Overview

The migration legislation provides for several categories of family migration on the basis that the visa applicant is a relative (within a defined degree) of the sponsor or has an interdependent relationship with the sponsor. That is, the visa categories in the family stream are predicated on a relationship, and each visa necessarily involves two parties, namely the applicant and the applicant's sponsor or nominator. In addition, the visa application might include members of the applicant's family unit. In general, the latter are not required to meet all criteria for a particular application and are not the subject of discussion in this chapter. They are assessed on the basis that they are, in fact, members of the family unit and meet secondary criteria related to health and character requirements, as alluded to in the previous chapter (at 4.5).

The visa subclasses for applicants migrating from overseas under the family categories are: Partner (100); Child (101); Adoption (102); Parent (103); Aged Dependent Relative (114); Remaining Relative (115); Carer (116); Orphan Relative (117); Designated Parent (118); and Contributory Parent (143). Most of these family stream visas for migrants from abroad have an equivalent visa for onshore applicants: Partner (801); Child (802); Aged Parent (804); Aged Dependent Relative (838); Remaining Relative (835); Carer (836); Orphan Relative (837); and Contributory Aged Parent (864).