What is a Carer visa?
A Carer visa is a permanent Other Family visa for a relative who gives substantial and continuing care to an Australian relative, or to a member of that relative's family unit, whose medical condition impairs their ability to manage daily life, as regulation 1.15AA of the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) defines it. The visa joins two people. The carer is the applicant, and must be a relative such as a child, parent, brother, sister, grandchild, niece or nephew. The relative who needs care is usually the Australian who sponsors the application, although the person needing care is sometimes a member of that Australian's family unit, such as their child.
The medical side is decided by one provider. A legislative instrument, LIN 24/040, names Bupa Medical Visa Services as the only health service provider that assesses the relative's condition for a Carer visa, and its certificate settles the medical questions for the Department. The Carer visa sits in the capped Other Family category with the Remaining Relative and Aged Dependent Relative visas, so a successful application first earns a place in a queue.
Is a Carer visa permanent?
Yes, a Carer visa is permanent: both subclass 116 and subclass 836 let the holder stay in Australia indefinitely, and neither subclass is temporary. The Department's pages for the subclass 836 and subclass 116 both give the visa stay as "Permanently".
The only time limit on the visa itself is travel. Clauses 116.511 and 836.511 of the Regulations give a travel facility of 5 years from the date of grant, and after that a holder who wants to leave and come back needs a Resident Return visa or Australian citizenship. Permanent status does not put a granted visa beyond the general cancellation powers in the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).
Some online videos describe the 836 as temporary. The bridging visa that an 836 applicant holds while waiting is temporary; the Carer visa is not.
Subclass 116 or 836: which one fits you?
Which Carer visa subclass fits depends on where the carer is: subclass 836 is lodged and granted while the carer is in Australia, and subclass 116 while the carer is outside Australia. The criteria about the relative, the medical assessment and the care are the same for both, and so are the charges.
| What differs | Subclass 836 (in Australia) | Subclass 116 (outside Australia) |
|---|---|---|
| Where the carer is at lodgement | In Australia, not in immigration clearance | Outside Australia |
| Where the carer must be at grant | In Australia | Outside Australia |
| Visa the carer must hold to apply | A substantive visa other than a Transit (subclass 771) visa, or lodge within 12 months after the last one ended | None |
| After a visa refusal in Australia | Section 48 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) blocks an 836 for a person without a substantive visa | Not affected |
| While the application waits | In Australia on a bridging visa | Overseas |
| Police certificates and health checks | Before the queue date | After release from the queue, when the Department asks |
| "Settled" sponsor | Required by law (clause 836.213) | Required by the Department, and by law for any family member included (clause 116.322) |
| Who asks the tribunal to review a refusal | The carer, from inside Australia | The sponsor |
| Permanent residence starts, for citizenship | On the day of grant | On the day of first entry |
| The queue | One shared Other Family queue, released in queue-date order under Ministerial Direction 103 | The same queue |
Do you qualify for a Carer visa?
You qualify for a Carer visa only when three links hold in order (the relative's condition, the Bupa certificate that rates it, and care that no one else in Australia can reasonably give), and the step-by-step check on the Carer visa requirements page tests each link for your family.
Who does what: the carer, the relative and the sponsor?
The carer applies, the relative who needs care is assessed, and the sponsor signs Form 40 and undertakes to support the carer for 2 years. Two organisations sit behind them: Bupa Medical Visa Services, which assesses the condition, and the Department of Home Affairs, which decides the visa.
| Who | Role | Form or document | What turns on it |
|---|---|---|---|
| The carer | The visa applicant | Form 47OF, the application | Relationship, willingness and ability to care, health, character |
| The relative who needs care | The person whose condition is assessed | Statement of Assistance and a medical report, for Bupa | The certificate: condition, impairment rating and a need of at least 2 years |
| The sponsor | The Australian relative, or their cohabiting partner, aged 18 or over | Form 40, Sponsorship for migration to Australia | A 2-year undertaking of support, accommodation and financial help |
| Bupa Medical Visa Services | The specified assessor | The Carer Visa Assessment Certificate | Binding on the medical questions (regulation 1.15AA(3)) |
| The Department of Home Affairs | The decision-maker | Letters from the Child and Other Family Processing Centre, Perth | Queue date, final processing and grant or refusal |
What are the steps from first check to grant?
A Carer visa moves through eight steps from first check to grant, and the medical assessment must be under way before the carer lodges.
- Check the three links: the condition, the assessment and the lack of other care.
- The relative who needs care starts the Bupa carer assessment. Items 1123A and 1123B of Schedule 1 to the Regulations require evidence that the assessment has been sought to go with the application.
- The sponsor completes Form 40 and gives it to the carer.
- The carer pays through ImmiAccount, then posts Form 47OF, Form 40 and the documents to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth.
- The Department assesses the core criteria and either gives the application a queue date in writing or refuses it.
- The application waits in the queue, with an 836 carer in Australia on a bridging visa and a 116 carer overseas.
- The Department releases the application for final processing, asks for any updated checks, and invoices the second instalment of the charge.
- The visa is granted, in Australia for an 836 and outside Australia for a 116, and a 116 holder then makes a first entry to Australia.
Carer, caregiver or care visa: is it the same visa?
Yes, "caregiver visa" and "care visa" are everyday names for the same Carer visa, subclass 116 and 836; the law uses only the word "carer". A search for a caregiver visa for Australia leads to the same two Department pages, because there is no separate caregiver visa for looking after a family member.
Care-worker visas are a different thing. The Skills in Demand (subclass 482) visa and the Aged Care Industry Labour Agreement bring in paid aged-care and disability workers for employers, and they have nothing to do with caring for a relative. There is also no temporary Carer visa, and no new or replacement Carer visa had been announced as at 24 September 2026.
What can you do once the Carer visa is granted?
Once the Carer visa is granted, the holder is a permanent resident with seven practical rights, from staying indefinitely to citizenship when eligible. The Department lists the same rights for the 116 and the 836.
- Stay in Australia indefinitely.
- Work and study in Australia.
- Enrol in Medicare, Australia's public health scheme.
- Travel to and from Australia for 5 years from grant.
- Sponsor other relatives, under the rules of the visa they apply for.
- Join free English classes in the Adult Migrant English Program, for holders aged 18 or over who have not yet reached vocational English. Under the Immigration (Education) Act 1971 (Cth) they register with a provider within 6 months of the visa start date, which for a 116 holder is the first day in Australia on the visa, as the Department's About the AMEP page explains.
- Apply for Australian citizenship when eligible, with permanent residence counted from grant for an 836 and from first entry for a 116.
The sponsor's side continues after grant. Under regulation 1.20(2)(a) of the Regulations, the 2-year undertaking of support and accommodation runs from the day of grant for an 836 and from the carer's first entry for a 116.
What if a Carer visa is refused?
If a Carer visa is refused, the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) reviews the decision on application: for an 836 the carer applies from inside Australia, and for a 116 the sponsor applies. Section 347 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) gives 28 days after notification for most people, and the date in the decision letter governs, so the Administrative Review Tribunal should be approached as soon as the letter arrives.
The Tribunal reviews the whole decision except the medical opinion. Regulation 1.15AA(3) makes the opinion in the Bupa certificate binding on the decision-maker, so a challenge to the rating goes through Bupa's own review of its opinion. The common grounds, and what each one needs, are set out on the Carer visa refusal page.
Which other Carer visa guides might you need?
The eleven guides below cover the choices around the Carer visa, the other visas it is confused with, and life after grant.
- Whether you need a migration agent for a Carer visa, and what a registered practitioner does, is set out without naming any firm.
- If you are the Australian who needs care, the guide on how to bring a relative to care for you compares every route from your side.
- Families hoping for a shorter stay should read why there is no temporary Carer visa and which temporary visas are used instead.
- Two visas share the Carer visa's cap, and the comparison with the Remaining Relative and Aged Dependent Relative visas shows which one fits a family.
- When the relative is a parent, the guide to Carer visa vs parent visas sets the two routes side by side.
- Job advertisements for carers point to a different visa altogether, explained in Carer visa vs care-worker visas.
- The path from Carer visa to citizenship depends on when the residence clock starts for a 116 and an 836.
- Travel after the 5-year facility ends needs a Resident Return visa or Australian citizenship.
- A granted visa is still subject to the general powers of visa cancellation after grant in the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).
- Every dated change to charges, queues and directions is recorded in Carer visa news and changes.
- Who writes this guide and how its facts are checked is explained on About Carer Visa Australia.
A registered professional makes a grant more likely
A Carer visa turns on three links that each fail on their own, and one missed criterion, such as a rating below 30 or another relative who could help, refuses the application after a charge that is not refunded. A registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner checks every link, the sponsor's status and the carer's visa position before lodgement, which makes a grant more likely, though never certain.
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