I Had a Baby While Waiting for Partner Visa 100 in 2026 — What Now?

Updated 2026-10-15 · General information, not migration advice · Run by the Arrivau team

Yes — you have to tell the Australian Government Department of Home Affairs about the birth. According to the Department's official Partner (Migrant) visa (Subclass 100) page, read as of October 2026, if you have a baby after you applied for this visa you "will need to let us know", and the page points applicants to its dedicated change-of-situation guidance for new parents. The birth is treated as a change in your situation, not as something the Department picks up on its own.

Do I have to report the birth, or is it automatic?

Nothing happens automatically. The Subclass 100 page lists "the birth of a child" among the things you must tell the Department about after you apply but before a decision is made, alongside "changes to your marital or de facto status" and "any other changes relevant to your application".

That means the notification sits in the same category as a relationship change. If your family situation shifted in more than one way while you wait, each of those changes belongs in the same update rather than being reported separately over months.

Is my newborn automatically added to my subclass 100 application?

No. A child born after you lodged your combined temporary and permanent Partner visa application is not automatically included, and there is no step in which the Department adds them without being asked.

The pathway depends on timing and on your child's own visa position. The pages describe three distinct situations: family members included at the Subclass 309 stage, dependent children holding a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445) who are added before the permanent decision, and no additions at all after the permanent visa is granted.

How do I tell the Department about the baby?

The default route is ImmiAccount. The step-by-step guidance for Subclass 100 tells applicants to log in, manage the existing application, and attach documents to it. If you are unable to upload the relevant documents to your application in ImmiAccount, the same guidance says you should let the Department know using the Partner Processing Enquiry Form.

A short version of the sequence, in order:

Log in to ImmiAccount.
Open the application that is still awaiting a decision.
Attach the documents that show the birth and the change in your household.
Label each file clearly, since a single document only needs to be attached once even if it serves more than one purpose.
Use the Partner Processing Enquiry Form instead if the upload function will not work for you.

There is a hard limit of 100 attachments per person on an application, and the Department states that this limit cannot be increased; if you reach it for one applicant, remaining documents can be attached to another applicant on the same application. This article is general information about published process rather than advice about your own case, so confirm the current steps against the official pages or with someone qualified to advise you personally before you rely on them.

Can my baby be granted the Subclass 100 visa too?

Possibly, but through a defined route rather than automatically. The visa page says you can include members of the family unit when you apply for the temporary Subclass 309 visa, and any family member applying at that stage must also be outside Australia.

For a child born later, the route described on both pages runs through the Dependent Child visa (subclass 445):

Your child first holds a Subclass 445 visa, and can be in or outside Australia.
Complete Form 1002 — Application by a subclass 445 dependent child for a permanent partner visa.
Attach the completed form in ImmiAccount.
Notify the Department through the Partner Processing Enquiry Form once the form is attached.

Assume a hypothetical applicant whose baby is born eight months after lodgement. On the published guidance, that child is not part of the pending application until they hold a Subclass 445 visa and Form 1002 is attached, so the administrative work has to be done before the permanent visa is decided.

What happens once my child is added to the application?

They are assessed as an applicant in their own right. The enrolment requirements listed for dependent children on the permanent-stage documents include being a member of the family unit, meeting the health requirement, and meeting the character requirement if they are 16 years old or older. For every family member who holds a Subclass 309 or 445 visa, the Department asks for copies of the passport, documents showing changes to their situation, and police certificates where applicable for dependents aged 16 or over.

Health and character checks are applicant-specific, so a newborn does not inherit your clearances; each child's own documentation starts from their own circumstances.

What else should I update at the same time?

Anything the Department holds on file about you. The step-by-step page separately flags changes to your contact details and address, and changes to your passport details, each with its own change-of-situation page. It also repeats the instruction that the Department may need to contact you directly even if you nominated your sponsor's email, appointed an authorised recipient, or appointed someone to give immigration assistance.

This matters in practice because partner applications run long. The same page advises updating your documents and relationship evidence regularly through ImmiAccount while you wait, rather than treating lodgement as a single moment of disclosure.

Can I add my baby after the Subclass 100 visa is granted?

No. The visa page states plainly: "You cannot add any family members after we grant the permanent Partner visa (subclass 100)." The Form 1002 pathway depends on adding the child before a decision is made on the permanent application, because once the visa is granted that route is closed.

That makes timing the practical variable. The notification you send while the application is pending is the only window the published guidance gives you for bringing a child born during processing onto this visa.

What if my relationship with my sponsor has also changed?

Report it as a separate item in the same round of updates. The step-by-step page says you may need to complete the Notification of Relationship Cessation form in ImmiAccount, and refers applicants to the Department's guidance for changed relationships to confirm. It adds that you might still be eligible for the permanent visa if your relationship ends or your partner dies, that all information you provide is confidential, and that the Department may be able to help if you are experiencing domestic and family violence, including under the family violence provisions.

If you do not have access to ImmiAccount, the same section says you can notify the Department directly using the Partner Processing Enquiry Form.

Where should I check my own visa status while waiting?

Use VEVO to check which visa you currently hold, and ImmiAccount to see the date you submitted your application. Eligibility for consideration of the permanent stage begins two years after you applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas together, and the Department asks you not to submit permanent-stage documents before that date passes.

Published processing times are updated regularly and are described by the Department as a guideline only, based on how long recently decided applications took, with complex cases taking longer. Applications may take longer if they are incomplete, if documents are missing, or if information takes time to verify.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does having a baby make my Partner visa 100 decision faster?

No published rule links the birth of a child to a faster or slower permanent-stage decision. The Department assesses all applications case by case and updates processing times regularly, describing them as a guideline rather than a guarantee. Factors the Department does name as causes of delay are incorrect forms, missing documents, requests for further information, and time spent verifying what you provided.

Can I add my partner's baby from an earlier relationship to my application?

The published pathway is the same one described for any dependent child born after lodgement: the child must hold a Subclass 445 visa and be added through Form 1002 in ImmiAccount before the permanent decision. Whether a child counts as a member of the family unit is assessed against that criterion, along with the health requirement and, for dependents aged 16 or over, the character requirement.

My baby was born in Australia — can they still be added?

Yes, under the route the Subclass 100 pages describe. A dependent child who holds a Subclass 445 visa can be in or outside Australia when Form 1002 is attached to your ImmiAccount. The restriction of being outside Australia applies to members of the family unit who apply with you at the Subclass 309 stage.

What if I cannot upload the birth documents in ImmiAccount?

Use the Partner Processing Enquiry Form. Both the visa page and the step-by-step page give the same instruction: where an applicant is unable to upload relevant documents to the application in ImmiAccount, they should notify the Department using that online form.

Do I need to report the birth if my application is already past the two-year point?

Timing changes the evidence stage, not the obligation. The permanent-stage instructions repeat the same list after lodgement — changes to marital or de facto status, the birth of a child, and any other relevant change — right up until a decision is made. The earliest anyone can stop reporting changes is the moment the permanent visa is granted, after which no family member can be added.

Will the Department refund anything if the application is refused?

The step-by-step page states that the Department will not refund the application fee if it refuses the application. It also confirms that you can be in or outside Australia when the permanent Partner visa is decided, and that the decision is given to you in writing with details of any review rights if the outcome is a refusal.