Onshore Carer Visa (Subclass 836)

Visa Eligibility

• You must be in Australia when you apply and when DOHA grants your application.
• You must be willing and able to provide substantial ongoing care and continuing support or assistance to your relative or their family member. To show this, you should fully understand your sponsor’s medical condition and what their care needs are.
• You must be sponsored by an eligible sponsor. DOHA must approve the sponsorship.
• You must: hold any substantive visa, except a Transit visa (subclass 771), OR have held any substantive visa except a subclass 771 and made a valid application for a subclass 836 visa within a certain time.
• You must meet all the health and character requirements.
• You must not have any debt to pay to the Australian government.
• ​If you are 18 years of age or older, you must: have read, or had explained to you, the Life in Australia book AND sign an Australian Values Statement that confirms you will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws.

Note: If you have had a visa cancelled or previous application refused, you may not be granted a visa.

Visa Benefits

• stay in Australia indefinitely
• work and study in Australia
• enrol in Australia’s public healthcare scheme, Medicare
• sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
• travel to and from Australia for five years
• apply for Australian citizenship, if eligible

Notes for Sponsors

• To sponsor your relative for this visa, you or your partner must be settled in Australia, 18 years of age or older, and either: an Australian citizen OR an Australian permanent resident OR an eligible New Zealand citizen.
• You must be the applicant’s near relative or relative. If you are the applicant’s relative’s partner, you must live with the relative.
• You, or a family member who lives with you, must be assessed by Bupa Medical Visa Services as having a medical condition which: is long term or permanent AND means you need will need help with practical aspects of daily life for at least two years.
• You or a family member who lives with you must be unable to reasonably get the care you need in Australia, whether from another relative or welfare, hospital or community nursing service.
• Your sponsorship covers the main visa applicant and any family members who apply for the visa with them.
• There is no cost to apply to sponsor a visa applicant, but you must agree to financially support the main visa applicant and their dependents for their first two years in Australia.
• Sponsorship obligations last for two years from the date when the applicant first enters Australia on the visa.
• You might be asked to provide an assurance of support for the visa applicant. An assurance of support is a legal commitment to repay the Australian Government any welfare payments made to a visa holder or their family members who come to Australia with them.

General Notes

• You can include members of the family unit in your application when you apply. You can also add them to your application at any time before DOHA makes a decision. For this visa, your family members are your dependent child and stepchild.
• Your relative is your partner, child, parent, brother, sister, stepchild, step-parent, stepbrother or stepsister OR your grandparent, grandchild, aunt, uncle, niece, nephew or step equivalent.
• DoHA assess applications for this visa in 2 stages:
  • Check eligibility and either add the application to the queue or refuse it.
  • Continue assessing the application when a place becomes available and make a decision.

Visa Processing Time

The processing time for the Carer visa subclass 836 can be quite long, taking at least 7 years.

So, to avoid any unwanted delays, ensure that you fill in your application form truthfully and accurately, and submit all the necessary documents promptly.