Does a 117 Applicant Have to Be Under 18 in 2026? Turning 18 While Waiting
The subclass 117 age test is applied when you apply, and turning 18 before the decision does not by itself defeat an application.
Yes — but only at one point in time. The Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117) requires the applicant to be under 18 when they apply; turning 18 while the application is waiting does not, by itself, stop the visa from being granted. The Department of Home Affairs states on its Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117) page that "the child must be under 18 years old when they apply for the visa" (as at the August 2026 official page). The Migration Regulations 1994 then contain the provision that matters to anyone ageing through the queue: the criterion that must still be met at the time of decision, subclause 117.221, does not require the applicant to keep satisfying the orphan-relative definition in the one case where they have stopped meeting it only because they have turned 18.
This article is general information about the published criteria and is not advice on any individual case, so the way those criteria apply to a particular application should be checked against the Department's current published requirements or with a qualified professional.
Is the under-18 rule a lodgement test or a decision test?
It is a lodgement test, with a narrow allowance at the decision stage.
The orphan-relative definition in regulation 1.14 requires the applicant to be under 18, to have no spouse or de facto partner, to have parents who are deceased, permanently incapable of caring for them or who cannot be found, and not to have been adopted by someone other than the Australian relative concerned. Subclause 117.211 requires the applicant to meet that definition at the time of application, and subclause 117.221 requires it to be met again at the time of decision — unless the only reason it is no longer met is that the applicant has turned 18.
The practical reading is straightforward:
- At lodgement, being 18 or over is fatal. There is no exception that rescues an application lodged after the 18th birthday.
- At decision, being 18 or over is not fatal by itself, because the Regulations carve out that single change.
The carve-out is about age alone. It is not a general waiver of the orphan-relative definition.
What exactly does the turning-18 exception cover?
It covers the age limb of the definition, and nothing more.
Assume an applicant lodges a subclass 117 application at 17 years and 10 months, with a sponsor who is an eligible sibling, and with evidence that both parents are deceased. Twelve months later the application is still being assessed and the applicant has had an 18th birthday. On those facts, the applicant no longer meets the "under 18" limb, but subclause 117.221 is drafted precisely for that situation: the failure is attributable only to having turned 18, so the definition can still be treated as met.
Now change one fact. Assume the same applicant, after turning 18, marries or moves into a de facto relationship before the decision. The applicant then fails the "no spouse or de facto partner" limb as well, and that failure has nothing to do with age. The 117.221 allowance does not reach it.
The same logic applies to the parental limb. If the evidence later shows that a parent is alive, can be found and is capable of caring for the applicant, the application fails on that ground whether the applicant is 17 or 19.
Does turning 18 change anything else in the assessment?
Yes, in two directions — some requirements fall away in the way they are framed, and others remain exactly as they were.
The Department's official page frames the consent-to-migrate requirement in terms of a child younger than 18: it says it will grant the visa to a child younger than 18 only where there is written consent from everyone who can legally decide where the child lives, or the home country's laws permit the child to leave, or the grant is consistent with any registered Australian child order. The Regulations likewise attach additional public interest criteria to applicants who are still minors, including criteria about parental consent and about welfare arrangements for an applicant under 18. Criteria drafted by reference to a minor applicant are not engaged in the same way once the applicant is an adult, which is a further reason the assessment at decision is not simply the lodgement assessment repeated.
What does not change is the rest of the file. Sponsorship must have been approved and must still be in force. The applicant must still be outside Australia — the official page is explicit that the child must be outside Australia both when the application is made and when it is decided, and subclause 117.222 requires an approved sponsorship that remains in force. The health requirement continues to apply, as does the character requirement for anyone aged 16 or over, which is why the official step-by-step material asks applicants over 16 for police certificates from every country where they have spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16, and for Form 80. If anything, turning 18 moves the applicant further into the scope of those requirements rather than out of it.
What has to stay true from lodgement to decision?
| Requirement | At application | At decision |
|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | Yes, mandatory | No — failing on age alone is excused by subclause 117.221 |
| No spouse or de facto partner | Yes | Yes, still required |
| No parent able to care for the applicant | Yes | Yes, still required |
| Approved sponsorship | Yes, by an eligible sibling, step-sibling, grandparent, step-grandparent, aunt, uncle, step-aunt or step-uncle | Yes, and still in force |
| Outside Australia | Yes | Yes |
| Health and character requirements | Yes | Yes |
The pattern is consistent: the Regulations excuse one event — the 18th birthday — and require everything else to hold from the day the application is lodged to the day it is decided.
What if the applicant has already turned 18 before applying?
Then subclass 117 is not available on these criteria.
The exception operates at the decision stage and presumes a valid application made while the applicant was under 18. An application lodged on or after the 18th birthday does not meet subclause 117.211 at the time it is made, and nothing in subclause 117.221 repairs that. The Department's official page states the position in equally direct terms: the child must be under 18 years old when they apply.
Single status is assessed the same way. The Department's overview describes the applicant as under 18, single and with no parent to care for them, and having a spouse or de facto partner at any point when the definition must be met is one of the commonly cited reasons for refusal. The visa's own conditions reinforce the point: the Regulations provide for condition 8515, which restricts the holder from marrying or entering a de facto relationship.
What does the visa still give an applicant who is granted it after turning 18?
The same permanent outcome.
The subclass 117 visa is a permanent visa. According to the Department's official page, the holder can stay in Australia indefinitely, work and study 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. None of that changes because the applicant was 18 at the time of grant rather than 17.
Two conditions are worth noting. The Regulations provide that the visa is subject to a requirement to enter Australia by a specified date, and may also be subject to condition 8515. The Department's decision letter will set out the visa grant number, the date the visa starts, any conditions, and the date by which the holder must have entered Australia.
What should an applicant do while the application is pending?
Keep the file accurate, because the criteria are tested again at the decision.
The Department's official guidance lists the changes it expects to be told about: changes to the applicant's phone number, address or passport, changes to relationship status, the birth of a child, and a decision to withdraw the application. Incorrect answers in the application are corrected using Form 1023. Dependent children can be added to the application at any time before a decision is made, but a dependent added later still has to satisfy the health and character requirements that apply to them, and the official guidance warns that an incomplete application may be treated as invalid.
Applicants should also not arrange travel to Australia until the Department advises in writing that the visa has been granted, and should expect to be told when to arrange health examinations and whether biometrics are needed.
One caution on currency: the criteria discussed here come from the Migration Regulations 1994, which are amended over time, so the operative text and its commencement status should be confirmed on the Federal Register of Legislation, and the Department's published page should be treated as the reference for how the criteria are currently administered.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a subclass 117 applicant be over 18 when the visa is granted?
Yes. Subclause 117.221 requires the applicant to keep meeting the orphan-relative definition at the time of decision, unless they have stopped meeting it only because they have turned 18. The grant is therefore possible for an applicant who was under 18 at lodgement and is 18 or over at decision.
Does the turning-18 exception apply if the applicant was already 18 when they applied?
No. The exception operates at the decision stage and assumes a valid application made while the applicant was under 18. The Department's official page states that the child must be under 18 years old when they apply, and subclause 117.211 applies that requirement at the time of application.
Does the applicant still have to be single after turning 18?
Yes. The 117.221 allowance covers only the age limb of the orphan-relative definition. The requirement to have no spouse or de facto partner must still be satisfied at the time of decision, and condition 8515 may also restrict the holder from marrying or entering a de facto relationship.
Does turning 18 change the requirement to be outside Australia?
No. The Department's official page states that the applicant must be outside Australia both when the application is made and when it is decided. Sponsorship must also have been approved and must still be in force at the time of decision.
If the applicant turns 18, do the health and character requirements still apply?
Yes. The health requirement continues to apply to the applicant, and the character requirement applies to applicants aged 16 or over, which is why police certificates and Form 80 are requested from applicants over 16. Turning 18 does not remove any of these requirements.
What should be done if something changes while the application is waiting?
Changes to the applicant's contact details, passport, or relationship status, the birth of a child, or a decision to withdraw are all matters the Department asks to be told about. Incorrect answers already given in the application are corrected with Form 1023, and dependent children can be added at any time before a decision is made.