The 116 visa is the permanent Carer visa you apply for from outside Australia, and you must still be outside Australia when it is granted, then make your first entry by the date in your grant letter. That first-entry date is generally 12 months from grant, and until the Department asks for them you do not arrange police certificates or health examinations.
What is the subclass 116 Carer visa?
The subclass 116 Carer visa is the offshore half of the permanent Carer visa: a relative outside Australia applies to move to Australia permanently to care for an Australian relative, or a member of their family unit, whose medical condition the Bupa assessment certifies. It belongs to the Other Family (Migrant) class and waits in the same capped queue as the onshore subclass 836.
Both sides of the family have a part. The carer lodges Form 47OF on paper from overseas. The Australian relative, or their partner, sponsors the carer on Form 40, and the person who needs care is assessed by Bupa Medical Visa Services. The Department's subclass 116 page sums up the sponsor's role as supporting the carer "for your first 2 years in Australia".
Who can apply for a 116?
You can apply for a 116 if you meet the Department's eight criteria, starting with being a carer of an Australian relative and having an approved sponsor. Unlike the 836, the 116 has no rule about the visa you hold when you apply.
- Be a carer of an Australian relative, or of a member of their family unit, under regulation 1.15AA.
- Have a sponsor whose sponsorship is approved and still in force at decision (clause 116.222).
- Meet the health requirement. Family members who are not migrating also meet it unless the Department finds that unreasonable (clause 116.226A).
- Meet the character requirement.
- Have paid back any debt to the Australian Government.
- Not have had a visa cancelled or a previous application refused.
- Sign the Australian values statement, if 18 or over.
- Meet the best-interests test for any child under 18.
The primary criterion does not use the word "settled", but the Department's 116 page and Form 40 ask for a settled sponsor, usually one who has lived lawfully in Australia for at least 2 years. The law adds the same test for any family member included in the application (clause 116.322), and regulation 1.15AA(1) requires an Australian relative who is a citizen to be usually resident in Australia.
The Department requires a settled sponsor, and the law requires one for any family member included, so the safer course is to meet the settled test before lodging.
Must you stay outside Australia until the offshore Carer visa is decided?
Yes, you must stay outside Australia until the offshore Carer visa is decided, because the law requires you to be outside Australia when you apply (Schedule 1 item 1123A(3)(aa)) and when the visa is granted (clause 116.411). The application goes on paper, by post or courier, to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth.
A 116 application is never converted into an 836. If the carer later moves to Australia and wants to apply there, the 836 is a separate application with its own charge and its own lodgement rules.
Can you visit Australia while your 116 is pending?
You can visit Australia while your 116 is pending only on a visitor visa granted to a genuine visitor, and the 116 cannot be granted while you are in Australia. The Department publishes no guidance on visits by 116 applicants, so the answer rests on the law.
Two provisions matter. Clause 116.411 means the Department cannot grant the 116 on a day you are in Australia. Regulation 2.43(1)(j) lets the Department cancel a visitor visa if the holder no longer intends only a temporary visit. The Department's 116 page also tells applicants not to arrange travel to Australia until the Department has confirmed the grant in writing.
When do 116 applicants get police certificates and medicals?
116 applicants get police certificates and health examinations only when the Department asks, which is after the application is released from the queue for final processing. The Department's 116 page tells applicants not to arrange police certificates until it asks for them.
The law explains the timing. Ministerial Direction 103 defines the queue date for an offshore Other Family visa as the date the applicant meets every criterion except health, character, any assurance of support and the second instalment of the charge. An 836 applicant clears health and character before the queue date; a 116 applicant clears them after release. The request arrives with a HAP ID for the health examination, and police certificates are sent as originals, not certified copies.
When must you first enter Australia on a 116?
You must first enter Australia on a 116 before the date in your grant letter, which is generally 12 months from grant (clause 116.611). The Department's 116 page adds that a holder who misses the first-entry date can still travel while the visa is valid, but the visa "may still be subject to cancellation before arrival or at the border".
First entry starts two clocks. Permanent residence for citizenship begins on the day you enter Australia on the visa. The sponsor's 2-year undertaking of support and accommodation also runs from first entry under regulation 1.20(2)(a)(ii) of the Regulations, even though the sponsor section of the Department's 116 page describes it as running for 2 years after grant; the Regulations govern.
What do conditions 8502 and 8515 mean?
Conditions 8502 and 8515 are the two entry conditions clause 116.612 allows on a 116: 8502 means you must not enter Australia before a person named in the visa, and 8515 means you must not marry or enter a de facto relationship before you enter. Either or both are imposed at grant and shown in the grant letter.
In the words of Schedule 8, condition 8502 reads "The holder of the visa must not enter Australia before the entry to Australia of a person specified in the visa", and condition 8515 reads "The holder of the visa must not marry or enter into a de facto relationship before entering Australia". The onshore 836 carries no conditions (clause 836.6).
Who can seek review if a 116 is refused?
If a 116 is refused, your sponsor, not you, can apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) for review, within 28 days after being notified. The decision is reviewable because the carer was sponsored by an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen (Migration Act 1958 (Cth) section 338(5)), and section 347A(1)(b) gives the right to apply to the sponsor.
The Administrative Review Tribunal charges A$3,727 for most migration reviews from 1 July 2026, halved for financial hardship, and a close family member or the sponsor may represent the applicant. The Tribunal is bound by the Bupa certificate's opinion on the medical questions (regulation 1.15AA(3)). Refusal grounds and each review step are set out on the Carer visa refusal page.
How is a 116 different from an 836?
A 116 differs from an 836 in where you are when you apply and at grant, in how you wait, in who seeks review, and in first entry, while the criteria, charges and queue are the same. The onshore half is explained in the guide to the subclass 836 Carer visa.
| Compared | Subclass 116 | Subclass 836 |
|---|---|---|
| Where you are at lodgement and at grant | Outside Australia | In Australia, not in immigration clearance |
| Visa you must hold to apply | None | A substantive visa (not subclass 771), or lodge within 12 months after it ended |
| How you wait | Overseas, with no bridging visa, Medicare or work rights in Australia | In Australia on a bridging visa |
| Health and police checks | After release, when asked | Before the queue date |
| Settled sponsor | Required by Department policy, and by law for included family members (cl 116.322) | Required by law (cl 836.213) |
| Who seeks tribunal review | The sponsor | The applicant, in Australia |
| Permanent residence starts | At first entry | At grant |
| Conditions after grant | 8502 and 8515 possible | None |
| Charges | A$2,720 first instalment + A$2,065 second instalment | The same |
| Queue order | Both subclasses are released from one Other Family queue in queue-date order under Ministerial Direction 103; Direction 117 ranks onshore Family applications higher, but for capped visas Direction 103 prevails. | The same queue |
What comes next with a 116?
What comes next with a 116 is three checks: the queue in years, the full cost, and whether you want help preparing the paper application.
- The Department estimates 12 years for a new Carer application, and the guide to Carer visa processing time shows where the queue stood as at 31 May 2026.
- The charge from 1 July 2026 is A$2,720 for the first instalment, or A$2,230 for Pacific Island and Timor-Leste passport holders, and A$2,065 per person for the second instalment before grant.
- Before lodging, the family checks the relative's condition, the Bupa rating and the lack of other care against the Carer visa requirements.
Whether to lodge a Carer visa yourself or with a registered practitioner is weighed in a separate guide that never names a firm. Every other part of the application starts from the Carer Visa Australia guide.
A registered professional makes a grant more likely
On a 116 the sponsor, not the carer, has to lodge any review within 28 days, and the sponsor's settled status, the first-entry date and any 8502 or 8515 condition can each undo years of waiting. A registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner checks the sponsor's position and the conditions before lodgement and again at grant, which makes a successful outcome more likely, though never certain.
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Carer visa requirements: check the three links in orderCheck each Carer visa criterion in order, from the relative's condition to the sponsor.