Form 80 is the Department of Home Affairs' 19-page form "Personal particulars for assessment including character assessment", which applicants aged 16 or over complete when the office processing their application asks for it. For a Carer visa, a subclass 836 applicant sends Form 80 and Form 1221 with the paper application, and a subclass 116 applicant completes them when the Department asks.
What is Form 80?
Form 80 is a character and background form that the Department uses across visa and citizenship applications, and the current version has the design date 03/21. It says it is "to be completed in English by applicants who are 16 years of age or over, as requested by the office processing the application".
The form is a PDF on the Department's form listing (Form 80). It is filled in on screen in Adobe Acrobat Reader, or printed and completed with a pen in block letters, and any overflow goes in Part T. Part S is a signed declaration that the information is "complete, correct and up-to-date in every detail", under the warning "Giving false or misleading information is a serious offence."
Do Carer visa applicants need Form 80?
Yes, subclass 836 Carer visa applicants need Form 80, because the Department's subclass 836 page lists Form 80 and Form 1221 under "Character documents" to complete and provide. Each family member aged 16 or over who applies with the carer completes their own.
The subclass 116 page lists no character forms at lodgement. The Department's character requirements page says that "after you apply we may ask you to" complete Form 80, and a 116 applicant sends it then.
After an application is released from the queue, the Department says it will "send you a request to undertake character checks and visa medical examination (with the HAP ID)". The Department's estimate for a new Carer application is 12 years, so answers given at lodgement are likely to be out of date by then. The Department has not said whether it always asks for a fresh Form 80 at that point.
What is Form 1221 for a Carer visa?
Form 1221 for a Carer visa is "Additional personal particulars information", a 10-page supplementary form (design date 03/21) that every applicant aged 16 or over completes alongside Form 80. The form says it is "required to support your visa application".
Form 1221 asks for your details and other names, your current address and travel details, any visa refusal, cancellation or deportation, previous Australian visas, travelling dependants, current employment, military service, post-secondary qualifications, workshops or training in the last 2 years, a contact in Australia and your intentions in the migration-visa part. It overlaps Form 80, so the two must agree: Form 80 is the long life-history form, and Form 1221 is the shorter supplementary set (Form 1221).
What does Form 80 ask a Carer visa applicant?
Form 80 asks a Carer visa applicant for identity, passports, 10 years of addresses and travel, a full work and study history, Australian visa history, character answers and details of close family.
| Part | What it asks | Carer visa note |
|---|---|---|
| A–C | Names (including other names), passport, identity documents | Match the passport used for the application |
| D | Addresses for the last 10 years, with no gaps | Includes time in Australia caring for the relative |
| E | Overseas travel in the last 10 years | Movement records give the Australian dates |
| F | All employment and unemployment, with no gaps | Time spent caring is explained here |
| G | All tertiary education | |
| H–I | Proposed travel or stay, and addresses in Australia | |
| J | Australian visa history | For an 836, the substantive visa held |
| K | Character questions | Answered for yourself |
| L–P | Military service, intelligence or security work, visa refusals, deportations, citizenship refusals | |
| Q | Associated people: partner, children, parents, siblings | |
| R | Sponsoring employer | Not relevant to a Carer visa |
| S–T | Declaration and additional information |
What is the character requirement for a Carer visa?
The character requirement for a Carer visa is public interest criterion 4001, which an applicant meets by passing the character test in section 501(6) of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth).
The Department's character page summarises the grounds on which a person fails the test under section 501(6):
- a substantial criminal record, as defined in section 501(7)
- a conviction or finding for a sexually based crime involving a person under 18
- association with a person, group or organisation the Minister reasonably suspects of criminal conduct
- a risk, in the Minister's reasonable suspicion, of criminal conduct, harassment or danger to the community while in Australia
- an adverse security assessment by ASIO, or a relevant Interpol notice
- past and present criminal or general conduct that shows a person is not of good character
The same page says decision-makers apply Ministerial Direction No. 110. Family members who apply with the carer, and family members who do not migrate, must also satisfy public interest criterion 4001 (cl 836.224 and 836.224A; cl 116.226 and 116.226A).
Failing the test does not end the matter automatically. The Department's page says: "Even if you do not meet the character requirements, the Minister can choose to grant your visa."
How far back must Form 80 go?
Form 80 goes back 10 years for addresses and overseas travel, while the employment section covers your whole history without gaps and the character questions ask whether anything has "ever" happened. Question 17 asks for "your address history for the last 10 years", with no gaps, and Question 18 asks about travel "in the last 10 years". A 30-year period applies only to refugee and humanitarian visas.
Question 19 asks for "all employment and unemployment", and unemployment includes the time "from date of birth up until first employment" and every gap between jobs or study, so the timeline runs from birth. Question 20 asks for all tertiary education.
Building the travel list from your Australian movement records before you start Part E keeps the dates consistent with the Department's own records.
What if you made a mistake on Form 80?
A mistake on Form 80 is corrected on Form 1023, "Notification of incorrect answer(s)", because section 105 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) requires you to notify an officer in writing of the correct answer "as soon as practicable". Section 105(2) says the duty "applies despite the grant of any visa", so it continues after grant.
Form 1023 warns that a visa "is liable to be cancelled" if the holder does not correct an answer, but also that cancellation "is not automatic": a visa holder in Australia is given a chance to comment before any decision (see also section 107 of the Act). Before grant, the Department weighs the corrected information when it decides the application.
A correction is different from a change. An answer that was right when given but has since changed, such as a new address or a new job during a decade in the queue, is a change of circumstances under section 104, reported on Form 1022. The forms and channels for telling the Department about changes while an application waits are set out separately.
Does Form 80 replace police certificates for a Carer visa?
No, Form 80 does not replace police certificates for a Carer visa: Form 80 records what you declare, and police certificates show what the authorities hold. The 836 page lists both under "Character documents", so an 836 applicant sends both.
The AFP certificate, the overseas certificates, their 12-month validity and the rule that they go as originals are covered in the guide to police certificates for an Australian visa. Character is one part of Carer visa eligibility, alongside health, debts and the values statement. Form 80 and Form 1221 sit with the other document guides for the paper application, and every other step is set out in the Carer Visa Australia guide.
A registered professional makes a grant more likely
Form 80 answers are compared with police certificates, movement records and the Department's own files, and an inconsistency looks like a false answer even when it is a slip. A registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner reconciles the dates across Form 80, Form 1221 and Form 47OF before lodgement and handles any correction under section 105, which makes a character problem less likely to become a refusal. Neither can guarantee the outcome.
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