Can Your Family Be Included in a Subclass 151 Application in 2026?

Explains who counts as family for a Subclass 151 (Former Resident) application in 2026, when they can be added, and who must pass health and character.

Published: 10 July 2026 Reading time 12 min

Yes — your partner and dependent children can be included, provided they are members of your family unit. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Former Resident visa (Subclass 151) page, current as of August 2026, you can include members of the family unit in your application when you apply, and you can also add them at any time before a decision is made on your application. Family members who apply with you must meet the health requirement, any family member aged 16 years or over must meet the character requirement, and there is a separate visa application charge for each family member who applies with you. This article is general information about how the rules are framed; it is not tailored advice for your circumstances, so anything that turns on your own family's facts should be checked against the official pages or with a qualified professional.

Who counts as a "member of the family unit"?

The Home Affairs page for Subclass 151 uses the term "members of the family unit" without setting out a full definition, so the practical answer is drawn from the document categories the department asks for: a partner (married or de facto) and dependent children, whether under 18 or 18 and older.

Under the Migration Regulations 1994, a secondary applicant must be a member of the family unit of the main applicant, and must continue to be a member of the family unit at the time of decision, with the main applicant having been granted the visa. The Regulations also describe the main applicant's own pathway — a long residence applicant must have spent at least nine years in Australia as a permanent resident before turning 18 (or, if under 18, at least half their life), be under 45 at the time of application, never have acquired Australian citizenship, and have kept close business, cultural or personal ties with Australia.

Can you add family members after you lodge?

Yes. The Home Affairs page states that members of the family unit can be added at any time before the department decides your application. The mechanism is Form 1436 Adding an additional applicant after lodgement, which you send to the email address you were given when you lodged, together with evidence of the person's relationship to you, other supporting documents such as identity documents, and payment of the additional application charge.

Guidance in the Migration Regulations 1994 and PAM3 refers to related provisions — automatic addition of a newborn child under regulation 2.08, and written requests to add a partner or child under regulation 2.08A — and indicates that such requests should be dealt with before the primary decision is made.

What does a partner need to show?

For a partner, the Home Affairs page asks for identity documents, character documents, and documents about any other relationships where relevant. The relationship itself is proved either by a current marriage certificate, or by enough documents to show a de facto relationship that had already lasted at least 12 months before you applied.

The page gives examples of de facto evidence: joint bank account statements, billing accounts in joint names, joint leases or mortgages, and documents showing your partner lived at the same address as you. A partner is also caught by the health and character requirements, and by the rule that any family member who owes money to the Australian Government must have repaid it or have a formal arrangement to repay it.

What do dependent children need — under 18 and 18 or older?

The document sets differ by age:

Included family member	Documents the department lists
Partner	Identity documents, character documents, documents about other relationships if applicable, plus marriage certificate or 12 months' de facto evidence
Dependant under 18	Identity documents, proof of your relationship (such as a birth or marriage certificate), character documents if applicable
Dependant 18 or older	Identity documents, documents about other relationships if applicable, character documents

Two extra points come from the official page. Police certificates should not be arranged until the department asks for them, and if anyone included in the application has served in the armed forces of any country, certified copies of their military service record or discharge papers are required.

For minors, the Migration Regulations 1994 and PAM3 also refer to public interest criteria 4017 and 4018, which deal with parental consent and custody arrangements, and to the best interests of the child as the balancing principle.

Do family members who are not coming to Australia still have to pass?

This is the trap for offshore applicants. The Home Affairs page states that if you apply for this visa from outside Australia, family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet the health and character requirements. In other words, listing a relative in the application does not let them skip assessment just because they intend to stay behind.

The character requirement is stated to apply to family members aged 16 years or over. The health requirement applies to any family members who apply with you. The health criteria themselves differ by pathway: under the Migration Regulations 1994 offshore long residence applicants and their family members are assessed against PIC 4005, while onshore long residence applicants and defence service applicants are assessed against PIC 4007, which allows for a waiver in some cases. PIC 4021 is also referenced as requiring secondary applicants to hold a valid passport unless it would be unreasonable to require one.

What happens if one family member does not pass?

The Regulations (clauses 151.226 to 151.227B) and the PAM3 manual describe a "one fails, all fails" outcome: if any family member included in the application fails to satisfy the relevant public interest criteria or special return criteria, the main applicant cannot be granted the visa either. PAM3 lists family-member health or character failures, a secondary applicant's failure to meet the passport requirement, and unresolved custody concerns about a minor child among the most common refusal grounds.

Because a family member's assessment can sink the whole case, the practical question is not only whether someone can be included, but whether including them is worth the risk to the application as a whole.

What about a child born after you apply?

The Home Affairs page points to its own guidance on what to do if your child is born after you apply, and notes that this is handled through the change-in-situation process. The department also asks to be told about the birth of a child after lodgement, alongside changes to your phone number, address, passport, or marital or de facto status.

How does everyone actually apply together?

All applicants apply together on the one Form 47SV Application for special migration to Australia, which is a paper application — the page states you cannot lodge this application in person or online, and that it is lodged with the department's Sydney office. The application charge must be paid before you send the application, and the department will not process it if the correct charge is not paid.

The page does not publish a dollar figure; it directs applicants to the Visa Pricing Estimator and notes that a fee applies for each family member who applies with you, plus possible separate costs for health checks or police certificates. Once granted, the visa gives permanent residence, work and study rights, access to Medicare, the ability to sponsor relatives, and travel to and from Australia for five years from the date of grant.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add my partner after I have already lodged?

Yes, you can add members of the family unit at any time before the department decides your application. You do this with Form 1436, sent to the email address given when you lodged, with relationship evidence, supporting identity documents and the additional application charge.

Do relatives who are staying overseas still need health and character checks?

If you apply from outside Australia, family members who are not coming to Australia may still have to meet the health and character requirements. Whether they must be assessed is decided case by case, so do not assume that intending to stay behind puts them outside the requirements.

From what age does a family member need to meet the character requirement?

The Home Affairs page states that any family members aged 16 years or over must meet the character requirement. Police certificates should only be arranged once the department asks for them.

Can an adult child be included?

The department lists document requirements for dependants aged 18 or older who apply with you — identity documents, documents about other relationships if applicable, and character documents. Whether someone is a dependant and a member of the family unit is assessed against the Regulations.

What happens if one included family member fails the health requirement?

Under the Regulations and PAM3 guidance, a failure by any included family member means the whole application, including the main applicant's, cannot be granted. This applies to family members who are not travelling to Australia as well.

Can a baby born after lodgement be added?

Yes, the department's change-in-situation guidance covers a child born after you apply, and the birth of a child is one of the changes you must tell the department about. Adding family members generally remains possible up until the decision is made.