The Australian visa health requirement for a Carer visa is public interest criterion 4005, which the carer and the carer's family members must meet and which, unlike criterion 4007, has no waiver. It checks the carer's own health for tuberculosis, public-health risk and costs above the A$86,000 significant cost threshold, and it is a separate test from the Bupa assessment of the relative who needs care.
What is PIC 4005, and why does it apply to the carer?
PIC 4005 is the health criterion in Schedule 4 to the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth), and it applies to the carer because clauses 116.223 and 836.223 make it a condition of grant for every Carer visa applicant at the time of decision. The carer is the person who will live in Australia permanently, so it is the carer's health that is tested, not the health of the relative who needs care.
For a permanent visa such as the Carer visa, the cost period starts when the application is made (clause 4005(2)(a)). The cost test does not apply to a minor who was born in Australia and is ordinarily resident here. A Medical Officer of the Commonwealth assesses the examination results, according to the Department of Home Affairs' health requirement page.
Why is there no health waiver for a Carer visa?
There is no health waiver for a Carer visa because clauses 116.223 and 836.223 require public interest criterion 4005, and only criterion 4007 gives the Minister power to waive the cost test (clause 4007(2)). Criterion 4005 has no waiver clause at all.
The Department's health waiver page says a waiver "is available for some visa subclasses", and that it is never available for active tuberculosis or a threat to public health. The question of what a health waiver costs does not arise for a Carer visa, because there is none to apply for.
What is the significant cost threshold?
The significant cost threshold is A$86,000, the Department's current figure for estimated health and community-service costs above which an applicant fails the health requirement. It was last updated on 1 July 2024 and is reviewed every two years, according to the Department's page on protecting health care and community services, updated 24 September 2026.
The period over which costs are estimated depends on the visa and the condition:
- Permanent visas, including the Carer visa: generally 5 years, or 3 years for an applicant aged 75 or over.
- A permanent condition with a reasonably predictable course: the applicant's remaining life expectancy, up to a maximum of 10 years.
Separately, an applicant fails if their condition would prejudice Australians' access to services in short supply, which the Department currently lists as organ transplants and dialysis. The A$86,000 figure is policy. The Regulations themselves speak only of a "significant cost".
Do Carer visa family members staying behind have to meet it?
Yes, Carer visa family members staying behind must meet criterion 4005, unless the Minister is satisfied that it would be unreasonable to require them to be assessed (clauses 116.226A and 836.224A). They must also meet the character, security and debt criteria, PICs 4001 to 4004.
The Department's subclass 116 page says that family members who are not coming to Australia might also have to meet the health requirement. Its subclass 836 page does not say so, but the law applies in the same way to both subclasses. Family members who apply with the carer meet criterion 4005 under clauses 116.226 and 836.224.
Who counts as a member of the family unit, and what each person must provide, is set out in the guide to including your partner and children in a Carer visa application.
What is a health undertaking (Form 815)?
A health undertaking is a signed agreement, on Form 815, to contact Bupa Medical Visa Services within 28 days of arriving in Australia and to attend any follow-up that a state or territory health clinic requires. Clause 4005(1)(d) makes it a condition of grant when a Medical Officer of the Commonwealth asks for it.
The Department's health undertaking page, updated 24 September 2026, lists when an undertaking may be requested: where an applicant with a significant health condition completed their examinations outside Australia, is at increased risk of active tuberculosis, or has inactive tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis B or C, or leprosy. The visa is not granted if the undertaking is not signed. The Department also publishes Form 815 in 18 community languages.
What if the carer's own health changes during the queue?
If the carer's own health changes during the queue, it is the carer's health at the time of decision that counts, because criterion 4005 is a time-of-decision criterion. The Department's Other Family Visa Processing Centre form says the request for character checks and the visa medical examination comes when the Department reviews an application released from the queue.
Form 47OF asks, at question 60, only whether anyone has had a visa health examination in the previous 12 months. The Department's queue page says its initial assessment against the core criteria includes health and character requirements "where applicable". That wording and the processing-centre form do not say the same thing about when the first examination happens.
The same regulation that defines a carer also asks whether the carer is "able" to give substantial and continuing help (regulation 1.15AA(1)(f)).
Does the Carer visa health rule apply to you or the person you care for?
The Carer visa health rule applies to you, the carer, and to your family members, not to the person you care for. That person's health is assessed separately by Bupa Medical Visa Services under regulation 1.15AA, and the condition that makes them need care never counts against your health.
The two assessments are easy to confuse because Bupa is involved in both: it is also the Department's migration medical services provider. The legal tests and the decision-makers are different. A Medical Officer of the Commonwealth decides PIC 4005 for the carer, while Bupa's medical adviser signs the certificate about the relative. The relative's side, and the rating of 30 it needs, is explained in the guide to qualifying medical conditions.
The carer's own appointment, and what happens at it, is covered in the guide to the visa health examination.
How does PIC 4005 compare with the other Carer visa criteria?
PIC 4005 stands apart from the other Carer visa criteria because it is the only one that tests the carer's own body, and it is one of the few with no waiver or exception at all.
| Criterion | Who it applies to | Waiver or exception | When tested |
|---|---|---|---|
| PIC 4005, health | The carer, applying family members, and non-migrating family members unless unreasonable | None | At decision |
| Reg 1.15AA, the carer test | The carer; the certificate is about the relative | None; the Bupa certificate binds | At decision |
| PIC 4001, character | The carer and all family members | The Minister decides whether to refuse | At decision |
| PIC 4019, values statement | Applicants aged 18 or over | Compelling circumstances (cl 4019(2)) | At decision |
| PIC 4020, accurate information and identity | The carer and applying family members | Waiver for false information, not for identity | At decision |
The rules on false or misleading information, and the 3-year and 10-year bars that follow a refusal, are set out in the guide to PIC 4020.
Some criteria people expect are not there. Whether a Carer visa has an age limit or an English test is answered in the main requirements guide: it has neither, and that guide sets out every criterion in order. The overview of both subclasses, the 116 from outside Australia and the 836 from inside it, is on the Carer Visa Australia home page.
A registered professional makes a grant more likely
A carer who fails criterion 4005 is refused with no waiver to fall back on, and the result often comes only after the application leaves the queue. A registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner who reviews known health conditions, and which family members must be examined, before lodgement makes a successful outcome more likely, never certain.
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