Sponsoring Family After Getting PR via Subclass 100 in 2026: What Changes

What changes for family sponsorship once you hold the Partner (Migrant) visa (Subclass 100), and what relatives must apply for instead.

Published: 11 October 2026

Yes — as an Australian permanent resident you might be able to sponsor eligible family members, but no, you cannot reopen your own visa to include them. The Department of Home Affairs lists "sponsor eligible family members to come to Australia" among the things you can do on the Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100), and the same official page states that you cannot add family members after that visa is granted.

What changes on the day your subclass 100 is granted?

You become a permanent resident on the day the visa is granted, not on some later anniversary. From that point the subclass 100 gives you indefinite stay, full work and study rights, access to Medicare, five years of travel to and from Australia, and — if you meet the separate criteria — access to the Adult Migrant English Program and eventually Australian citizenship.

The other change is structural: your Partner application stops being a live file. While it was live, certain relatives could still join it. Once it is decided, the file is closed, and any family member who was not part of the grant has to come through a different door.

Can anyone still be added to your granted Partner visa?

No. The Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100) page sets this out without qualification: "You cannot add any family members after we grant the permanent Partner visa (subclass 100)." There is no form, no request and no compassionate exception described on that page for reopening a granted 100.

That is a hard cut-off, and it sits behind several related rules:

Family members can be included as members of the family unit when you apply for the temporary Partner visa (subclass 309), and anyone applying with you at that stage must also be outside Australia.
A dependent child with a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445) could be brought into the permanent stage before the decision was made, using Form 1002 attached to ImmiAccount and then notification through the Partner Processing Enquiry Form.
That child had to be a member of the family unit, meet the health requirement, and meet the character requirement if 16 or older.

Every one of those routes exists before the decision, not after it.

What "sponsoring family" means once you are a permanent resident

Sponsorship after the grant means something different from being included in someone's application. Your relative lodges their own application in a family stream, and you act as their sponsor. Nothing in the grant of your subclass 100 carries over to them automatically — not your relationship evidence, not your health or police clearances, not the assessment already made about you.

Which relatives can be sponsored, and under what conditions, is not set out on the Partner visa page. The Department routes permanent residents to its visa finder for joining family, and each stream listed there carries its own eligibility rules, documentary requirements and charges. Treat that finder, and the individual visa pages behind it, as the source of the answer for each relative rather than assuming one pathway covers everyone.

This article is general information about how the rules are framed, not advice on any individual case; the requirements that actually bind you are the ones published on the relevant official pages at the time you apply.

Before the decision compared with after the grant

Question	While your subclass 100 was awaiting decision	After your subclass 100 is granted
Who can be included	Members of the family unit included in the subclass 309 application, plus a dependent child holding a subclass 445	No one can be added to the visa
How a 445 child joined	Form 1002 attached to ImmiAccount, then notification through the Partner Processing Enquiry Form	The child applies in their own right through a family stream
Tests applied	Member of the family unit, health, and character for anyone 16 or older	The tests attached to whichever family visa they apply for
A baby born during this period	Notify the Department through its change-in-situation process for having a baby	The baby cannot be added to your granted visa
Where the rules sit	The Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100) page, as the permanent stage of the same application	The Department's visa finder for joining family, and each stream's own page
Charges	You paid for the visa when you applied for the temporary and permanent Partner visas; separate costs may arise for health or police checks	Any government charge sits on the visa the family member applies for

Who was already inside your application, and what they still owed

If your relatives were travelling with you through the process, they were not passive passengers. At the permanent stage, the Department asks for copies of the passport of every family member who currently holds a subclass 309 or 445, documents showing any change to their situation, and police certificates for dependents aged 16 or older.

You may also have been asked for an Australian Federal Police National Police Certificate — the Department only accepts the complete disclosure version, valid for 12 months from issue — plus overseas police certificates from any country, including your home country, where you spent a total of 12 months or more since your subclass 309 was granted.

Those obligations belong to the application window. After the grant, each family member is assessed against whatever visa they apply for next.

A child born after you applied, or after the grant

If you have a baby after lodging your Partner application, you must tell the Department; it publishes a change-in-situation page for exactly that event. The published obligation is to tell the Department about a baby born after you apply and before a decision is made.

The consequence does change, though. A baby who arrives before the decision and can be brought into the still-open application is in a different position from a baby born after the 100 has been granted, because the granted file cannot be reopened. In the second case the child is not added to your visa and needs to be considered under the family visa options set out in the Department's join-family finder.

Steps to take once you hold the visa

Check VEVO to confirm you hold the subclass 100.

Read the conditions recorded against your visa.

Record the visa grant number and grant date from your grant letter.

Note the date your five-year travel facility ends.

List each relative you hope to bring, and their relationship to you.

Look up each relationship in the Department's visa finder for joining family.

Open that stream's own page and read its criteria and charges.

Keep your passport details current with the Department if your passport changes.

Limits that stay with you as a permanent resident

Permanent residency gives you the ability to sponsor, but not the ability to determine the outcome. Each relative's eligibility is decided against the visa they apply for, and their refusal would not affect your own permanent status, which stands on its own.

One distinction catches people out. The visa is permanent, but the travel facility on it runs for five years from the date of grant. If you want to travel after that initial facility expires, you need to be granted a Resident Return visa (subclass 155 or 157) to enter Australia as a permanent resident. Check the facility end date in VEVO rather than assuming your status lapses with it.

Finally, families arriving under a sponsorship pathway can face waiting periods before certain Australian Government payments become available. Services Australia publishes the newly arrived residents' waiting periods, and the timing differs from the visa grant itself.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add my parents or siblings to my subclass 100 now that it is granted?

No — the Partner (Migrant) visa (subclass 100) page states that no family members can be added after the permanent visa is granted. As a permanent resident you may be able to sponsor eligible relatives, but each of them must apply for their own visa through a family stream identified in the Department's join-family visa finder. Whether a given relationship qualifies depends on that stream, not on your own Partner grant.

My child holds a 445 visa but the 100 was decided — can I still use Form 1002?

Form 1002 is the mechanism for adding a subclass 445 dependent child to a Partner application before a decision is made on it. Once the subclass 100 is granted, that route is closed, because no family member can be added to a granted visa. The child's next step is their own application in whichever family stream their circumstances fit.

Does permanent residency let me sponsor everyone in my family at once?

The ability listed on the visa is to "sponsor eligible family members", and eligibility is assessed relationship by relationship against each visa stream. Nothing on the Partner visa page describes a single mechanism that moves a whole household together after the grant, so each person needs to be matched to a stream in the join-family visa finder.

We had a baby after the grant — what happens to the baby's status?

The Department requires notification when you have a baby after applying for this visa, through its change-in-situation process. The baby cannot be added to your granted subclass 100, so the child's immigration status is dealt with separately, using the family visa options published by the Department.

Do I lose my permanent residency if I stay outside Australia past the five-year travel facility?

No. The five-year period applies to travel to and from Australia, not to the visa's permanence. To return to Australia as a permanent resident after the travel facility ends, you must apply for and be granted a Resident Return visa (subclass 155 or 157).

Which date counts as the start of my permanent residency for citizenship purposes?

The Department states that for citizenship purposes your permanent residency starts either on the day the visa was granted, if you were in Australia, or on the day you first entered Australia on this visa after it was granted. Keep your grant letter and your travel records, because both dates can matter later.