Subclass 802 in 2026: Things That Must Be Reported After You Apply

Which changes a pending subclass 802 child visa application must be reported to the Department of Home Affairs, and how.

Published: 3 October 2026

Under the Department of Home Affairs' official Child visa (Subclass 802) page, as at August 2026, the changes you are expected to report while the application is still being decided are: contact and passport details, the child's relationship status, an adult child stopping full-time study or starting full-time work, the birth of a child, and a request to withdraw. Everything that follows is general information rather than advice for an individual case, so any situation that turns on its own facts should be checked against the current official page or with a registered migration agent or legal practitioner before you act on it.

Where does the reporting actually happen?

Subclass 802 is a paper-only application, but the paper step does not mean the rest of the process is offline. The Department's page asks applicants to import the paper application into ImmiAccount once the acknowledgement letter arrives, using the application ID, the child's date of birth and the identity document number (passport, ImmiCard or Titre de Voyage). Once imported, the online services available for this visa include attaching supporting documents, reading messages, updating details, checking application status, applying for a bridging visa and withdrawing the application.

Where ImmiAccount cannot be used, the alternative channel named on the page is the Child and Orphan Relative Visa Processing Centre online form, with the relevant document or completed form attached. The acknowledgement of lodgement for this visa is expected within approximately one month.

What has to be reported while the decision is pending?

The same official page distinguishes between things you must report and things that simply trigger further requests. Health examinations and biometrics belong in the second category — the Department notifies the applicant when to arrange them. The reporting obligation itself covers five situations:

Contact and travel identity details — any change to the child's phone number, address or passport.
Relationship status — the child marrying, entering or ending a de facto relationship, or otherwise changing relationship status.
A change in dependence — where the child is over 18 and stops studying full-time or starts working full-time.
A new child — the birth of a child to anyone relevant to the application.
Withdrawal — a decision not to proceed with the application.

The page also treats incorrect answers already given as a related but separate process: notify as soon as possible using Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers, uploaded through ImmiAccount or attached to the processing centre online form.

Report while the application is pending	Report after the visa is granted
Change to the child's phone number, address or passport	Change to the child's passport
Change to the child's relationship status	Change of name
Child over 18 stops full-time study or starts full-time work	—
Birth of a child	Birth of a child
Request to withdraw the application	—

The two lists are not identical. Once the visa is granted and the child is a permanent resident, the reporting items on the Department's page narrow to passport changes, a change of name and the birth of a child — the study and employment questions belong to the assessment period, not to life after grant.

Why does an adult child stopping full-time study matter so much?

Because dependence is part of what the visa tests. The evidence requested for a child over 18 at the time of application covers food, shelter and clothing, together with how long that support has been provided; the examples given are bank statements, money transfers and rent receipts. Full-time study and the absence of full-time work are part of how that dependence is demonstrated in practice.

The logical consequence is that the reporting obligation is not administrative housekeeping. If an adult dependent child stops full-time study or moves into full-time work after lodgement, the factual basis of the application changes, and the Department asks to be told. Assume an applicant who was 19 and enrolled full-time when the forms were lodged, then leaves the course six months later for full-time work: nothing about that is unlawful, but it removes one of the facts the decision-maker was weighing, so silence means the file is decided on an outdated picture. Reporting it early also means the outcome rests on the child's actual circumstances rather than on records that no longer describe them.

What if the answer you already gave turns out to be wrong?

Use Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers and do it as soon as possible. The form can be uploaded in ImmiAccount if the application has been imported, or attached to the Child and Orphan Relative Visa Processing Centre online form where ImmiAccount cannot be used. This is the same channel that carries additional documents requested later, and it sits alongside the obligation to provide accurate information generally, including identity and change-of-name documents, adoption papers and financial evidence.

Appointments sit in a parallel stream: Form 956A covers appointing or withdrawing an authorised recipient for correspondence, and Form 956 covers appointing or withdrawing a registered migration agent, legal practitioner or exempt person who is providing immigration assistance.

Does travel or a new family member count as a change?

Yes, but they operate differently. Travel matters because the Department states plainly that the child must be in Australia, and not in immigration clearance, both when the application is submitted and when the decision is made. Leaving Australia is therefore a fact to raise, and the child needs a valid visa to come back; the bridging visa granted in association with the application is what keeps the child lawful in Australia after their current visa expires and while the subclass 802 is processed.

Family members follow a timing rule rather than a reporting rule. The child's dependent children can be added to the application at any time before the decision, siblings who want the visa must lodge separate applications, and once a decision is made no family member can be added at all — anyone not included then needs their own new application.

Finally, expect the quiet periods. The Department's page states that no progress updates are provided within normal processing times, and contact is made only if something further is needed. A long silence is not itself a problem to report.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the subclass 802 visa require reporting adult children stopping full-time study?

Yes. Where the child is over 18, the Department's page lists stopping full-time study or starting full-time work as a change that must be reported while the application is pending, because dependence on the parent for basic needs is part of what is being assessed.

How do I notify a change of address or passport after lodging?

Update the details through ImmiAccount once the paper application has been imported, which the Department says is possible after the acknowledgement letter is received. Where ImmiAccount cannot be used, the alternative is the Child and Orphan Relative Visa Processing Centre online form.

Is Form 1023 the right form for every change?

Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers covers answers in the application that turn out to be wrong. Changes in circumstances — contact details, relationship status, study or work status, a birth, withdrawal — sit under the separate change-in-situation reporting process described on the Department's page.

Can a family member be added after the subclass 802 decision?

No. Dependent children of the child can be included when you apply or at any time before the decision, but after a decision the only route is a new visa application for that person. Siblings also need separate applications rather than being added to this one.

What happens if the visa is refused?

The Department notifies the decision in writing with the reasons and any review rights. The page also states that the application charge is not refunded when an application is refused.

Is the granted visa recorded as a label in the passport?

No. The subclass 802 grant is digitally linked to the child's passport rather than issued as a physical label, and the child becomes a permanent resident on the day the visa is granted, with travel to and from Australia available for five years from that date.