The visa applications can be either on-shore (in Australia) or off-shore (outside Australia) depending on the circumstances. these visas are available for children of Australian citizens and Australian permanent residents.
The usual criteria for the visas application is:
- Sponsorship must be made by an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
- The child must be the natural child of the Australian or permanent resident parent (in some cases adopted children can be considered for this visa type but there are also specific visas for adopted children).
- Ideally the child must be under 18 years of age at the time the application is lodged. If the child is over 18 and less than 23 years then the child must be a full-time student and still be dependent and reliant on their sponsoring parent. Additionally, the child must not be working full-time or be in a spousal relationship.
Custody issues (if any) must be met for the application and permission for the child to obtain a visa and travel to Australia must be obtained from the responsible parent.