What Can My Adopted Child Do on a Subclass 102 Visa in 2026? Medicare, Work, Study and More

What an adopted child can do on the Subclass 102 visa in 2026 — Medicare, work, study, sponsorship, travel and citizenship.

Published: 10 July 2026 Reading time 12 min

An adopted child granted an Adoption visa (Subclass 102) becomes an Australian permanent resident and can stay in Australia indefinitely, work and study, enrol in Medicare, sponsor relatives, attend free English classes through the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) if eligible, and later apply for Australian citizenship if eligible. That list of six entitlements comes directly from the Department of Home Affairs' official Adoption visa (Subclass 102) page, and it is the starting point for everything below. This article is general information only and is not personalised advice; because individual circumstances and policy settings vary, the official page and a registered migration professional remain the proper sources for a decision about a particular child.

What exactly does the Subclass 102 visa entitle an adopted child to?

The official page sets out six things the child can do once the visa is granted:

Stay in Australia indefinitely with their adoptive parent.
Work and study in Australia.
Enrol in Medicare, Australia's public healthcare scheme.
Sponsor their relatives to come to Australia.
Attend free English language classes provided by the Adult Migrant English Program, if eligible.
Apply for Australian citizenship, if eligible.

Two features of that list are easy to miss. First, the visa is permanent from the outset — there is no second stage to convert. Second, several of the six are conditional in their own right: AMEP classes and citizenship both carry an "if eligible" qualifier, meaning the visa removes the immigration barrier but does not by itself settle entitlement.

When does permanent residence actually start?

The Department states plainly that the child becomes a permanent resident on the day the visa is granted. That date matters for travel: the five-year travel facility described below runs from the grant date.

There is a second date worth separating out. For citizenship purposes, permanent residence starts on the day the child enters Australia on this visa. So a family can hold two different "start dates" for the same child — one for the visa's travel facility, one for eventual citizenship residence counting — and the gap between them is simply the time between grant and first arrival.

Concept	What it covers	How long
Permission to stay	Right to remain in Australia with the adoptive parent	Indefinitely — permanent visa
Travel facility	Right to leave and re-enter Australia as a permanent resident	5 years from the date of grant
Permanent residence for citizenship	Residence counted towards citizenship eligibility	Starts on the day the child enters Australia

Can the child work in Australia once the visa is granted?

Yes. The child can work and study in Australia once they arrive on the visa — there is no separate work visa to apply for. The Department points visa holders to the Fair Work Ombudsman's guidance on workplace rights and entitlements for visa holders and migrant workers, which is the reference point for pay and conditions rather than for immigration permission.

One practical caveat comes from the eligibility rules rather than the work right: the child must have been under 18 when adopted, when they apply and when the decision is made. In practice the holder is usually a minor, so ordinary Australian rules on minimum working age and school attendance apply alongside the visa entitlement.

Can the child study, and what about English classes?

Study is covered by the same general entitlement — the child can study in Australia without holding a student visa. The visa does not, by itself, determine enrolment, fees or eligibility for any particular school or course; those are set by the education provider and by state and territory rules.

What the visa does add is access to free English language classes through the Adult Migrant English Program, if the child is eligible for it. AMEP is a settlement service rather than a school placement, and eligibility is assessed separately from the visa.

Is the child covered by Medicare?

The child can enrol in Medicare, Australia's public healthcare scheme. Enrolment is the operative step: the visa makes the child eligible to enrol, and cover runs from enrolment rather than automatically from the grant date, so it is one of the first practical tasks after arrival. The official page links Medicare enrolment to Services Australia.

Can the child sponsor relatives — and can other family members be included?

Yes, a permanent resident child can sponsor relatives to come to Australia under the visa's entitlements. Sponsorship is a separate application with its own criteria, and the visa holder's age will usually be a practical consideration in how that sponsorship is exercised.

For the family's own planning, three rules from the official page matter:

Siblings who also want an Adoption visa must lodge separate applications; there is no combined application.
The child's dependent children can be included when they apply, or added at any time before a decision is made.
Dependents cannot be added after the decision. Anyone else would need to find another visa option.

Dependent children applying for the visa must meet the health requirement, and family members who are not coming to Australia may also have to meet it.

How long can the child travel in and out of Australia?

The child can travel to and from Australia as many times as they want for five years from the date the visa is granted, as long as the travel facility remains valid. This is the point that most often confuses families: the visa is permanent, but the travel facility is not. After five years the permanent status continues, while the ability to re-enter as a permanent resident does not.

To travel after the initial five-year travel facility, the child will need to apply for and be granted a Resident Return visa (subclasses 155 and 157) to re-enter as a permanent resident. The alternative is Australian citizenship: a citizen does not require a visa to enter Australia and would travel on an Australian passport. The Department's page carries eligibility requirements and current processing times for citizenship.

The exact end date of the travel facility can be checked in VEVO, the Department's online visa entitlement verification system, alongside visa conditions.

What conditions and obligations come with the visa?

The child must enter Australia before the date specified in the grant letter; the Department notes the first entry date is generally set at 12 months from the date of visa grant. If the child does not travel by that date, they may still travel with an expired first entry arrival date provided the visa is still valid, though the visa may be subject to cancellation before arrival or at the border.

Once in Australia, the child and any family members must meet all visa conditions and obey Australian laws. Conditions attached to a particular grant are visible in VEVO. Families also need to notify the Department of changes such as a new phone number, email, address or passport, a change in relationship status, or the birth of a child.

Two administrative details round it out. The child must be outside Australia when the application is submitted and when it is decided. And the visa is digitally linked to the child's passport — no visa label is issued.

What does the visa cost, and are there concessions?

The Department does not publish a single fixed visa application charge for Subclass 102; applicants are directed to the Visa Pricing Estimator for Subclass 102. Beyond the main applicant's charge, there is an additional charge for each of the child's dependent children who apply, and separate costs may arise for health exams, police certificates and biometrics. The estimator does not take those other costs into account.

From 1 July 2026, a lower visa application cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application, based on a valid passport issued by a specified country — the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu or Vanuatu. Family members are also eligible, based on the primary applicant's passport.

How long does a decision take?

The Department does not give a fixed timeframe. It publishes a visa processing time guide tool showing times for recently decided applications, which is a guide only and not specific to any individual application. Applications may take longer if they are not filled in correctly, if documents are missing or further information is needed, if verification takes time, or if full payment is not made at lodgement.

Applicants should receive an acknowledgement within approximately one month of lodgement. The Department will contact the applicant through their authorised method if more information is needed, and otherwise with the outcome.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Subclass 102 Adoption visa a permanent visa?

Yes. The Department of Home Affairs describes it as a permanent visa that lets the child stay in Australia indefinitely with their adoptive parent. There is no separate later step to convert it into permanent residence.

When does the child become a permanent resident?

The child becomes a permanent resident on the day the visa is granted. For citizenship purposes, however, permanent residence is counted from the day the child enters Australia on the visa.

Can the child work full-time on this visa?

The visa allows the child to work and study in Australia once they arrive, without any separate work visa. Because holders are usually under 18, ordinary Australian rules on minimum working age and school attendance still apply.

Does the child get Medicare automatically?

The child is entitled to enrol in Medicare, Australia's public healthcare scheme, but enrolment is a separate step to be completed after arrival. Cover depends on that enrolment rather than starting automatically on the grant date.

What happens after the five-year travel facility ends?

The child's permanent status continues, but re-entering Australia as a permanent resident then requires a Resident Return visa (subclasses 155 and 157). Becoming an Australian citizen is the alternative, since citizens do not need a visa to enter Australia.

Can family members be added to the visa after it is granted?

No. Dependents cannot be added once a decision has been made; they would need to find another visa option. Dependent children can be included in the application or added at any time before the decision.

Where can I check the child's visa conditions and travel dates?

Visa conditions, work and study entitlements, and the end date of the travel facility can all be checked in VEVO, the Department's online visa entitlement verification system.