An orphan relative visa allows an orphan child to live permanently in Australia with their relative.
The relative must be:
- A brother, sister, grandparent,aunt, uncle, or step equivalent of the child and
- An Australian Citizen, a Permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand Citizen.
Orphan relative visas have two subclassess depending on where the child is at time of application:
Subclass 837- If the child is in Australia at time of application
Subclass 117- If the child is outside Australia at time of application
To be eligible for this visa, a child must be:
- Sponsored by an eligible relative
- Younger than 18 years of age
- Not married or in de-facto relationship
- Be in a situation where their parents are unable to care for them because they are either dead, are nowhere to be found or are incapable of caring for the child.
A child cannot apply for this visa if their parents could care for them but do not want to.
If the parents cannot be found, the application will need to show how long they have been missing and what has been done to try to find them.