Does the Other Parent Have to Consent to a Child Visa 802 Application in 2026?
No — a refusal from the other parent does not by itself end an application. According to the Department of Home Affairs Child visa (subclass 802) official page, as at the August 2026 version of that page, the Department will only grant this visa to a child younger than 18 if one of three things is true: the child has the written consent of everyone who can legally decide where they live; the laws of the child's home country allow them to leave that country; or the grant is consistent with any Australian child order about the child. Those are alternatives rather than a checklist, so the parent's signature is one route into the requirement, not the requirement itself.
This article is general information about published criteria, not personalised advice for any particular family. Who has to sign, and which of the three routes a case fits, depends on court orders, foreign law and documents that readers should check against current official guidance or with a qualified professional.
Who exactly has to consent?
The wording on the official page is functional rather than relationship-based: it points to everyone who can legally decide where the child lives, not to "both parents" as such. A biological parent who has never held parental responsibility, or one whose parental responsibility has been removed or limited by a court, may not be a person the Department is asking about — while a guardian, or a person named in an order, may be.
The same page defines the family link the visa is built on. The child must be dependent on a parent who is an Australian citizen, an eligible New Zealand citizen, or an Australian permanent visa holder, and can be that parent's biological child, adopted child, or stepchild (only from a former partner). That last category carries its own conditions: a stepchild must be the child of the step-parent's former partner and aged under 18, and the step-parent must have either an Australian parenting order in force saying the child is to live with and be looked after by them, or guardianship or custody under Australian law or the law of another country. Where an adoption is involved, it must have been finalised before the child turned 18.
What should the written consent say?
The Department states the requirement as written consent without publishing a prescribed form on that page. What matters is that the document reads as consent to the child migrating to Australia — not, say, consent to a short visit — and that it makes clear who is signing and why that person is entitled to decide where the child lives. If the signer's authority comes from a court order or a guardianship arrangement, that authority is the part a case officer has to be able to see.
What if the other parent will not sign?
Can the child's home country law be used instead?
Yes, on the face of the requirement. The second route is that the laws of the child's home country allow them to leave their home country. The official page does not spell out how to prove this, so the practical question becomes what that country's law actually says about a child travelling or relocating, and what evidence of it exists. Readers should treat this as a legal question about the child's own country rather than an Australian visa formality, and confirm the current position with the official page.
Does an Australian child order change the answer?
It can. The third route is that granting the visa is consistent with any Australian child order about the child. The Department links to the Attorney-General's Department material on the registration of overseas child orders, which is where cross-border recognition is dealt with. An Australian parenting order that says a child is to live with the sponsoring parent can therefore do double duty: it is evidence for the stepchild relationship and it may place the case inside this third route. It does not replace any other criterion.
Does the refusal decide the whole case?
Not on its own, in either direction. The same page states that the Department might not grant the visa if it is not in the best interests of an applicant under 18, which is a separate assessment from consent. The Migration Regulations 1994 reinforce this: clause 802.225 requires an applicant who was under 18 at the time of application to satisfy public interest criteria 4017 and 4018, which deal with the welfare and best interests of a minor. Readers should check the current compiled text of the Regulations, since numbering and criteria can be amended.
What else still has to be true?
Consent is one criterion among several, and the others can stop an application just as effectively.
- Sponsorship. The child must be sponsored by an eligible parent or that parent's spouse or de facto partner, and the sponsorship must be approved before the visa can be granted. If the sponsor or their partner has a pending registrable offence charge, the Department will refuse both the sponsorship and the visa; a registrable offence conviction can only be approved in very limited circumstances.
- Age and dependency. The child must be under 18, or over 18 and under 25 and studying full time, or over 18 with a disability, and dependent on the qualifying parent.
- Health and character. Everyone must meet the health requirement; a child aged 16 or over must also meet the character requirement.
- Debt and immigration history. Money owed to the Australian Government must be repaid or formally arranged, and a cancelled visa or previously refused application can affect eligibility.
- Values statement. Only children aged 18 or older need to have read, or had explained to them, the Life in Australia booklet and sign the Australian Values Statement.
Assume an applicant: a 14-year-old living in Australia with a mother who holds a permanent visa, while the father overseas refuses to sign anything. If an Australian parenting order says the child is to live with the mother, the case may sit inside the third route. If there is no such order but the child's home country permits a child to leave with the consent of the parent they live with, the second route may apply. Either way, the best interests assessment still runs, and the sponsorship still has to be approved.
One further point about scope: the Regulations describe subclass 802 as the onshore stream, requiring the applicant to be in Australia — and not in immigration clearance — when the application is made. Families whose child is outside Australia are looking at a different subclass and should confirm this on the official pages.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do both parents always have to sign?
No. The requirement is written consent from everyone who can legally decide where the child lives, which can be one parent, both parents, or someone else with legal authority depending on what a court has ordered. If only one person holds that authority, only that person's consent is needed under the first route.
Can the Department refuse even when everyone has signed?
Yes. Consent satisfies one criterion; the Department may still refuse if granting the visa would not be in the best interests of an applicant under 18, or if sponsorship, health, character or immigration history requirements are not met.
Is a parenting order the same thing as consent?
Not exactly. A parenting order can be relevant in two places: as evidence for a stepchild relationship, where the step-parent must have an Australian parenting order or custody or guardianship, and as the basis for the third consent route, where the grant must be consistent with any Australian child order about the child.
Does an 18-year-old need the other parent's consent?
The consent requirement on the official page applies to a child younger than 18. An applicant who is 18 or older instead has to sign the Australian Values Statement and meet the study or disability criteria that apply to older applicants.
Does the other parent's objection count against the child?
An objection is not listed as a refusal ground on the page. What the Department assesses is whether one of the three routes is met and whether the grant is in the child's best interests, so an unsupported objection carries less weight than a court order that actually allocates parental responsibility.
Where can I check whether an overseas order counts in Australia?
The Department's page links to the Attorney-General's Department material on the registration of overseas child orders, which is the starting point for cross-border recognition. Because registration rules and procedures can change, the current position should be confirmed on that official source.