Subclass 117 Document Checklist 2026: What to Send With Form 47CH

What to post with Form 47CH for a Subclass 117 application: identity, photos, travel, parent, relationship and character documents.

Published: 10 July 2026 Reading time 12 min

Form 47CH is only one sheet of paper in a paper application; the Department of Home Affairs expects the form to arrive with a full evidence package covering the child's identity, photographs, travel documents, their parents' situation, their relationship to the Australian sponsor, and — if they are old enough — their character. The list below is taken from the Department of Home Affairs' official Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117) page as at August 2026, and is general information only: it is not advice about any individual case, and anything specific to your circumstances should be checked against the official page or with a qualified professional.

Two things about the visa shape the whole checklist. The child must be under 18 when they apply and must be outside Australia when the application is made and when it is decided. And because the visa turns on the child having no parent able to care for them, the parent-status evidence is not a supporting extra — it is central to the decision.

What goes in the envelope with Form 47CH?

Category	What to include	Who it covers
Identity	Passport photo, personal details and issue/expiry pages; national identity card if any; change-of-name proof	The child, and each dependant under 18
Photographs	4 recent passport-sized photos	The child, and each dependant in the application
Travel documents	Certified copy of the passport or travel document for entry, plus any passports held since	The child
Parent status	Death certificate, or medical/official evidence of incapacity, or missing-parent evidence	The child
Relationship	Birth, marriage or adoption certificate; family status certificate or family book	The child relative to the sponsor
Character	Police certificates, military records, Form 80	Anyone over 16 (police certificates and Form 80), and anyone in the application who has served in the armed forces (military records)

Which identity pages do they actually want?

Send the pages of the child's current passport that show their photo, personal details, and the passport issue and expiry dates. Beyond that, include a national identity card if the child has one, and proof of a change of name if the child has ever been known by another name.

Acceptable change-of-name documents are change of name documents issued by an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages or the relevant overseas authority, and documents showing other names the child has been known by. The Department also warns that applications can fail where identity cannot be proved or information is not true, so a name mismatch between a birth certificate and a passport is worth resolving before posting rather than after.

How many photos, and what specifications do they have to meet?

Four recent photos are required for the child, and four for each other dependant included in the application. The photos must be 45mm x 35mm, less than six months old, good quality colour (laser copies are not accepted), show the full face, and be taken against a plain light-coloured background.

Two relaxations apply: the child may wear untinted prescription glasses, and if they wear a head covering for religious reasons, the photo may show only the face.

Do you send the original passport?

No. Send a certified copy of the passport or travel document the child will use to enter Australia, and certified copies of any passports the child has held since. The Department's instruction is explicit: do not send original documents with the application, send certified copies only, and keep a copy of the completed application and all supporting documents for your own records.

How do you evidence that no parent can care for the child?

The evidence depends on which of the three situations applies — parents deceased, permanently incapable of caring, or unable to be found.

Deceased: a death certificate or other official document.
Permanently incapable: evidence such as a medical report showing why the parents are unable to care for the child.
Cannot be found: evidence of how long they have been missing and what efforts have been made to contact or find them.

Note the boundary the Department draws: the visa is not granted where the parents are capable of caring for the child but do not want to. That distinction is why a medical report carries more weight than a statement of unwillingness.

What proves the relationship to the Australian sponsor?

The sponsor must be an eligible sibling or step-sibling, grandparent or step-grandparent, aunt, uncle, step-aunt or step-uncle, and the sponsorship itself (Form 40CH) must be approved before the visa can be granted. The relationship evidence sits alongside it.

Documents the Department lists include a birth certificate, a marriage certificate, an adoption certificate, and a family status certificate or family book where it is officially issued and maintained. Where a relationship runs through a step-relative or an adoption, the certificate that establishes that link is the one that matters.

Who needs police certificates and Form 80?

Police certificates and Form 80 apply to anyone over 16 in the application, and military service records or discharge papers are required for anyone in the application who has served in the armed forces of any country.

Police certificates: required from every country the person has spent 12 months or more in over the last 10 years, since turning 16.
Australia: only a National Police Certificate applied for under Code 33 – Immigration/Citizenship, issued by the Australian Federal Police. Standard disclosure certificates and certificates issued by state or territory police are not accepted.
Validity: police certificates are valid for 12 months from the issue date for immigration purposes.
Military service: anyone who served in the armed forces of any country must provide military service records or discharge papers.
Form 80: children over 16 must complete and provide Form 80 (Personal particulars for assessment including character assessment).

What about dependants under 18 in the same application?

For every dependant under 18 applying with the child, provide identity documents, proof of the child's relationship with them such as a birth certificate, and character documents if applicable. Dependent children must also meet the health requirement, and the child's own dependent children can be added at any time before a decision is made.

How is the application actually lodged?

Complete Form 47CH and Form 40CH and send them together — by post with correct prepaid postage, or by courier — to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth. The application charge must be paid before posting, and the package should include evidence of payment along with the supporting documentation. The forms must be completed in English, and applications cannot be submitted in person; a form lodged at any other office or in any other way is not a valid application.

Post: Department of Home Affairs, Child and Other Family Processing Centre, Locked Bag 7, NORTHBRIDGE WA 6865 Courier: Department of Home Affairs, Child and Other Family Processing Centre, Wellington Central, 836 Wellington Street, WEST PERTH WA 6005

If you have appointed someone to receive correspondence or give immigration assistance, send the relevant form — Form 956A or Form 956 — with your paper application, or send written notification.

What happens after you post it?

You should receive an acknowledgement roughly one month after lodgement, and the Department will contact you if anything further is needed. Health examinations and biometrics are arranged when the Department asks for them. Do not arrange travel to Australia until the visa has been granted in writing. If you left out a document, provide it as soon as you can; if the answer you gave was wrong, notify the Department using Form 1023. And if you no longer want someone to receive correspondence or give advice, that change is made on Form 956A or Form 956 respectively.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I send original documents with the 47CH application?

No. The Department instructs applicants to send certified copies only and never originals, and to keep a copy of the completed application and supporting documents for their own records.

How many photographs are needed, and how recent must they be?

Four recent photographs of the child, and four for each other dependant included in the application. Each must be 45mm x 35mm and less than six months old, in good quality colour against a plain light-coloured background.

Does a 12-year-old need police certificates?

No. Police certificates and Form 80 are only required for children over 16, from every country where they have spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16.

What if the child's parents are missing rather than deceased?

Provide evidence of how long they have been missing and what efforts have been made to contact or find them. This applies where the child's parents cannot be found. Where a parent is deceased, provide a death certificate or other official document; where a parent is permanently incapable of caring for the child, provide evidence such as a medical report showing why they are unable to care for the child.

Can the 117 application be lodged online?

No. It is a paper application: Form 47CH and Form 40CH are posted or couriered together to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth, and the child must be outside Australia at the time.

Is Form 40CH part of the same package?

Yes. The sponsorship form is completed and sent together with Form 47CH, and the sponsorship must be approved before the visa can be granted.

What should I do if a document was missing when I posted the application?

Provide it as soon as you can. If you have imported the paper application into ImmiAccount after receiving your acknowledgement letter, additional documents can be uploaded there.