Family Stream Visas for Children: How Subclass 117 Defines a Child With No Parent in 2026

Subclass 117 defines a child with no parent in three exhaustive ways: both parents are deceased, both parents are permanently incapable of caring for the child, or both parents cannot be found. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117) official page, the visa cannot be granted unless the child has no parent who can care for them — and it will not be granted where the child's parents are capable of caring but do not want to. That single sentence is what separates 117 from the rest of the family stream: other child categories are built around a parent's status and the child's dependence on that parent, while 117 is built around the absence of a parent capable of caring, which is why the sponsor is a sibling, grandparent, aunt or uncle rather than a parent. This article is general information only and is not personalised advice; anyone assessing a specific child's situation should rely on the current official pages and, where the facts are contested, on a registered migration agent or legal practitioner.

What does "no parent who can care for them" actually mean?

The official page sets out three situations, and the test is applied to both parents:

Both parents are deceased.
Both parents are permanently incapable of caring for the child.
Both parents cannot be found.

The wording is about capacity, not willingness. A parent who is alive, able and simply unwilling is not a parent who "cannot" care, and the official page states plainly that the visa will not be granted in that case. In practice this means an application has to account for each parent separately: where one parent is deceased and the other cannot be located, the evidence burden applies to both, in different forms.

There is also an age and relationship element in the definition itself. The child must be under 18 when they apply, must be single — that is, without a spouse or de facto partner — and, under regulation 1.14 of the Migration Regulations 1994, must not have been adopted by someone other than the Australian relative who is sponsoring them. The Regulations allow a limited exception where the child was adopted by that Australian relative, so adoption does not automatically end the pathway. Because these are legislative criteria rather than policy descriptions, they should be read against the current legislative text.

How is this different from other child visas in the family stream?

The family stream contains several child categories, and most of them turn on the child's relationship to a parent — whether the child is dependent on a parent, whether a parent can sponsor, and what custody and consent arrangements exist. Subclass 117 is the exception. Its sponsor is not a parent at all.

Per the official page, a 117 applicant must be sponsored by an eligible sibling or step-sibling, grandparent or step-grandparent, aunt, uncle, step-aunt or step-uncle, who is a settled Australian citizen, an eligible New Zealand citizen, or an Australian permanent resident. That structural difference explains why the care-arrangement review is so much heavier here: there is no parent in the picture to answer questions about custody, consent or support, so the Department has to establish first that no parent is capable of filling that role, and only then look at the sponsor.

The consequence is practical. In a parent-based child category, the central questions are usually about dependency and consent. In 117, the threshold question — can any parent care for this child? — comes before everything else, and a strong sponsorship cannot rescue a case that fails it.

Who can sponsor, and what does the sponsor take on?

Sponsorship must be approved before the visa can be granted. Beyond the relationship and settlement requirements, the official page makes the sponsor's criminal history decisive:

If the sponsor, or their spouse or de facto partner, has a pending charge for a registrable offence, the sponsorship and the visa application will be refused.
If they have a conviction for a registrable offence, sponsorship can be approved only in very limited circumstances.

Sponsors also take on financial obligations. Under the Regulations, the sponsor must be at least 18, and the sponsorship form (Form 40CH) carries an undertaking to provide accommodation and financial support for the child, which departmental guidance describes as a two-year commitment from the child's first entry. An Assurance of Support is not automatic, but it can be required, and where it is required it must be accepted before the visa is granted. Where a sponsor is supporting more than one child, the guidance directs decision makers to look harder at whether the undertaking is realistic.

What evidence proves each of the three situations?

The official step-by-step guidance is unusually specific here, because "no parent who can care" is the part of the case most often decided on documents alone.

Deceased: a death certificate or other official document.
Permanently incapable of caring: evidence such as a medical report, showing why the parents are unable to care for the child. The report has to explain the incapacity, not merely assert it.
Cannot be found: evidence of how long the parents have been missing, and of what efforts have been made to contact or find them.

Official records are the first choice, but they are often unavailable. Departmental guidance for this visa recognises that applicants have frequently experienced traumatic events and that official documents may be limited; the expectation is that the applicant shows they made genuine attempts to obtain the documents, and that any other credible, relevant evidence is put forward instead. Decision makers may also interview the Australian relative, and in some cases the child, with additional safeguards for interviews involving minors.

What else must the child satisfy besides the orphan relative test?

Even where the care test is met, the child must clear the rest of the criteria listed on the official page:

Consent to migrate. For a child under 18, the visa is granted only with the written consent of everyone who can legally decide where the child lives, or where the laws of the child's home country allow them to leave, or where the grant is consistent with any registered Australian child order about the child.
Health. The child, and any dependent children applying with them, must meet the health requirement; dependent children not applying may also have to.
Character. Children aged 16 or over must meet the character requirement, which includes police certificates from every country where they have spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16. For Australia, only AFP National Police Certificates applied for under Code 33 are accepted, valid for 12 months from issue. Form 80 is also required for applicants over 16.
Debts to the Australian Government. Any debt owed by the child or a family member must be repaid, or formally arranged for repayment.
Best interests of the child. The visa might not be granted if doing so would not be in the best interests of an applicant under 18.

The child must also be outside Australia both when the application is made and when it is decided. Turning 18 while the application is being processed does not necessarily end it: the Schedule 2 criteria for subclass 117 preserve eligibility where the only reason the definition is no longer met is that the applicant has turned 18.

How is the application actually lodged?

Subclass 117 is a paper application. The official page lists two forms that must be completed in English and sent together:

Form 47CH, Application for migration to Australia by a child
Form 40CH, Sponsorship for a child to migrate to Australia

The application charge must be paid before the application is posted, and evidence of payment must be included; the Department does not process the application until payment is made. Lodgement is by post or courier to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth — Locked Bag 7, Northbridge WA 6865 by post, or Wellington Central, 836 Wellington Street, West Perth WA 6005 by courier. Applications lodged at another office, in person, or by any other method are not valid.

Only certified copies should be sent; originals should be kept. Supporting documents include passport pages showing photo, personal details and issue and expiry dates, a national identity card if held, proof of any name change, four recent 45mm x 35mm photographs, a certified copy of the travel document, and relationship evidence such as birth, marriage or adoption certificates, or an officially issued family status certificate or family book.

What happens after the application is in?

Once acknowledged, a paper application can be imported into ImmiAccount using the application ID, date of birth and identity document number, which allows documents to be uploaded and status to be viewed. Importing is available for existing applications made outside Australia on or after 1 April 2020.

A few points matter for expectations:

The Department does not provide progress updates within normal processing times; it makes contact if something further is needed.
Health examinations and biometrics are arranged only when the Department asks.
Dependent children can be added at any time before a decision is made.
Errors on the form should be corrected promptly using Form 1023, and changes such as a new address, passport, relationship status or the birth of a child must be notified.
The child should not travel to Australia until the Department advises in writing that the visa has been granted.

A grant notice sets out the visa grant number, start date, conditions and the date by which the child must enter Australia. If the application is refused, the notice gives the reasons and states whether there is a right to review; the application fee is not refunded.

Where do these applications most often fail?

The recurring failure points sit at the care test and at sponsorship rather than at the paperwork. The most common is the inability to establish that no parent can care for the child — evidence that is thin, inconsistent, or that describes unwillingness rather than incapacity. Age is a close second: the child must be under 18 at the time of application, and must not have a spouse or de facto partner. Sponsorship failures follow, including ineligible sponsors, sponsors with registrable offence histories, and cases where the support undertaking does not look sustainable. Health and character failures extend beyond the child: family members included in the application are assessed too, and a family member who fails can bring the whole application down. Finally, a grant may be refused on best-interests grounds even where every other criterion is met.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do both parents have to be deceased for subclass 117?

No. The official page lists three alternatives — the parents are deceased, permanently incapable of caring for the child, or cannot be found — and the child only needs to fall within one of those descriptions for both parents. In practice, evidence is assembled parent by parent, so one parent's death certificate and the other parent's medical report or missing-person evidence can be part of the same application.

My parents are alive but don't want to care for the child. Does 117 apply?

No. The Department states it will not grant the visa if the child's parents are capable of caring for them but do not want to. The test is about capacity, not willingness, and a parent who is able but unwilling keeps the child outside this visa.

How long does a parent have to be missing before "cannot be found" is accepted?

The official page does not set a fixed period. It asks for evidence of how long the parents have been missing and of what efforts have been made to contact or find them, so the assessment is made on the length of absence combined with documented search efforts rather than on a set number of months or years.

Can the child stay in Australia while the 117 application is processed?

The child must be outside Australia when the application is made and when it is decided. The Department advises against arranging travel until it has confirmed in writing that the visa has been granted.

Can the child bring their own children?

Yes, dependent children can be included, and they can be added to the application at any time before a decision is made. They must meet the health requirement, and where they are 16 or over they may also be asked to meet the character requirement; a family member who fails can affect the whole application.

What if a death certificate or medical report simply cannot be obtained?

Departmental guidance for this visa accepts that official documents are sometimes unavailable, particularly after traumatic events. The expectation is that the applicant demonstrates genuine attempts to obtain them and then supports the claim with other credible and relevant evidence, which the decision maker weighs alongside the explanation.