Why Subclass 117 Must Be Lodged on Paper in 2026: Forms, Address, Payment
How to lodge the Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117) on paper: forms 47CH and 40CH, paying first, and the Perth postal and courier addresses.
There is no online lodgement route for the Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117). According to the Department of Home Affairs' official Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117) page, as at the August 2026 version of that page, the application is made on paper: you complete Form 47CH Application for migration to Australia by a child and Form 40CH Sponsorship for a child to migrate to Australia, pay the application charge before you post anything, and send both forms together to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth. Lodging anywhere else, or in any other manner, does not produce a valid application.
This is general information drawn from published requirements rather than legal advice for any particular case, and the details that bind a specific applicant should be confirmed against the current official pages and pricing tools.
Why does subclass 117 have no online application?
Because the published procedure for this visa is a paper procedure. The official step-by-step guide states plainly that you apply for this visa on paper, and adds two hard conditions: the child must be outside Australia when the application is made, and applications for this visa cannot be submitted in person.
That combination is what confuses people who are used to ImmiAccount. ImmiAccount enters the process after lodgement, not before. Once the department has acknowledged a paper application, you can import it using the application ID, the child's date of birth, and an identity document number (passport, ImmiCard or Titre de Voyage). Importing gives access to online services such as attaching documents, viewing messages, updating details and checking status. Outside Australia, this import route is available for applications made on or after 1 April 2020.
What goes in the envelope: Form 47CH and Form 40CH
Both forms are required, and they are sent together in the one parcel:
- Form 47CH — the child's own application for migration to Australia.
- Form 40CH — the sponsorship by the relative who is a settled Australian citizen, eligible New Zealand citizen or Australian permanent resident.
Two mechanical rules matter as much as the content. The forms must be completed in English. And they must travel as a pair — the guide says to complete the following two forms and send them together.
Do you pay before you post, or after?
Before. The official instruction is explicit: you must pay the application charge before you post your application, and the department will not process the application until you pay.
The parcel should therefore include evidence of payment of the application charge along with the supporting documentation. Payment shortfalls are treated as a processing problem, not a minor omission: the department states it cannot process the application if you do not pay the correct visa application charge, and in that situation it will let you know and may return the application. Making full payment at the time of initial lodgement is also listed as one of the things that keeps the application from taking longer to process.
Where exactly do you send it?
Both channels go to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth, but the street and bag addresses differ:
| Method | Address |
|---|---|
| Post (with correct prepaid postage) | 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 |
Use the postal address only with correct prepaid postage attached; use the Wellington Street address for courier deliveries, since a locked bag cannot receive a courier.
What else belongs in the parcel before you seal it?
Documents are gathered before lodgement, and the guide is specific about several of them.
Identity. Pages of the child's current passport showing photo, personal details and issue and expiry dates; a national identity card if they have one; and proof of change of name where applicable.
Photographs. Four recent photos, 45mm x 35mm, for the child and for any other dependant included in the application. They must be less than six months old, good quality colour (no laser copies), show the full face against a plain light-coloured background. Untinted prescription glasses are acceptable, and a head covering worn for religious reasons may be worn provided the face is shown.
Travel documents. A certified copy of the passport or travel document the child will use to enter Australia, and of any passports held since then.
Evidence about the parents. This is the core of the visa. You must provide evidence the child has no parents capable of caring for them — a death certificate or other official document, or evidence such as a medical report showing why the parents are unable to care. If the parents cannot be found, provide evidence of how long they have been missing and what efforts have been made to contact or find them.
Relationship to the relative. A birth certificate, marriage certificate, adoption certificate, or an officially issued and maintained family status certificate or family book.
Character documents. Children over 16 must provide police certificates from every country where they have spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16. For Australia, only National Police Certificates applied for under Code 33 – Immigration/Citizenship are accepted, issued by the Australian Federal Police; standard disclosure certificates and state or territory police certificates are not. Police certificates are valid for 12 months from the issue date. Anyone who served in the armed forces of any country must provide military service records or discharge papers, and children over 16 must also complete Form 80.
Two closing rules: send certified copies only, never originals, and keep a copy of the completed application and supporting documents for your own records. If someone is assisting or receiving correspondence, Form 956 or Form 956A goes in with the paper application.
What turns a paper lodgement into an invalid one?
The guide sets out the consequences directly. Submitting the application at any other office, or in any other way, means it is not a valid application and cannot be considered further. Neither can it be submitted in person. More generally, if any of the lodgement steps are incomplete the application may be invalid; the department does not process invalid applications, and will notify you and, if requested, return the application.
Three failure modes follow from that: wrong or missing form, no payment at lodgement, and delivery to the wrong office or channel.
What happens after the parcel arrives?
You should receive an acknowledgement of the application within approximately one month after lodgement. After that, the department advises that it cannot provide updates on progress within normal processing times and will contact you if it needs anything further.
Health examinations and biometrics are arranged only when the department tells you to. Do not arrange for the child to travel to Australia until you are advised in writing that the visa has been granted. A child's dependent children can be added at any time before a decision, and any mistake on the application should be corrected as soon as possible using Form 1023.
For the decision itself, the child must be outside Australia when the decision is made. A grant letter sets out the visa grant number, the date the visa starts, the conditions, and the date by which the child must have entered Australia — generally set at 12 months from grant. If the application is refused, the department will give the reasons and state whether there is a right to review, and the application fee is not refunded.
What does the paper application cost?
The official page refers applicants to the Visa Pricing Estimator rather than publishing a fixed figure in the step-by-step guide, and it notes that the estimator does not cover other costs such as health checks, police certificates and biometrics. There is also a charge for each dependent child of the child who applies for the visa, so a single parcel can carry more than one applicant's charge.
From 1 July 2026, a lower visa cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application, recognised through a valid passport issued by one of the specified countries — 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 and Vanuatu. Family members are eligible on the basis of the primary applicant's passport. Because the published amounts change, the current figure should be taken from the estimator at the time of lodgement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can subclass 117 be lodged online through ImmiAccount?
No. The official procedure requires a paper application using Form 47CH and Form 40CH sent to the Perth processing centre; ImmiAccount is used afterwards to import the acknowledged application and manage it online.
Do Form 47CH and Form 40CH have to be sent in the same parcel?
Yes. The guide says to complete both forms and send them together, and to include evidence that the application charge has been paid along with the supporting documents.
Can I hand the application in at a Home Affairs office?
No. Applications for this visa cannot be submitted in person, and an application submitted at any other office or in any other way is not valid and cannot be considered further.
Should original documents be posted with the application?
No. Only certified copies should be sent, and you should keep a copy of the completed application and supporting documents for your own records.
Does the child need to be outside Australia for a subclass 117 application?
Yes, twice over: the child must be outside Australia when the application is made, and outside Australia again when the decision is made in order for the visa to be granted.
How long until the application is acknowledged?
The department advises that an acknowledgement should be received within approximately one month after lodgement, and that it does not provide progress updates within normal processing times.
Is the fee refunded if the visa is refused?
No. If the application is refused, the department will state the reasons and whether there is a right to review, but the application fee is not refunded.