After a 117 Grant: First Entry Deadline, 5-Year Travel and RRV in 2026

How the 12-month first entry date and the 5-year travel facility on a Subclass 117 visa work, and what to do when travel rights end.

Published: 10 July 2026 Reading time 12 min

According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117) official page, as at August 2026, the visa itself is permanent — the child can stay in Australia indefinitely — while the right to travel in and out of Australia runs for five years from the date the visa was granted. Three separate dates therefore matter after a grant: the first entry date set in the grant letter, which is generally 12 months from the date of grant; the date the five-year travel facility ends; and the day the child actually arrives, which is when permanent residence starts for citizenship purposes. Once the travel facility ends, the child needs a Resident Return visa (RRV, subclasses 155 and 157) to re-enter Australia as a permanent resident, or Australian citizenship and an Australian passport. This is general information about how the published rules fit together rather than advice on any one family's situation, so where a decision turns on individual circumstances the current official information or professional advice is the reference point.

Is the 117 visa permanent, or does it stop after five years?

The Subclass 117 Orphan Relative visa is a permanent visa. It lets the child stay in Australia indefinitely, work and study in Australia in line with Australian law, enrol in Medicare, sponsor relatives to come to Australia, attend free English classes through the Adult Migrant English Program if eligible, and apply for Australian citizenship if eligible.

The five years is not the life of the visa. It is the travel facility: the period in which the child can travel to and from Australia as many times as they want, as long as that facility remains valid. When it runs out, the permanent residence does not disappear — what disappears is the ability to board a flight and come back through the border as a permanent resident on this visa alone.

When must the child first enter Australia?

The child must enter Australia before the date specified in their grant letter, and that first entry date is generally set at 12 months from the date of visa grant. The grant notification letter issued when the visa is granted sets out four things worth reading together: the visa grant number, the date the visa starts, the visa conditions, and the date by which the child must have entered Australia.

There is no visa label in the passport. The visa is digitally linked to the child's passport, and the visa grant number in the grant letter is what gives access to the digital visa record.

What if the first entry date has already passed?

An expired first entry arrival date does not by itself end the visa. The official page states that a child who did not travel before the first entry date can still travel to Australia with an expired first entry arrival date, provided the visa is still valid.

The qualification matters: the visa may still be subject to cancellation before arrival or at the border. That risk is not removed by the fact that travel is physically possible. Whether the visa is still valid is a matter that can be confirmed through VEVO (Visa Entitlement Verification Online), which is also where the current visa conditions are shown.

When does the five-year travel facility end?

It ends five years from the date the visa was granted — not five years from the day the child first arrives. For a child who enters close to the grant date, the two are almost the same; for a child who enters near the end of the 12-month window, the usable travel period is shorter by roughly that delay.

Assume a child's visa is granted on 1 March 2026 and first entry is made in February 2027. The travel facility still ends five years from 1 March 2026, not from the February 2027 arrival, so the family has around four years of travel rather than five. The exact end date is shown in VEVO, which is the record to rely on rather than a date worked out by hand.

What are the options once the travel facility ends?

There are two, and they solve the same problem in different ways: getting back into Australia after the travel facility has expired.

	Resident Return visa	Australian citizenship
What it allows	Re-entry to Australia as a permanent resident	Entering Australia without any visa
What is needed	A separate application, and the visa must be granted before travel	Becoming an Australian citizen, then applying for an Australian passport and using it to leave and re-enter
What governs timing	Whether the child meets the RRV requirements at the time of applying	Citizenship eligibility requirements and current processing times

The RRV keeps the permanent resident pathway alive: it is the visa that lets a former permanent resident return as one. Citizenship is the other route — an Australian citizen does not require a visa to enter Australia, but does need an Australian passport to leave and re-enter. Eligibility requirements and current processing times for citizenship are published separately, and neither route carries any guarantee of a particular outcome; both depend on the child's circumstances at the time of applying.

When does permanent residence start for citizenship purposes?

For citizenship purposes, the child becomes a permanent resident on the day they enter Australia on the visa — not on the date of grant, and not on the date the travel facility ends. The first entry is what starts that clock, which is why the arrival date is worth recording properly.

Proof of travel in and out of Australia is available from the Department of Home Affairs through a request for international movement records. For a family planning around citizenship, that record is the documentary answer to "when did residence actually begin?", and it is more reliable than recollection years later.

What needs checking before the child travels?

The child must hold a valid visa and a valid passport or other travel document to enter Australia, and a valid passport or other travel document to leave Australia. Every person arriving in Australia must complete an Incoming Passenger Card. Children aged 16 or over might be able to clear the airport using SmartGate, which uses facial recognition technology and an ePassport; younger children go through with the accompanying adult.

Because there is no visa label in the passport, the digital record accessed with the visa grant number is the practical evidence of the visa at the border. After departing Australia, movement records can be requested as proof of the travel history.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Subclass 117 visa still permanent after the five-year travel facility ends?

Yes. The visa is permanent and lets the child stay in Australia indefinitely; the five years limits only travel in and out of Australia. Once it ends, the child needs an RRV to re-enter as a permanent resident unless they have become an Australian citizen.

Does the five-year travel period run from the grant date or from first entry?

From the date the visa was granted. The official page describes five years from the date of grant, so entering Australia late shortens the practical travel window rather than restarting it. VEVO shows the date the travel facility ends.

What happens if the child misses the first entry date in the grant letter?

The child can still travel to Australia with an expired first entry arrival date if the visa is still valid. The visa may, however, still be subject to cancellation before arrival or at the border, so validity should be confirmed in VEVO before making travel arrangements.

Does the child need an RRV if they never leave Australia?

No. An RRV is needed to re-enter Australia as a permanent resident after the travel facility ends. A child who stays in Australia has no re-entry to make, and the permanent visa continues to allow them to remain indefinitely.

Does Australian citizenship remove the need for an RRV?

Yes. An Australian citizen does not require a visa to enter Australia. They would need to apply for an Australian passport and use it to leave and re-enter, rather than travelling on a foreign passport with a residence visa.

When does permanent residence start for citizenship purposes if entry is delayed?

On the day the child enters Australia on this visa, not on the grant date. Delaying first entry therefore delays the start of the period counted for citizenship purposes, even though the visa itself has been in force since grant.

Can the child's own children be added to the visa after it is granted?

No. Dependants cannot be added to this visa once a decision has been made. A family member who needs to come to Australia later would have to look at which other visa they may be eligible for, using the current official visa information.