Do I Have to Be in Australia to Apply for and Be Granted the 802 Child Visa in 2026?
Explains where a child must be when lodging and when the subclass 802 decision is made, and what 'not in immigration clearance' means.
Yes. The Department of Home Affairs states on its Child visa (subclass 802) page that the child must be in Australia — but not in immigration clearance — both when the application is submitted and when it makes a decision. The same location requirement is set out in clause 802.411 of the Migration Regulations 1994. This is general information only, and the Department of Home Affairs' Child visa (subclass 802) page and the Migration Regulations 1994 are the authority for any particular case.
What does the rule require at the moment the application is lodged?
Two conditions, simultaneously: the child is physically in Australia, and the child is not in immigration clearance. Presence alone is not enough — the child must already have cleared the border and be in the community.
The subclass 802 is also an onshore paper application. The Department's step-by-step guidance requires Form 47CH (Application for migration to Australia by a child) and Form 40CH (Sponsorship for a child to migrate to Australia) to be completed in English and sent together, with payment made before submission through the ImmiAccount online payment function and evidence of payment included. Applications cannot be submitted in person; they go by post or courier to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth. An application missing any of these steps may be treated as invalid, and invalid applications are not processed.
What does "not in immigration clearance" mean?
Immigration clearance is the border process a traveller goes through on arrival — the point at which a person is cleared to enter Australia. A child who has arrived but is still within that process, for example still inside the arrival area before clearance is completed, is not eligible to lodge this visa. The requirement is about status at the border, not about the length of time the child has been in the country.
One related limit sits in the same section of the official page: the child cannot apply for this visa if they are in Australia on another visa that carries a no further stay condition. That is a separate bar from the location rule, and both must be satisfied.
Why does the same requirement apply again when the decision is made?
Because the official page states it twice — in the travel guidance and again in the visa outcome step. The reasoning it gives is direct: the Department needs to know about travel during processing because the child must be in Australia when the decision is made. Granting is not a deferred event; the child becomes a permanent resident on the day the visa is granted, so the location condition has to hold at that exact point.
Read literally, the requirement is expressed without exceptions. A child who is outside Australia at the moment the decision is reached would not meet the condition as published, regardless of how long they had been onshore beforehand.
Can the child travel outside Australia while the application is being processed?
The Department's guidance treats this as a notification and return question rather than a prohibition on travel itself. It asks to be told if the child needs to travel outside Australia during processing, and it states that if the child leaves, they must have a valid visa to return.
Two consequences follow for planning. First, being offshore is only workable if the child can lawfully come back before the decision is reached. Second, because the decision-time requirement is a condition of grant rather than something curable afterwards, travel late in processing carries the risk that the child is not in Australia when the decision is made. The published material does not set out any mechanism for granting the visa while the child is offshore.
How does the child stay lawful in Australia while waiting?
The Department states that when the application was made, the child was granted a bridging visa associated with that application. If the child's current visa expires before a decision is made, the bridging visa starts, and the child can remain in Australia on it while the application is processed. The general obligation is to hold a valid visa throughout.
After grant, the picture changes: the subclass 802 is a permanent visa, the child becomes a permanent resident on the grant day, and the visa includes a travel facility allowing travel to and from Australia for five years from the date of grant. Once that facility ends, re-entering as a permanent resident requires a Resident Return visa (subclass 155 or 157), unless the child has become an Australian citizen.
How long does the wait take?
The official page publishes no fixed timeframe. It directs applicants to the Department's visa processing time guide tool, which shows processing times for recently decided applications and is described as a guide only, not specific to any individual application. It notes that processing can take longer where the form is not filled in correctly, documents are missing or further information is needed, information takes time to verify, or full payment is not made at initial lodgement.
On timing of the first contact, the Department says an acknowledgement of the application, including advice about any associated bridging visa, should arrive within approximately one month after lodgement. A paper application can then be imported into ImmiAccount once the acknowledgement letter is received, which gives access to online services such as uploading documents, viewing messages and updating details.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the child have to be in Australia at both lodgement and decision?
Yes. The Department of Home Affairs states the child must be in Australia, but not in immigration clearance, when the application is submitted and when it makes a decision. Both points matter independently, so satisfying one does not excuse the other.
What does "not in immigration clearance" mean in practice?
It means the child has already passed through the border clearance process and is in the community, rather than still being processed on arrival. A child inside the arrival area before clearance is completed cannot lodge this visa, even though they are physically within Australia's territory.
Can the child with a no further stay condition apply onshore?
No. The official page states the child cannot apply for this visa if they are in Australia on another visa with a no further stay condition. That restriction is separate from the requirement to be in Australia and not in immigration clearance.
Is travel outside Australia allowed while the application is being processed?
The Department asks to be notified if the child needs to travel, and says the child must have a valid visa to return. Because the child must be in Australia when the decision is made, any travel has to end well before that point.
What happens if the child's current visa expires during processing?
A bridging visa associated with the application was granted when the application was made. If the current visa expires before a decision, the bridging visa starts and the child can stay in Australia on it while the application is processed.
How can the family check processing times?
The Department points to its visa processing time guide tool, which reports times for recently decided applications as a guide only. It is not specific to an individual application, and the official page publishes no guaranteed timeframe.