be granted a Bridging visa B (subclass 020), and it has to take one of two forms — Form 1229 Consent form to grant an Australian visa to a child under the age of 18 years, or a statutory declaration giving consent for the child to travel on this visa. That requirement comes straight from the parental responsibility documents listed on the Australian Department of Home Affairs Bridging visa B (Subclass 020) official page. What follows is general information about how that rule is published rather than advice on your own family's situation, and because the question of who actually holds parental responsibility is decided outside the visa process, anything unresolved on that point should be settled before the travel is booked, not at the airport.

Who exactly has to consent before my child can be granted a BVB?

The official page applies two conditions at the same time, and consent is required from anyone who meets both:

the person has a legal right to decide where the child lives, and
the person is not travelling with the child.

Only people who satisfy both limbs need to sign. A person who holds that right but is travelling with the child is not asked for consent; a person who is staying behind but does not hold that right is not asked either. The page uses the phrase "legal right to decide where the child lives" without setting out how that right is established, and it does not provide a test or a checklist for it — so where families are unsure who falls in this group, that uncertainty is a question about parental responsibility rather than something the visa page resolves.

Read literally, the requirement attaches to the child being granted this particular visa, which is why it is dealt with at the document-gathering stage and not at the boarding gate.

Do we need consent if the other parent is coming with us?

No, not if that parent is travelling with the child, because the second limb of the test is not met. The trigger is absence from the travel, not parenthood as such. Suppose the travelling arrangement is that one parent takes the children overseas for a family event while the other stays in Australia to keep working during the partner visa wait — in that scenario the parent who stays behind is the one whose consent is required, assuming they hold the legal right described above.

That also means the practical job before lodging is to list every person with that legal right and then work out, for each of them, whether they will be on the same travel. Anyone left off the first list, or wrongly assumed to be travelling, is a gap the decision-maker can pick up.

Form 1229 or a statutory declaration — which one do we use?

Both are accepted, and the page does not rank one above the other. Form 1229, Consent form to grant an Australian visa to a child under the age of 18 years, is the purpose-built option. The alternative is a statutory declaration that gives the person's consent for the child to travel on this visa, which suits situations where getting a specific departmental form signed would be slow or impractical.

Either document must be completed by the person giving consent, not by the parent who is organising the trip. Consent recorded informally — a text message, an email, a note signed by someone else — is not one of the two documents listed on the official page.

What has to go in with the signed consent?

Alongside the completed form or declaration, the official page requires a document showing the signature and photo of the person who completed it. A passport or a driver's licence are the examples given.

This piece is easy to overlook because it is a separate requirement from the identity documents you provide for the applicants themselves. Its purpose is evidentiary: it lets the department connect the signature on the consent to a real person with the legal right described above.

Can my child travel on my own BVB application?

If you applied together for the substantive visa in Australia, family members can be included in the one BVB application, provided they are members of the family unit. In that case you complete one application form and pay one visa application charge.

Inclusion is not the same as riding along on your grant, though. The page is explicit that each member of the family has to meet the requirements for a BVB in their own right, and the Migration Regulations 1994 compilation for subclass 020 records that there are no separate secondary criteria for this subclass — all applicants must satisfy the primary criteria. In practice every included person still has to clear the same eligibility points: having held a substantive visa, currently holding a Bridging visa A or B, having a valid substantive visa application that has not been finally determined (or a judicial review on foot within the prescribed timeframe), having substantial reasons for wanting to travel, meeting the character requirement, and being in Australia when the application is lodged and when it is decided. There is no minimum age.

The page also advises including only family members who have substantial reasons for needing to leave Australia. Family members who are not travelling can remain in Australia on their current bridging visas. That matters here because your pending partner visa application is the substantive application the BVB attaches to, and the compilation of subclass 020 refers to waiting on the processing or review of a Partner (Migrant) (Class BC) visa as one of the circumstances in which a travel reason may arise.

What identity documents does the child need?

Every applicant included in the application, children included, needs colour copies of the pages of their current passport showing their photo, personal details, and passport issue and expiry dates. A national identity card should also be provided if the person has one.

Proof of change of name is required where it applies, and the page accepts a marriage or divorce certificate, change of name documents from an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages or the relevant overseas authority, and documents showing other names a person has been known by. These matter most in the consent context when the travelling parent and the child do not share a surname, since that is the evidence that links a consent form naming one person to the child named on the application.

How early should we lodge the whole family's application?

The official page asks applicants to apply for the BVB no more than 3 months and not less than 2 weeks before the date they want to travel. Both ends of that window have a reason. Applying too far out can make it difficult to assess whether the substantive visa will be ready for decision, particularly because some visas can only be granted while you are in Australia. Applying too late risks not being granted the BVB before you are due to leave, in which case you might not hold a visa that allows you to return, and you would have to apply for and be granted a substantive visa before returning with no guarantee of the outcome.

You, and anyone included in your application, must be in Australia when you lodge, and you must be in Australia when the decision is made. For these reasons it pays to sequence the paperwork: get the consent documents signed before you lodge rather than uploading everything else and hoping the last piece arrives in time.

Once granted, how long does the BVB travel permission last?

Your BVB must be granted before you leave Australia. It allows travel outside Australia until a set date, and if you have not returned before that date the BVB ceases and you would need a new visa to return.

The Migration Regulations 1994 describe a subclass 020 travel facility ending 28 days after judicial review proceedings end, and 35 days after a refused substantive visa application is finally determined. Because the Department's own page refers simply to a set date, treat those periods as something to confirm against the current legislation and against the dates actually printed on your grant, since what governs your travel is the date on your own visa.

What happens between lodging and the decision?

The department confirms when it has received your application and documents, and after that it does not provide updates on processing times — you wait to be contacted. Biometrics such as fingerprints and a photo may be requested. If you did not attach everything when you applied, attach the remaining documents as soon as possible; where an application goes in by webform, all documents have to be attached before submission.

If you made a mistake on the application, the page directs you to correct it as soon as you can using Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers, and there is a separate obligation to report changes such as a new passport, a change of address or contact details, or the birth of a child. If the application is refused, you will be told why and whether you have a right to review of the decision.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do both parents always have to sign a consent form?

Not always. Consent is required from anyone who has a legal right to decide where the child lives and who is not travelling with the child, so a parent travelling with the child is not asked to consent. Where both parents hold that right and only one travels, the one staying behind must provide consent in one of the accepted forms.

Can I sign the consent myself as the parent who is travelling?

The consent has to come from the person with the legal right who is not travelling, so the travelling parent cannot sign on their behalf. The document must be completed by the consenting person and accompanied by evidence of their signature and photo, such as a passport or driver's licence.

Is a statutory declaration enough, or does it have to be Form 1229?

Either one is listed as acceptable on the official page. A statutory declaration has to state clearly that the person consents to the child travelling on this visa, while Form 1229 Consent form to grant an Australian visa to a child under the age of 18 years is the purpose-built alternative.

Does my child get their own BVB grant if they are on my application?

Family members who applied together for the substantive visa can be included in one application with one application charge, but each member has to meet the requirements for a BVB in their own right. There is no minimum age, and the identity and consent requirements apply to the child as they do to any other applicant.

Can we include family members who are not coming overseas?

The page advises including only those with substantial reasons for needing to leave Australia. Family members who are staying can remain in Australia on their current bridging visas, which avoids putting someone on the application who does not need to travel.

What if the consent documents are not ready before our flight?

Consent must be provided before the child can be granted the visa, and the BVB has to be granted before you leave Australia, so travelling without it risks having no visa that allows a return. Options within the published rules are to wait for the signed documents and lodge later within the 3-month-to-2-week window, or to leave that child out of the application so they stay in Australia on their current bridging visa.