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Family Unit and Dependent Children on the 117 Visa: 2026 Timing Rules

Dependent children of the main applicant can be included in an Orphan Relative visa (Subclass 117) application when it is lodged, or added at any time before the Australian Department of Home Affairs decides it. Once a decision has been made, no dependant can be added. This is stated on the Department's Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117) official page. The rest of this article is general information only — it is not personalised advice, and requirements should always be checked against the current official page and the legislation itself rather than treated as an answer for your particular family.

When exactly can dependent children be added to a 117 application?

There are three windows, and the rights attached to them are very different.

The practical consequence is that the decision is the only deadline that matters. Everything before it is flexible; everything after it is closed.

What has to be true for someone to be added as a dependent child?

Timing is only one half of the test — the person still has to qualify. Under Schedule 2 to the Migration Regulations 1994, a secondary applicant must be a member of the family unit of the person who satisfies the primary criteria, and family members who are included in the application are assessed against public interest criteria covering character, health and related matters. Because legislative provisions are amended from time to time, the current text on the Federal Register of Legislation is the reference point for which criteria apply and in what form.

On the evidence side, the Department asks for, for every dependant under 18 who is applying with the child:

Four recent passport-style photographs (45mm x 35mm) are required for the child and for any other dependant included in the application. The Department also says dependent children who apply for the visa must meet the health requirement, and that it will tell applicants when to arrange health examinations.

What changes if you add a dependent child while the application is pending?

Late additions are handled inside the one application, not as a separate case. After a paper application is lodged, it can be imported into ImmiAccount using the application ID, date of birth and identity document number, and additional documents can then be uploaded there. Where ImmiAccount cannot be used, or the application was lodged outside Australia before 1 April 2020, documents go through the Child and Orphan Relative Visa Processing Centre online form.

Two things are worth holding onto here. First, the main applicant must be outside Australia both when the application is made and when it is decided — adding a dependent child does not change that. Second, if the child's situation changes after lodgement, including the birth of a child, that is on the Department's list of changes you must tell it about.

Is a child born after lodgement treated differently?

The Department's cut-off is the decision, not the lodgement date, so a dependent child who comes into the picture after the forms have been posted can still be put forward before the decision is made. The complication is evidential rather than legal: identity documents and proof of the relationship still have to exist and be supplied, and for a very young child that paperwork may take time to obtain. If the decision arrives before the documents do, the addition is no longer possible.

Why is the decision date the hard cut-off?

Because a granted subclass 117 is a permanent visa. The holder can stay in Australia indefinitely, and for citizenship purposes permanent residence starts on the day they enter Australia on the visa. There is no mechanism on that visa for attaching a new family member afterwards; the Department's guidance for existing holders points people toward exploring other visa options for a family member instead. That is also why the deadline is unforgiving in a way that procedural deadlines usually are not — the Department does not treat a missed inclusion as a correctable error, because there is nothing left to correct it against.

Do siblings follow the same timing rules?

No. The Department's instruction is that if the child has siblings who also want to apply, a separate application must be made for each sibling. A sibling is not a dependent child of the main applicant, and cannot be folded into the pending application at any stage — not at lodgement, not before decision, and not after.

What about family members who are not coming to Australia?

They are not simply outside the picture. The official page states that family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet the health requirement, and the Regulations provide that family members who are not applying may still be assessed against some public interest criteria. This is one reason the family unit should be mapped out before lodgement rather than discovered during processing: who is in it affects what has to be assessed, even for people with no plans to travel.

Does adding a dependent child change the cost?

Yes. The Department charges for each of the child's dependent children who apply for the visa, in addition to the charge for the main applicant, and there may be separate costs for health checks, police certificates and biometrics. The Department's Visa Pricing Estimator is the tool it points to for working out the total, with the caveat that the estimator does not include those other costs.

From 1 July 2026, a lower visa application cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application — Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Family members are also eligible for the lower cost, based on the passport of the primary applicant.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add a dependent child after the 117 visa is granted?

No. The Department states that dependants cannot be added to this visa after a decision has been made. A family member in that position would need to look at a different visa they may be eligible for.

Can my sibling be included in my 117 application?

No. The Department requires a separate application for each sibling who wants to apply. Unlike dependent children, siblings cannot be added to a pending application before the decision either.

Does a child born after lodgement still count?

The Department's cut-off is the decision rather than the lodgement date, so a dependent child can in principle be added at any point before the decision. In practice the identity and relationship documents must be ready in time, and the birth of a child is a change you are required to tell the Department about.

Do dependent children have to complete health checks?

Yes. Dependent children who apply for the visa must meet the health requirement, and the Department tells applicants when to arrange the examinations. Health checks are among the additional costs not covered by the Visa Pricing Estimator.

Do family members who stay behind need to meet any requirements?

They may. The official page says family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet the health requirement, and the Regulations allow non-applying family members to be assessed against some public interest criteria.

Is there a way to correct the application if a dependent child was left out by mistake?

Before the decision, yes — the child's dependent children can be added at any time up to that point. After the decision there is no correction pathway for this, because dependants cannot be added once a decision has been made.

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