Subclass 445 for under-18 children in 2026: consent to travel and best interests of the child
A child under 18 can only be granted the Dependent Child visa (subclass 445) if one of three things is true: everyone who can legally decide where the child lives has given written consent, the law of the child's home country allows the child to leave, or the grant is consistent with an Australian child order covering that child. That is the position set out on the Australian Department of Home Affairs Dependent Child visa (subclass 445) official page as at July 2026, and it sits alongside a separate rule that the visa may be refused if granting it would not be in the best interests of an applicant under 18. In the Migration Regulations 1994, these two requirements appear as public interest criteria 4017 and 4018, which apply to subclass 445 applicants who are under 18 at the time of application. This article explains the published rules only; it is general information rather than advice on any particular family's circumstances, and where a custody dispute is involved, the official pages and a qualified professional remain the reference point.
What is the subclass 445 visa doing inside a partner visa case?
The subclass 445 exists to keep a dependent child with a parent who is still on a temporary partner visa. According to the Home Affairs official page, the child must be dependent on a parent who holds a Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309), a Partner visa (subclass 820), or a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445), and the child must apply to be added to that parent's permanent Partner visa application once the 445 is granted.
The sponsorship side matters just as much as the child's own situation. The child must be sponsored by the same person who sponsored or nominated the parent's permanent Partner visa application, and the sponsorship has to be approved before the visa can be granted. If the sponsor or their spouse or de facto partner has a pending registrable offence charge, the sponsorship and the visa application will be refused; where there is a registrable offence conviction, sponsorship can be approved only in very limited circumstances.
The Regulations and departmental policy guidance add detail on timing: the parent must still be a "visa-holding parent" at the time of decision, and once the parent's permanent Partner visa is granted, the 445 no longer runs its course. The guidance also describes the step after grant — adding the child to the parent's permanent Partner visa application, using Form 1002 — as essential, because the child's own place in the permanent stage is not automatic.
Who has to consent before a child under 18 can be granted this visa?
The Home Affairs official page states the consent rule in terms of legal decision-making power rather than biology. The written consent required is that of everyone who can legally decide where the child lives. In practice that is the group of people with parental responsibility for the child, which is why public interest criterion 4017 is often described as the parental responsibility or custody criterion.
Assume an applicant is a 14-year-old child of a parent holding a subclass 820 visa, and the parents separated three years ago under a court arrangement that gives both parents a say in where the child lives. On the published rule, the consent of both is needed unless one of the other two pathways applies — the home country's law allowing the child to leave, or consistency with an Australian child order. A parent's signature alone does not satisfy the criterion where another person also holds that decision-making power.
The Regulations-based guidance frames the same point as a refusal risk: lack of parental consent for under-18 applicants, and disputes over custody or best interests, are listed among the common reasons these applications fail. That is a consequence of the structure — the consent criterion and the best interests criterion are both assessed for under-18 applicants, and the "one fails, all fail" rule means family members included in the application are also assessed against the relevant criteria.
What counts as written consent, and what does "everyone who can legally decide" mean?
The official page requires written consent from everyone with the legal power to decide where the child lives. What that group looks like depends on the law and any court orders that apply to the child, and it is not limited to parents in every case — a guardian or a person named in a parenting order can hold that power.
Two practical points follow from how the criterion is worded. First, the question is who can decide where the child lives, not who pays for the child or who the child currently lives with; an informal arrangement between separated parents does not by itself resolve the criterion if both retain legal decision-making power. Second, because the consent is about the child travelling to Australia on this visa, it needs to be identifiable as consent to that step, and the decision-maker needs to be able to see that the person signing is one of the people who holds the power.
Where the child's home country is not Australia, the law of that country enters the picture in two different ways: foreign law determines who holds parental responsibility, and the home country's law on whether the child may leave is itself one of the three alternative pathways on the official page.
What if one parent will not sign — what are the other two pathways?
The official page gives three alternatives, and only one of them needs to be met:
- Written consent from everyone who can legally decide where the child lives.
- The law of the child's home country allows the child to leave that country. This is a question about the home country's own rules on a child's departure, and it is assessed as an alternative to consent rather than as a fallback requiring consent first.
- Consistency with an Australian child order about the child. The Home Affairs page links this to the Australian Attorney-General's Department material on the registration of overseas child orders, which is the route by which a foreign custody or parenting order is registered so it can be recognised in Australia.
These pathways are alternatives on the face of the official page, but they interact with the best interests criterion, which is assessed separately and can lead to refusal even where a pathway is technically available. In other words, satisfying one limb is necessary, not sufficient.
The Regulations also carry a provision for what happens when the sponsorship chain breaks down rather than the consent itself: under clause 445.223(3), where the nominator or sponsor has died, or the relationship between the visa-holding parent and that sponsor has ended, and the visa-holding parent has requested consideration under the family violence or parental arrangements provisions, the visa-holding parent may sponsor the child instead. That is a sponsorship rule, not a substitute for consent, but it is the part of the framework that addresses the family situations in which consent disputes usually arise.
How does the best interests of the child test apply?
The official page puts this plainly: the visa might not be granted if granting it is not in the best interests of an applicant under 18. It is expressed as a discretionary refusal ground rather than a checklist.
In the Regulations, this is public interest criterion 4018, applied to applicants under 18 at the time of application. What this means in practice is that the consent question and the welfare question are assessed on different tracks: consent asks whether the child's departure is authorised, while best interests asks whether the outcome of granting this visa serves the child. A file can clear the consent limb and still be refused on the second.
Because the criterion is about the child rather than the parents, the relevant considerations are the child's own circumstances — care arrangements, stability, and the effect of the move — rather than the strength of the sponsoring partner's case.
What else does an under-18 applicant have to meet?
Consent and best interests are two criteria among several. The official page lists the following as eligibility requirements:
- Age and dependency: the child must be under 18, or over 18 and financially dependent on the parent who holds the temporary Partner or Dependent Child visa. The Regulations define "dependent child" by reference to regulation 1.03, covering a child who is under 18, or older but dependent through full-time study or because of a physical or mental inability to work.
- Health: the child, and any dependent children applying with them, must meet the health requirement. Family members who are not travelling to Australia with the child may also have to meet it. Departmental guidance notes that for this visa the health assessment is made against the standard used for permanent visas.
- Character: a child aged 16 or over must meet the character requirement, and the department may also require other dependent children in the application to meet it.
- Australian values statement: only applies from age 18, when the applicant must have read or had explained the Life in Australia booklet and sign the statement.
- Debt to the Australian Government: any debt owed must be repaid or covered by a formal arrangement to repay.
- Immigration status if in Australia: the child cannot hold another visa carrying a "No further stay" condition.
Citizenship may remove the need for the visa entirely. The official page notes that a child born outside Australia to a parent who was an Australian citizen at the time of the birth may apply for Australian citizenship by descent instead of a visa to travel to Australia.
What happens after the 445 is granted?
The grant is a bridge, not the destination. The child must apply to be added to the parent's permanent Partner visa application, and per the Regulations-based guidance that step is taken with Form 1002 and must happen before the parent's permanent Partner visa is decided. If the child is not added in time, the pathway closes and a separate child visa becomes the option — the guidance refers to subclass 101 for offshore and subclass 802 for onshore applications, noting that older children face stricter dependency conditions there.
Because the 445 is tied to the parent's temporary visa, the timing of the parent's case drives the child's. Families usually plan the 445 application against the parent's temporary visa rather than treating it as independent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a single parent need the other parent's consent?
Yes, if the other parent can legally decide where the child lives. The official page requires the written consent of everyone with that legal power, not only the parent applying or sponsoring.
Can the child's home country law replace parental consent?
It is one of three alternatives on the official page. If the law of the child's home country allows the child to leave that country, that pathway can be met even without written consent from every decision-maker.
What is an Australian child order in this context?
It is an order about the child that is recognised in Australia; the Home Affairs page links to the Attorney-General's Department material on the registration of overseas child orders. A grant that is consistent with such an order can satisfy the consent requirement.
Can the visa be refused even with consent from everyone?
Yes. The best interests criterion is separate, and the official page states the visa might not be granted if granting it is not in the best interests of an applicant under 18.
Do these rules apply to a child who turns 18 during processing?
The Regulations apply public interest criteria 4017 and 4018 to applicants who are under 18 at the time of application. An applicant who is 18 or over at application instead needs to sign the Australian values statement, and must still meet the dependency and other criteria.
Who sponsors a subclass 445 application?
The same person who sponsored or nominated the parent's permanent Partner visa application, and the sponsorship must be approved before grant. Where that sponsor has died or the relationship has ended and the parent has sought consideration under the family violence or parental arrangements provisions, the Regulations allow the visa-holding parent to sponsor instead.