Who Can Sponsor a Subclass 116 Carer Visa Application in 2026?
Who can sponsor a Subclass 116 Carer visa in 2026: the Australian relative, or their spouse or de facto partner, and what approval requires.
For a Subclass 116 Carer visa, there are only two possible sponsors. Under clause 116.212 of the Migration Regulations 1994, you must be sponsored either by the Australian relative you are coming to care for — provided that relative is at least 18 years old — or by that relative's spouse or de facto partner, provided the partner lives with the relative, is at least 18, and is an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen. The Department of Home Affairs' official Carer visa (Subclass 116) page, as at July 2026, adds the second half of the answer: the department must approve the sponsorship. This article describes how those rules are framed as general information, not as advice on any particular case, so the current official wording or a qualified practitioner's view should govern any decision to lodge.
Who counts as your "Australian relative" in the first place?
The sponsorship chain always starts with the Australian relative, and that term is a status test before it is a relationship test. The regulations treat the Australian relative as a person who is an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen.
The family relationships themselves are set out in the regulations rather than on the department's public page. The Migration Regulations 1994 set out the qualifying links as parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt or uncle, and niece or nephew. Where your connection runs through adoption, step-relationships or half-blood, check the relationship list against the current Migration Regulations 1994 and the requirements published by the Department of Home Affairs.
One point often missed: the person receiving the care does not have to be the sponsor. The department's eligibility page frames the care obligation as care for "your sponsoring relative or the family member who lives with them."
Can the relative's spouse or de facto partner sponsor instead?
Yes. This is the second branch of clause 116.212, and it exists precisely because the Australian relative cannot always sponsor in their own name — a relative under 18, for example, cannot. The partner route has three cumulative conditions:
- the partner is the spouse or de facto partner of the Australian relative, as those terms are defined in the Migration Act 1958 (section 5F for spouse, section 5CB for de facto partner);
- the partner lives with that relative;
- the partner is at least 18 and holds Australian citizenship, Australian permanent residence, or eligible New Zealand citizenship.
The cohabitation requirement is the one that most often decides the question. A partner who is legally married but living separately does not satisfy clause 116.212; the living-together element is a distinct condition, not something inferred from the marriage certificate.
To make the mechanics concrete: suppose an applicant is coming to care for an Australian-resident aunt who is a permanent resident but is 17 years old. The aunt cannot sponsor. Her husband, aged 34, an Australian citizen living with her, can — he meets the age, status and cohabitation conditions. If the same couple had separated into different households, the sponsorship would fail on the cohabitation limb even though the marriage is intact.
Does the sponsorship have to be approved separately?
Yes, twice over. At the time of application the sponsorship must exist; at the time of decision, clause 116.222 requires that the sponsorship has been approved by the Minister and is still in effect. The department's page states this plainly: "We must approve the sponsorship."
Approval is not a formality that runs in the background. The sponsorship is lodged as the sponsor's own form alongside the applicant's paperwork, and a sponsorship that has lapsed, been withdrawn, or was never approved leaves the application unable to satisfy the criteria at the decision stage — regardless of how strong the care evidence is.
How long does the sponsorship commitment run?
The department's Carer visa (Subclass 116) page states that the visa holder is sponsored by their relative or their partner for their first 2 years in Australia. That two-year period is the sponsorship horizon described on the official page; the regulations separately require the sponsorship to remain in effect when the decision is made, so the two tests address different moments.
Does the sponsorship cover family members applying with you?
It must. Clause 116.312 provides that the sponsorship of the main applicant also has to cover the secondary applicants — the family members included in the same combined application. This is why a sponsorship problem rarely affects only one person: if the sponsorship is defective, everyone listed on the application is exposed, not just the carer.
Where does the sponsor sit in the paperwork?
Subclass 116 is a paper application, made outside Australia. The department's step-by-step guidance lists Form 47OF (Application for migration to Australia by other family members) together with the sponsor's form and supporting documents, sent to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth.
Two documents sit at the centre of the care case rather than the sponsorship case, but they are worth naming because they interact with the sponsor's household: a medical certificate from Bupa Medical Visa Services stating that the relative or their family member has a medical condition requiring care, and written evidence that the person does not have reasonable access to care options in Australia. The department will not accept the application unless the Bupa assessment process has at least begun, and if the certificate was not lodged with the application it must be provided within 3 months of applying.
What disqualifies a sponsor in practice?
Read as a checklist, a sponsorship fails when:
- the sponsor is under 18;
- the sponsor is not an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen;
- the sponsor is a partner of the Australian relative but does not live with them;
- the Australian relative themselves is under 18 and no qualifying partner steps in;
- the sponsorship was never approved, or is no longer in effect at the time of decision.
Note what is not on that list. The conditions set out in clause 116.212 are status, age and cohabitation, and clause 116.222 separately requires the sponsorship to have been approved and still be in effect at the time of decision, and sponsors should also be prepared to show they are settled in Australia. Applicants sometimes add requirements that are not there, and overlook the cohabitation condition that is.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can my sibling in Australia sponsor me if I am coming to care for our mother?
Yes, if your sibling is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen and is at least 18. The care recipient does not have to be the sponsor — the department's page refers to care for your sponsoring relative or a family member who lives with them.
Can my Australian relative's de facto partner sponsor me?
Yes, provided the partner is at least 18, lives with your Australian relative, and is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. De facto partner carries the meaning given in section 5CB of the Migration Act 1958.
Does the sponsor have to be a relative of mine?
Not necessarily. The second sponsorship pathway is the Australian relative's spouse or de facto partner, who may have no family relationship to you at all. What matters is their relationship to the Australian relative, not to you.
Is having an eligible sponsor enough to get the visa?
No. Sponsorship is one criterion among several. You must also satisfy the carer definition in regulation 1.15AA, the health and character requirements, and the other criteria set out on the department's Carer visa (Subclass 116) page.
Do I need to be outside Australia for the sponsorship to work?
Sponsorship is unaffected, but the visa itself requires you to be outside Australia both when you apply and when the department decides your application. The department advises against arranging travel until the visa is granted in writing.
Can my partner and children be included under the same sponsorship?
They can be included in the application, and clause 116.312 requires the sponsorship to cover them. Their own documents — identity, character, relationship and dependency evidence — are still required in their own right.