Do you need tips on a family sponsorship to Australia for your dependent family members on 457 Visa Australia?
There are several options available to you if you currently hold an Australian visa to be able to sponsor your family members to join you in Australia.
You will find the requirements needed to for family sponsorship for your family member for each kind of visa application below.
There will be other options as well; these are only a few of your choices available.
In order to assess if you qualify to be a member of the family unit per the subclass 457 working visa, let’s go over how immigration defines being a member of the family unit.
For the purpose of applying for a subclass 457 visa Australia, someone will be considered the member of the family unit to the family head, if the person meets any of the following criteria:
Is a spouse or de facto partner to the family head
- Is considered a dependent child (under the age of 18 years) to the family head or of a de facto partner or spouse to the family head
- The dependent child of a dependent child to the family head or of a de facto relationship or spouse to the family head
- A dependent relative to the family head or of the de facto partner or spouse to the family head
- A non-dependent child to the family head or of a spouse or de facto partner (see child (other))
When would you be classified as a dependent child (under 18 years of age)?
A dependent child is the child (whether biological or adopted) or step-child to the family head, their spouse or de facto partner, where one of the mentioned has legal responsibility for the child.
How to know if you are considered a dependent child (18 years of age or older) or other relative
A dependent child (18 years of age or older) and other relatives that are dependent on the family head, or de facto partner or spouse, may be considered in the application if:
- They have never been married or in a de facto relationship, are legally widowed, divorced or separated
- Are usually a resident in the household of the primary applicant
- They are reliant on the primary applicant to financially support them for their basic needs (food, clothing and shelter)
- The primary person has been financially supportive of the person for a substantial period of time
- They are reliant on the primary person more than any other person or source
Child (other)
Children (under the age of 18) who were assessed as a member of the family unit in regards to a previous subclass 457 visa included with the primary visa applicant, may be eligible for a further secondary subclass 457 visa if they:
Have not gotten married or entered into a de facto relationship since the grant of the previous 457 visa
Have not yet turned the age of 21
Now that I’ve gone over the criteria for the member of a family member, can you apply? If so, you will need to know what will be required in your application, either combined with the applicant or a separate application altogether, the below requirements are for both ways of applying.
Requirements for family sponsorship (Skilled) (subclass 457) to be granted the visa by immigration
Are you a member of the primary applicant’s family unit? If so, you can make a combined application (an application including the primary and yourself) at the time of lodgement for the subclass 457 visa.
If the primary applicant has already had their visa granted and you wish to join them in Australia afterwards as a family member, you will need to fill out a separate visa application. In either scenario, your application for a grant of the subclass 457 visa will be assessed according to the secondary requirements which are listed below:
Your identity documents for family migration to Australia
It will not make a difference whether or not you are on the application with the primary applicant or applying separately after the primary visa holder has been granted the visa, you will still need to provide sufficient evidence to establish your identity as a family member.
This evidence can be what is listed below, but it is not limited to what is listed:
- A certified copy of the biographical data pages in your passport (has your photograph and details)
- A passport sized photograph of yourself
- A certified copy of your birth certificate
- A family registered document, copied and certified
- A certified copy of your identity card
- Certified copy of any government official name change (such as, a marriage certificate)
The member of a family unit
If you are applying for the subclass 457 visa on the basis of being a member of the primary applicant’s family unit, then you will need evidence to back up those claims if you wish to do family sponsorship
De facto or spouse partner
You can provide a certified copy of the marriage certificate, this will show evidence for the spouse of a primary applicant. However, if you are in a de facto relationship with the primary visa applicant, please provide evidence to prove this relationship. Some acceptable forms of evidence are:
- Proof of living together
- Joint bank account records
- Joint ownership in property
- Bills in both names
- Other official legal documents
Family members who are dependents, 18 years or over (besides, a spouse or de facto partner)
You must support your claims, if you are 18 years or over and wish to be considered as a dependent to the primary applicant. Evidence must be provided to show you are either completely or substantially reliant for financial support to provide food, clothing or shelter from the primary applicant. You might also be completely or substantially reliant if you are incapacitated for work.
If you currently hold a dependent subclass 457 visa and are over 18 years old you may be able to stay a dependent family member for the purposes of a subsequent 457 visa application if you are:
- Currently under the age of 21
- Not in a de facto relationship or married
PLEASE NOTE: If your visa is approved under this regulation, it will only be valid until you reach your 21st birthday.
Dependents who are under the age of 18 and are on the visa application with only one parent or guardian included
A Form 1229 (Consent to grant an Australian visa to a child under the age of 18) must be completed and signed by the other parent or guardian not in the application. Where custodial arrangements are applicable, documents related to custody must be provided. Acceptable identification with the other parent or guardian’s photograph (detailed personal information page with picture on passport or driver’s license) must be included as well.
There must be no adverse information known by the department in regards to the standard business sponsor or the party to the labour agreement, or anyone associated with them. This could affect your nomination if you are applying for the subclass 457 visa on the basis of being a member of the family unit to a primary visa applicant. The adverse information may be disregarded should the department feel satisfied it would be reasonable to do so.
Are you wondering what adverse information is? Let’s go over what this means for company sponsorship.
Adverse information is any information relevant to a person’s suitability as an approved sponsor, and includes information that the person or persons associated with that person:
Has become insolvent within the meaning of subsections 5(2) and (3) of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 and section 95A of the Corporations Act 2001
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ba1966142/
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ca2001172/
In regards to the Commonwealth, state or territory law:
- They have been found guilty by a court of an offense
- They have been found to have acted in contravention of the law by a competent —-authority
- They have been subject to an administrative action (including warnings) by a competent authority
- They are currently under investigation, leaving them subject to disciplinary action —-or subject to legal proceedings
This Commonwealth, state or territory law must relate to:
- Discrimination
- illegal immigration actions
- industrial relations
- occupational health and safety regulations
- people smuggling and related offenses
- anything to do with slavery, sexual servitude and deceptive recruiting
- taxation abuse
- any form of terrorism
- human trafficking and debt bondage
Any adverse information will be considered relevant if:
- it raises doubts about a person’s suitability as an approved sponsor
- has happened within the last 3 years
- it has become known to immigration
There are limits to what is perceived as relevant. Such as, if immigration received information that the business has received a fine for having an unregistered vehicle on a public road, it is not very likely this information would be relevant. However, if immigration were to receive information that the managing director was being investigated for human trafficking offenses, this would be considered relevant.
Let’s get back to the required documents needed for the secondary applicant, for this family sponsorship to Australia.
Health Insurance Coverage
You must show evidence of having made satisfactory arrangements for health insurance for the entirety of your intended stay in Australia, before your visa is granted. As long as, your policy provides at least the minimum coverage required by immigration standards, you will be able to have insurance from an Australian or overseas provider.
Are you from a country with a reciprocal health care agreement with Australia? Can you provide a Medicare card or receipt?
If you answered yes, then you may already meet the health insurance requirement. If you cannot produce these documents but your country has the agreement, you should make arrangements for travel or health insurance for your initial period in Australia. Then enrol in Medicare after you arrive.
Are you an AusAID or a Foreign Affairs recipient?
If so, there will be some additional requirements involved in your secondary visa application. You must have the support of Foreign Affairs before you can be granted a subclass 457 visa. There is a waiver for compassionate or compelling circumstances.
Requirements for all 457 working visa applications
The above mentioned requirements are specifically for the secondary visa applicant, the ones listed below are for anyone (primary or secondary) applying for the subclass 457 visa.
Health requirements
In order for your visa to be granted, you must be able to meet the health requirements set up by immigration. This will amount to you undergoing a health examination. To obtain permanent entry into Australia, most applicants for permanent visas and temporary or provisional visas that may lead to the grant of a permanent visa, are required to undergo a health examination. You are responsible for any costs involved in taking the health exam. If it is a successful exam, please don’t assume that your visa will be granted. The requirements for the health examination will depend on your circumstances, your intended period of stay, what your planned activities are and your country of origin or residence.
Character requirements
You must be of good character to be granted a visa to enter Australia. In order for the Australian Government to assess if you are of good character or not, they may ask you to provide police certificates for each country you have lived in for 12 months or more, over the last 10 years since you turned 16. This will include Australia, if you have resided there for a total of 12 months or more over the last 10 years. In some cases, applicants have been asked to provide personal details to enable additional character checks to be made. There’s no need to provide the police certificates unless asked to do so by your case officer.
Please be sure that in the 3 years prior prior to lodging your application, you have not engaged in any conduct which constitutes a contravention of subsection 245AR(1), 245AS(1), 245AT(1) or 245AU(1) of the Act.
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma1958118/s245ar.html
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma1958118/s245as.html
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma1958118/s245at.html
http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/ma1958118/s245au.html
This means that you or any person on your behalf, must not have paid or even offered to pay your sponsor (in any form) for the occurrence of a sponsorship related event, to include:
Helping a business become a sponsor for you
For the sponsor to make a nomination for you from the funds given, or not withdraw their nomination from you or anyone included in the application
ONE derland Consulting has extensive experience dealing with different type of visas and complex cases, to find further information on your options and eligibility for family sponsorship to Australia for a student visa please contact our office on (+61) 089477-5831 or email: [email protected]
