When half your children live overseas: how the balance of family test decides a 2026 subclass 173 application
Yes — a 2026 subclass 173 application can satisfy the balance of family test even when most of your children live outside Australia, and the reason lies in the test's second limb. On the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa (Subclass 173) page, as at August 2026, you meet the test if at least half of your children and step-children are eligible children, or there are more eligible children living in Australia than any other single country. That second alternative is what decides the outcome for a family whose children are scattered: Australia is compared against each other country one at a time, never against all of your overseas children pooled together.
What does the balance of family test actually ask you to count?
The test is a single requirement with two alternative ways to satisfy it. Either half or more of your children and step-children are eligible children, or the number of eligible children living in Australia is higher than the number in any one other country. You only need to meet one of them.
"Eligible" is doing a lot of work in both. The Migration Regulations 1994 describe the child through whom you qualify for this visa as a settled Australian citizen, a settled Australian permanent resident or a settled eligible New Zealand citizen (subclause 173.211), and require the balance of family test — which the regulations define in regulation 1.05 — to be satisfied (subclause 173.213). Regulations are amended over time, so the version currently published on the Federal Register of Legislation is the one to read, alongside the Department's own balance of family test page.
The practical anchor is documentary rather than conceptual: the Department asks you to evidence each child's Australian citizenship or country of permanent residence. In other words, the exercise is to place every child into one country and then compare the columns. This is general information about how the published rule reads rather than an assessment of any particular family, and the Department's current official page, together with properly qualified professional advice, is what should govern a decision to lodge.
Why does it matter that my children are in different countries rather than one?
Because the second limb is a per-country comparison, dispersion helps and concentration hurts. The test never asks whether more of your children are overseas than in Australia — it asks whether Australia's number beats each other country's number individually.
Suppose an applicant has five children: two settled in Australia, one permanently resident in the United Kingdom, one in Canada and one in Singapore. The half test fails, because two out of five is less than half. The second limb passes, because Australia has two and every other single country has one.
Now suppose the same applicant has two children in Australia and three permanently resident in China. The second limb fails, because China has three against Australia's two, and the half test fails as well. The family is worse off under the test than the first one, even though both have exactly two children in Australia and three overseas.
Suppose instead two children in Australia, two in the United Kingdom and one in France. Australia has two and the United Kingdom has two, so Australia does not have more than every other single country, and two out of five is again short of half. Both limbs fail.
Suppose an applicant has just three children — one in Australia, one in the United Kingdom and one in the United States. Each country holds one, nobody has more than anybody else, and one out of three is below half. The test is not met.
One consequence worth noticing: the second limb can turn on where an overseas child settles, not only on whether anyone moves to Australia. A child who takes up permanent residence in a country that already holds one of your children changes the count in that country without changing the Australian number.
Which of my children are counted, and which are left out?
Step-children are expressly named in the first limb — the Department's wording is "at least half of your children and step-children are eligible children" — so the count is not limited to biological children.
Some children are also taken out of the count altogether. The Department's own document list includes "evidence that your child should not be included in the balance of family test", and gives a death certificate as its example. Beyond that example, the exclusion categories are set out in the regulations and the balance of family test page rather than on the visa page, so those sources are where the full position has to be read.
What happens when Australia and another country tie?
A tie is not enough under the second limb, because the requirement is to have more eligible children in Australia than in any other single country. Equal numbers leave you reliant on the half test.
That fallback can still rescue the application. Suppose an applicant has six children, three settled in Australia and three permanently resident in the United Kingdom. The second limb fails on the tie, but three out of six is exactly half, and the first limb is satisfied by "at least half". The application meets the test through the other door.
The ordering matters in practice: a family that is short of half should work through the per-country comparison carefully, and a family that ties on the per-country comparison should check whether it reaches half.
What documents does the Department ask for to prove the count?
For the balance of family test itself, the Department asks for three things:
- evidence of how you are related to each child
- evidence of each child's Australian citizenship or country of permanent residence
- evidence that a child should not be included in the test, for example a death certificate
Two features of a paper subclass 173 application catch dispersed families out. Each member of the family aged 18 or over must complete Form 47A Details of child or other dependent family member aged 18 years or over, and this applies even if they are not migrating — so adult children living in third countries still have to be formally documented. And the application itself is paper-only: Form 47PA for the applicant, with the sponsor completing Form 40 Sponsorship for migration to Australia.
The Department also warns that there are consequences for giving inaccurate or incomplete information, which is a particular risk where a family is reconstructing relationships and residence across several jurisdictions.
What else has to be true for the same subclass 173 application?
A handful of requirements sit alongside the test on the same official page:
- You must have an eligible sponsor who is settled and usually resident in Australia and at least 18 years old; usually an eligible child sponsors, and where that child is under 18 an eligible relative or community organisation can sponsor. The sponsorship itself must be approved.
- You cannot apply if you have already applied for or hold a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) (subclass 870) visa.
- If you have another Parent visa application that has not been decided, you must withdraw it — Part B of Form 47PA is used for that.
- You must be outside Australia when the Department makes its decision on the application.
- A first instalment is payable when you apply and a second instalment is payable before the visa can be granted.
- Health and character requirements, any debt owed to the Australian Government, and the Australian Values Statement for applicants aged 18 or over also apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a subclass 173 applicant pass the balance of family test with fewer than half their children in Australia?
Yes, through the second limb of the test. The Department's published rule is satisfied if there are more eligible children living in Australia than in any other single country, which can hold true with well under half of your children in Australia. Whether it does hold depends entirely on how the remaining children are distributed between countries.
Does the test add up all my children living overseas and compare that total with Australia?
No. The comparison is made against each other single country individually, not against the overseas total. A family with two children in Australia and one each in three different countries passes the second limb, while a family with two in Australia and three in one country does not, even though both have three children overseas.
Do step-children count in the balance of family test?
Step-children are expressly included in the Department's wording of the first limb, which refers to "your children and step-children". They therefore form part of the group you document and count, rather than being excluded from the calculation.
What if my children in Australia and my children in one other country are equal in number?
Equality is not enough for the second limb, because Australia needs to have more eligible children than any other single country. In that situation the outcome depends on the half test instead; three children in Australia out of six, for example, meets "at least half" even though it ties with another country.
What evidence does the Department want for a child who should not be counted?
The Department asks for evidence that the child should not be included in the balance of family test, and gives a death certificate as its example. Beyond that example, the categories of excluded children are set out in the regulations and on the balance of family test page.
Do I still need to document adult children who are not migrating?
Yes. Each member of the family aged 18 or over must complete Form 47A, and the Department states that this applies even if they are not migrating. Separately, the balance of family test documents cover every child, since the test turns on the whole family rather than only on those coming to Australia.