Subclass 116 — Carer Visa — Australia — immi.wiki

The Subclass 116 Carer visa is a permanent visa for people currently outside Australia who wish to move to Australia to provide care to a settled relative with a long-term medical condition or a long-term physical, intellectual, or sensory impairment. The Subclass 116 is the offshore version of the visa; the onshore equivalent for people already in Australia is the Subclass 836 Carer visa.

The visa is granted under the Other Family stream of the Family Migration Program, which is subject to an annual cap. Demand significantly exceeds the number of places available each program year, and applications that meet eligibility criteria are placed in a queue. Queue date release dates are published periodically by the Department of Home Affairs. As a result, processing times for Carer visas are typically very long — often measured in years rather than months.

For current Other Family visa queue release dates and for current application charges, refer to the DHA fee schedule.

The person being cared for (the care recipient) must:

• Be a settled Australian citizen, settled Australian permanent resident, or settled eligible New Zealand citizen
• Have a long-term medical condition, or a long-term physical, intellectual, or sensory impairment
• Need assistance with activities of daily living, or nursing care, as a direct result of that condition or impairment
• Have the medical condition assessed and certified by a medical assessor approved by the Department
• Need personal care that cannot reasonably be provided by any other person in Australia, or through a health or community care service in Australia

The applicant (the carer) must:

• Be outside Australia when the application is lodged and when the visa is granted
• Be a relative of the care recipient, or a relative of the care recipient's spouse or de facto partner
• Meet health and character requirements
• Intend to provide the required personal care

Sponsor: The care recipient (or their spouse/de facto partner) sponsors the application. The sponsor must lodge Form 40 sponsorship with the application.

A relative for the purposes of this visa includes a parent, child, sibling, grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew, or the spouse or de facto partner of any of those persons.

Applications for the Subclass 116 Carer visa are lodged online through ImmiAccount. The application must be lodged from outside Australia.

Key documents required include:

• Evidence of family relationship between the applicant and the care recipient
• Medical evidence from an approved medical assessor confirming the care recipient's long-term condition and care needs
• Evidence that the required care cannot be adequately provided by any other person in Australia or through health/community care services
• Form 40 sponsorship completed by the care recipient or their spouse/partner
• Health and character documents for the applicant and any dependent family members included in the application

For current application charges, refer to the DHA fee schedule. For current queue positions and expected wait times, refer to the Other Family visas queue release dates page.

The Subclass 116 is a permanent visa. There is no mandatory stay requirement on this visa, but its purpose is to provide care — the Department may consider whether the care arrangement continues when assessing any future applications related to the holder.

Holders of the Subclass 116 are permanent residents of Australia and are entitled to work and study in Australia without restriction. They may apply for Australian citizenship after meeting the residence requirements under the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.

Family members of the primary applicant may be included in the application as secondary applicants and, if granted the visa, also receive permanent residence.