Is My 18–24 Year Old Child Still Eligible for Australia's Subclass 802 Visa in 2026?
How Australia's Subclass 802 age rules work for 18–24 year olds, at both application and decision time.
Yes — an 18 to 24 year old can still qualify, but only through either the "over 18 and under 25 and studying full time" branch or the "over 18 years with a disability" branch; in the study branch the conditions have to be met twice: on the day the application is lodged and again on the day it is decided. That is the framework set out on the Australian Department of Home Affairs Child visa (Subclass 802) official page, as at the August 2026 official page. Age alone does not carry the case — the study, work and financial dependence conditions travel with it, and the second test catches families who assume that qualifying at lodgement is enough. This article explains how the published criteria operate in general terms; it is not advice on any one family's position, and for that the requirements as currently published by the department and a qualified professional's assessment are what count.
Which age branch does my child actually fall into?
The eligibility page divides children into three branches, and only one brings a study condition with it.
| Age branch | What the child must meet |
|---|---|
| Under 18 | Dependent on an eligible parent; sponsorship approved before grant |
| Over 18 and under 25 | Full-time student both when applying and when decided; not in full-time work; financially dependent on the parent more than any other person |
| Over 18 with a disability | Totally or partially lost bodily or mental functions; cannot work full time; financially dependent on the parent |
The eligible parent must be an Australian citizen, an eligible New Zealand citizen, or an Australian permanent visa holder. The child can be that parent's biological child, adopted child, or stepchild from a former relationship. Three limits sit in that list: a stepchild cannot rely on a step-parent who is still the current spouse or de facto partner of their biological or adopted parent, a stepchild must themselves be under 18, and the step-parent must have an Australian parenting order in force that says the child is to live with them and be looked after by them, or guardianship or custody of the child under Australian law or the law of another country.
What is absent from the table matters as much as what is in it. There is no fourth branch for a healthy 25-year-old student, so once a child has turned 25 and nothing has been lodged, the middle row is closed.
Does the rule have to be met again when the visa is decided?
Yes, and this is where most of the anxiety about an approaching 25th birthday should be directed. The Home Affairs page states that a child in the 18–24 branch must be a full-time student when they apply and when the visa application is decided. The Subclass 802 overview page runs the same test for location: the child must be in Australia when the application is made and when the decision is made.
Read it as describing a continuing state rather than a snapshot. Assume an applicant who turned 24 at lodgement and turns 25 while the application is still queued. Under clause 802.221(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994, a person who was over 18 at the time of application is treated as continuing to meet the age criteria even after turning 25, provided they were under 25 when they lodged and keep meeting the adult conditions. That point comes from the regulations rather than the department's eligibility page, so read it against the current text of both.
The practical consequence is that the lodgement date is the one date a family controls. Turning 25 mid-processing is a different problem from turning 25 before lodgement.
What counts as full-time study?
The official page gives a two-part test. A child is a full-time student if they are:
- enrolled in a full-time course that leads to a professional, trade or vocational qualification, and
- attending classes.
Both limbs operate independently. Enrolment without attendance is not study, and regular attendance at something that does not lead to a professional, trade or vocational qualification fails the first limb. Departmental policy guidance (PAM3) puts flesh on both ideas — describing a full-time load as a proportion of the normal study load, the course level as broadly equivalent to a certificate-level qualification or above, and the institution as properly registered — while also acknowledging that reasonable gaps are recognised. Those specifics come from guidance rather than the eligibility page itself, so confirm them against current official material before relying on them.
One consequence follows from the wording: because study is expected to have continued since turning 18, a 23-year-old who enrolled at 18 and has studied continuously is in a different position from a 23-year-old enrolling for the first time, even though both sit inside the age band.
How much of a gap after school is acceptable?
The page expects study to have started since the child turned 18, or within six months — or a reasonable time — of finishing school. It also states that any gap of more than six months between the final year of school and the start of further studies must be explained.
The allowance is anchored to the transition out of the final year of school. Assume an applicant who finished Year 12 in November, travelled for eight months, and enrolled the following year: that is exactly the kind of interval the six-month reference contemplates, and it needs an explanation on the record. A gap that opens later — between two courses, or after a withdrawal — falls outside that specific allowance and is better treated as something to account for than as something automatically permitted.
Can my child work while the application is pending?
The adult branch prohibits full-time work; it does not prohibit work as such. The condition is expressed as "can't work full time", which sits alongside two other tests that often bind first: the child must still be a full-time student, and must be financially dependent on the parent more than any other person. A pattern of substantial paid work can put pressure on both, because dependence has to be greater than dependence on anyone else, and heavy hours sit awkwardly with attending classes full time. Unpaid or voluntary work is not described on the official page as disqualifying, but it does not substitute for study.
Does being single matter more once the child turns 18?
Yes, and the standard is stricter for adults. No child can be married, in a de facto relationship, or engaged to be married. For a child who is over 18, the page goes further: they must never have been married or had a de facto partner. So a prior marriage or de facto relationship that ended years earlier still excludes an adult applicant, whereas the past-only bar does not apply to someone applying while under 18.
Age also triggers two other adult-only obligations. Spouses and partners aside, a child aged 18 or older must have read, or had explained to them, the Life in Australia booklet and must sign the Australian Values Statement.
What else must hold, whatever the age branch?
Several requirements apply across the board and can defeat an otherwise sound case:
- Sponsorship. The child must be sponsored by an eligible parent or that parent's spouse or de facto partner, and the sponsorship must be approved before the visa can be granted. Pending registrable offence charges lead to refusal of both sponsorship and application; a registrable offence conviction can only be approved in very limited circumstances.
- Presence in Australia. Required at application and at decision.
- Health and character. Health requirements apply to the child and any dependent children applying with them. Character requirements apply from age 16.
- Debt to the Australian Government. Any debt owed by the child or a family member must be repaid or be subject to a formal repayment arrangement.
- Immigration history. A cancelled visa or a previous refusal is weighed in the decision.
- Consent and best interests, where the child is under 18: written consent to migrate from everyone legally able to decide where the child lives, or the home country's laws permitting departure, or consistency with any Australian child order, and the visa might not be granted if it is not in the best interests of the child.
Grant of the visa lets the child stay in Australia indefinitely, work and study, enrol in Medicare, sponsor relatives, attend Adult Migrant English Program classes if eligible, and apply for Australian citizenship if eligible.
Does the disability branch work differently?
It removes the study requirement but not the economic one. A child aged 18 or older with a disability must have totally or partially lost their bodily or mental functions, cannot work full time, and must be financially dependent on the parent. There is no upper age limit stated in that branch, which is why it, rather than the study branch, is the relevant frame for an adult child whose incapacity rather than age is the operative fact. Because that finding turns on medical and functional evidence, the household-level conclusion is that this branch is documented quite differently from the 18–24 study branch.
Frequently Asked Questions
My child has just turned 18 — does anything change immediately?
The relevant branch shifts from "under 18" to either the full-time-student branch or the disability branch, depending on the facts. From 18 they must not be engaged, must never have been married or had a de facto partner, must meet the study or disability conditions, and must sign the Australian Values Statement.
My child turns 25 next year and we have not applied yet — what should we understand about that?
Before lodgement, under 25 is a live criterion, because the study branch is expressed as "over 18 and under 25". Once a valid application is in and the child was over 18 but under 25 at that point, clause 802.221(2) of the Migration Regulations 1994 addresses the situation of turning 25 during processing, subject to meeting the adult conditions throughout. Verify that clause against the current regulations text.
Can my child take a gap year after Year 12 and still fit the criteria?
They can, but the page expects study within six months or a reasonable time of finishing school, and expressly requires any gap of more than six months after the final year of school to be explained. A gap that occurs later in the study history is not covered by that allowance.
How much work is too much?
The stated rule is that the child cannot work full time. Part-time paid work is not prohibited as such, but it has to coexist with being a full-time student attending classes, and with financial dependence on the parent being greater than dependence on anyone else.
Do both parents need to be involved as sponsors?
Only one sponsor is required — an eligible parent, or that parent's spouse or de facto partner — and the sponsorship must be approved before grant. The dependency relationship itself runs to the Australian citizen, eligible New Zealand citizen or permanent visa holder parent.
Is the six-month rule the same as a rule about gaps mid-course?
No. The six-month reference on the official page concerns the interval between the final year of school and the start of further studies. It does not convert into a general allowance for breaks once study is underway.