Subclass 802 or Australian Citizenship for My Child in 2026?

Whether your child needs the Child visa (subclass 802) or can go straight to Australian citizenship, and how an 802 grant starts the residence clock.

Published: 8 October 2026

If one of your child's parents was already an Australian citizen at the moment the child was born, and the child was born outside Australia, the Department of Home Affairs points to Australian citizenship by descent rather than a visa — that is stated on its Child visa (Subclass 802) official page, as at August 2026. If that is not your situation — the parent held a permanent visa or was an eligible New Zealand citizen at the birth, or became a citizen only afterwards — the Child visa (subclass 802) is the route that puts your child on the permanent residence record, and permanent residence is what a later citizenship application builds on. This article is general information rather than advice on your child's own circumstances; because the answer turns on facts such as the parent's status on the day of the birth, check the current position on the official pages or with a registered practitioner before lodging anything.

What does the choice between subclass 802 and citizenship actually turn on?

The fork is narrow, and it is not really a choice between two equally available products. It is a test of one fact: was a parent an Australian citizen on the day the child was born, and was the child born outside Australia?

Citizenship by descent asks exactly that. Subclass 802 asks a wider question — whether the child is dependent on a parent who is an Australian citizen, an eligible New Zealand citizen, or an Australian permanent visa holder — and the criteria do not require the parent to have held that status when the child was born.

That difference explains most real cases. A parent who migrated on a skilled visa, settled, and naturalised later was a permanent resident rather than a citizen on the day of an earlier child's birth, so citizenship by descent is closed for that child; a sibling born after the parent's citizenship ceremony may qualify by descent even though both children have the same parents. Families often find they have two different answers inside one household.

When is citizenship by descent available instead of a visa?

The Home Affairs page states that a child may apply for Australian citizenship by descent instead of a visa to travel to Australia if both of the following apply:

the child was born outside Australia
one of their parents was an Australian citizen at the time of their child's birth

Both conditions are required. A child born in Australia to a citizen parent does not meet the first; a child born overseas while the parent held only a permanent visa does not meet the second. Where the answer is yes to both, the citizenship route is the one the department identifies, and the subclass 802 tests — sponsorship, health, character, consent to migrate and the rest — are not the tests being applied.

	Australian citizenship by descent	Child visa (subclass 802)
Parent's status	Australian citizen at the time of the child's birth	Australian citizen, eligible New Zealand citizen, or Australian permanent visa holder
Birthplace	Child born outside Australia	No birthplace requirement in the criteria
Where the child must be	Presented as an alternative to a visa to travel to Australia	Child must be in Australia, and not in immigration clearance, to apply and to be decided
Outcome	Australian citizenship	Permanent visa; the child becomes a permanent resident on the grant date

What subclass 802 delivers, and when permanent residence starts

Subclass 802 is a permanent visa. The child becomes a permanent resident the day it is granted and may stay in Australia indefinitely. With it, the child can work and study in Australia, enrol in Medicare, sponsor relatives to come to Australia, attend free English language classes through the Adult Migrant English Program if eligible, and apply for Australian citizenship if eligible.

Two dates flow from the grant. Permanent residence begins on the grant date, and the visa's travel facility runs for five years from that same date — during which the child can travel to and from Australia as many times as they wish, as long as the travel facility remains valid.

Does my child have to be in Australia to apply for subclass 802?

Yes. The child must be in Australia, but not in immigration clearance, both when the application is submitted and when the department makes its decision. The child also cannot apply for this visa if they are in Australia on another visa that carries a no further stay condition.

This is the practical reason families sequence things differently: the visa route requires the child to be onshore and able to apply, whereas citizenship by descent is framed by the department as an alternative to a visa for travel to Australia.

Who counts as a dependent child for subclass 802?

The child must be dependent on a parent who is an Australian citizen, an eligible New Zealand citizen, or an Australian permanent visa holder. They can be that parent's biological child, adopted child, or stepchild — but a stepchild only counts where the step-parent is a former partner of the child's biological or adopted parent. If the step-parent is currently the spouse or de facto partner of the child's biological or adopted parent, the child does not meet the dependency requirement.

The child must also have a sponsor: an eligible parent, or that parent's spouse or de facto partner. Sponsorship has to be approved before the visa can be granted, and the sponsorship rules are strict. Where the sponsor, or their spouse or de facto partner, has a pending registrable offence charge, the department will refuse both the sponsorship and the visa application; where there is a registrable offence conviction, sponsorship can be approved only in very limited circumstances.

What age, relationship and conduct tests apply to the child?

The child must be under 18, or over 18 and under 25 and studying full time, or 18 or older with a disability.

A child in the student band must be a full-time student both when applying and when the application is decided, cannot work full time, and must be financially dependent on the parent more than on any other person. Full-time study means enrolment in a full-time course leading to a professional, trade or vocational qualification, plus attendance at classes; study should have started after turning 18 or within six months — or a reasonable time — of finishing school, and any gap of more than six months needs to be explained. A child in the disability band must have totally or partially lost their bodily or mental functions, be unable to work full time, and be financially dependent on the parent.

On relationships, the child cannot be married, in a de facto relationship, or engaged to be married, and a child over 18 must never have been married or had a de facto partner. The child and any dependent children applying with them must meet the health requirement, and a child aged 16 or over must meet the character requirement. Any debt owed to the Australian Government by the child or a family member must be repaid or covered by a formal arrangement, and a child aged 18 or over must have read — or had explained to them — the Life in Australia booklet and sign the Australian Values Statement.

Two further tests apply specifically because the applicant is a child. The department will consider the child's immigration history, so a cancelled visa or refused application can affect eligibility. And for a child under 18, the visa will only be granted where there is written consent from everyone who can legally decide where the child lives, or the laws of the home country allow the child to leave, or the grant is consistent with any Australian child order — and it may still refuse if granting would not be in the best interests of a child under 18.

Adopted children and stepchildren: the extra requirements

The adoption must have been finalised before the child turned 18. It can have happened before or after the parent became an Australian citizen, Australian permanent visa holder or eligible New Zealand citizen — but if it happened after, the adoption must have been:

through an intercountry adoption involving an Australian state or territory central authority, or
through an intercountry adoption by arrangement between two countries other than Australia that are parties to the Hague Adoption Convention, or
where no Australian state or territory central authority was involved, through an expatriate adoption by an Australian citizen, an eligible New Zealand citizen or an Australian permanent visa holder who had been living outside Australia for more than 12 months before the adoption was finalised.

Home Affairs recommends obtaining independent legal advice in both Australia and the child's country of usual residence before proceeding with an expatriate adoption, given the risks to the child and to the adoptive parents.

A stepchild, meanwhile, must be the child of the step-parent's former partner and aged under 18, and the step-parent must hold either an Australian parenting order in force saying the child is to live with and be looked after by them, or guardianship or custody of the child under Australian law or the law of another country.

How does the 802 grant fit into the path to Australian citizenship?

The grant date is the anchor. For citizenship purposes, the child's permanent residence starts the day the visa is granted, so a child holding subclass 802 does not wait for some later event before the residence history a citizenship application relies on begins to run. The department's page says that after a certain time the child might be eligible for Australian citizenship, and refers readers to the becoming-a-citizen material for the eligibility requirements and current processing times. The specific residence periods are not set out on the subclass 802 page, so read the official citizenship pages as at the time you apply.

The second half of the timeline is about travel rather than status. The five-year travel facility runs from the grant date. Once it ends, the child needs to apply for and be granted a Resident Return visa (subclasses 155 and 157) to re-enter Australia as a permanent resident. The alternative the page names is Australian citizenship: once the child becomes a citizen, no visa is required to re-enter. In practice, the expiry of the travel facility is the point at which a family decides whether to renew the right to return as a permanent resident or to move to citizenship, assuming the residence history supports it by then. VEVO shows when the travel facility ends.

What does subclass 802 cost, and how long does a decision take?

The official page directs applicants to the Visa Pricing Estimator for subclass 802 to work out what the visa will cost, rather than naming a single amount. There is also a charge for each dependent child who applies with the main applicant, and separate costs may arise for health exams, police certificates and biometrics. The estimator does not account for those other costs.

From 1 July 2026, a lower visa application cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application, with eligibility based on the primary applicant holding a valid passport from one of the listed countries: the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. Family members are also eligible for the lower cost, based on the primary applicant's passport.

On timing, the department publishes a processing time guide tool showing times for recently decided applications; it is a guide only and not specific to your application. An application may take longer if it is not filled in correctly, if required documents are missing or more information is needed, if verification takes time, or if full payment is not made at lodgement. The department cannot process an application where the correct visa application charge has not been paid, and may return it. Applicants should receive an acknowledgement, and advice about any associated bridging visa, within approximately one month of lodgement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can my child skip the 802 visa and apply for Australian citizenship directly?

Only if the child was born outside Australia and a parent was an Australian citizen at the time of the birth — that is the case in which the Home Affairs subclass 802 page names citizenship by descent as the alternative. Otherwise the child needs a visa such as subclass 802 to settle in Australia as a permanent resident before citizenship becomes a live option.

My partner was a permanent resident, not a citizen, when our child was born. What changes?

Citizenship by descent requires a parent to have been an Australian citizen at the time of the birth, so a child born while the parent held a permanent visa does not meet that test. The child can instead be assessed for subclass 802 as a dependent child of an Australian permanent visa holder, provided the dependency, sponsorship and other criteria are met.

Does holding subclass 802 count towards a later citizenship application?

Yes. The official page states that for citizenship purposes the child's permanent residence starts on the day the 802 visa is granted. It adds that after a certain time the child might be eligible for Australian citizenship, and points to the becoming-a-citizen material for the requirements and processing times in force.

What happens when the five-year travel facility ends?

The child will need to apply for and be granted a Resident Return visa (subclasses 155 and 157) to re-enter Australia as a permanent resident. The official page also raises Australian citizenship as an alternative, because a citizen does not need a visa to re-enter Australia. VEVO shows the date the travel facility ends.

Can my child apply for subclass 802 from outside Australia?

No. The child must be in Australia, and not in immigration clearance, both when the application is submitted and when it is decided. The child also cannot apply while in Australia on a visa carrying a no further stay condition.

Do siblings apply together on one subclass 802 application?

No — each sibling who wants to apply needs a separate application. The child's own dependent children can be included on that child's application, either when it is lodged or at any time before the department decides it.

Can we add a family member after the application is decided?

No. Once a decision has been made, bringing a family member to Australia requires a new visa application for that person, and the official page directs applicants to explore visa options for them.

Can my child still qualify if they are over 18?

Yes, if they are under 25 and studying full time, or if they are 18 or older with a disability, provided the relevant dependency conditions are met. A child over 18 must also never have been married or had a de facto partner, must meet the character requirement, and must sign the Australian Values Statement.