Adoption visa (subclass 102)

About the Adoption visa

The Adoption visa (subclass 102) lets a child come to Australia to live with their adoptive parent. The child can already be adopted or be in the process of being adopted. The adoptive parent sponsors the child for this visa and usually applies on their behalf.

This is a permanent residence visa. If the adoption is through a state or territory adoption authority, you can lodge the application before the adoption is finalised.

Note: From 14 December 2015, the Department is unable to accept Adoption visa applications for children who have been adopted in Pakistan. This country is specified in a legislative instrument.

If you intend to adopt, or have adopted, a child from Pakistan, you will be unable to lodge a valid application for an Adoption visa for the child with the Department.

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What this visa lets the child do

• It allows the child to:

• travel to and stay in Australia indefinitely
• work and study in Australia
• enrol in Medicare, Australia’s scheme for health-related care and expenses
• apply for Australian citizenship (if they are eligible)
• sponsor eligible relatives for permanent residence
• travel to and from Australia for five years from the date the visa is granted. After that time they will need another visa to enter Australia

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Guardianship of children adopted from overseas

If an adoption is not finalised or if it is not recognised by a state or territory adoption authority when the child enters Australia, the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection will be the guardian of the child. The guardianship powers are delegated to state and territory welfare authorities.

The minister stops being the guardian if any of the following occur:

• the child becomes an Australian citizen
• the child turns 18 years of age
• an Australian adoption order is made for the child

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Location

The child must be outside Australia when the application is lodged and when the application is decided.

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How long the visa lasts

This is a permanent residence visa.

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Family

You might be able to include your child in the visa application. Any children included in the visa application must meet the requirements for including family members in your application.

The application must include documentary evidence of their relationship to you. Children who are included as members of your family unit must be able to show that they meet health and character requirements.

Your siblings will need to lodge their own application.

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The child’s obligations

The child must comply with all Australian laws and all visa conditions. This includes:

• entering Australia by a set date
• not getting married or entering into a de facto relationship before arriving in Australia

You must tell us in writing if circumstances change in a way that could affect the child’s eligibility for a visa, or your eligibility to sponsor the child.

Sponsors

This information is for people wanting to sponsor a child for an Adoption visa (subclass 102).

It is usually the sponsoring parent who prepares the relevant documents and lodges the application.

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Who can sponsor a child

To be a sponsoring parent, you must be:

• the child’s adoptive or prospective adoptive parent
• older than 18 years of age

You must also be:

• an Australian citizen
• a permanent Australian resident
• an eligible New Zealand citizen

You do not need to be in Australia to sponsor the child for this visa. You can sponsor the child for this visa if you have:

• entered Australia in the past but you are outside Australia when they apply
• been granted your Australian permanent resident visa but you have not yet entered Australia.

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Sponsor obligations

We might ask for an assurance of support for the child so that welfare costs for some migrants are not borne by the Australian community.

Do not provide an assurance of support unless we ask for one and tell you what you need to do.

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Sponsorship obligations

As the sponsoring parent you must agree to:

• be responsible for the cost to the Australian Government of the child living in Australia
• provide adequate accommodation and enough financial support to meet the child’s reasonable living needs for their first two years in Australia
• help the child settle in Australia
• support the child to attend any required English language classes

Which Adoptions Qualify for the 102 Visa?

Not every overseas adoption leads to an Adoption visa. The adoption generally needs to fit one of these pathways:

Pathway	What it means	Typical evidence
Intercountry adoption through an Australian central authority	You applied to adopt through your Australian state or territory central authority, which manages the adoption with the authorities in the child’s country	A letter from the state or territory central authority, plus the overseas adoption papers once available
Hague Convention adoption between two other countries	The child was adopted under the Hague Adoption Convention in a country other than Australia, where both countries involved are parties to the Convention	The adoption order and the adoption compliance certificate
Expatriate adoption	An Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen adopted the child while living outside Australia for more than 12 months, under the law of that country	The adoption papers, evidence the child’s country allows the child to leave, and a written explanation of why you lived overseas

If you adopted a child before you became an Australian citizen or permanent resident, the Child visa (subclass 101) may be the right visa instead. Step children are generally covered by the Child visa rather than the Adoption visa. Our adoption visa categories guide explains the options in more detail.

How the Adoption and Visa Processes Fit Together

For an intercountry adoption arranged through Australia, the immigration application sits inside a longer adoption process run by your state or territory central authority. In broad terms:

1. Contact your state or territory central authority. Each state and territory sets its own eligibility rules, education sessions and assessment process. Intercountry Adoption Australia provides general information.
2. Complete the assessment. This usually involves interviews with an adoption assessor, plus health, police and referee checks.
3. Your file is sent overseas. If you are approved, the central authority sends your application to the partner country, where you join its waiting list.
4. Placement proposal. The overseas authority proposes a match with a child, and you decide whether to accept.
5. Lodge the visa application. The immigration process usually starts before you travel to bring your child home. The 102 can be lodged before the adoption is finalised where the adoption is through a state or territory authority.
6. Travel and complete the overseas steps. You travel to the child’s country to complete the local legal process. The child must be outside Australia when the visa is granted.
7. Arrive and finalise. Depending on the country, the adoption is either finalised overseas or completed in an Australian court after the child arrives. You then complete post-placement reports for the child’s country and for your central authority.

For expatriate adoptions, Home Affairs is not involved in the adoption itself and does not approve or endorse it. You will usually need independent legal advice in the country where you are adopting, and in Australia, to make sure the adoption is legally valid and that the child is allowed to leave that country permanently.

Do You Need a Visa, or Can Your Child Get Citizenship Instead?

The 102 is not the only way an adopted child can live in Australia. In some cases, citizenship is available without a visa:

• Full Hague or bilateral adoptions finalised overseas: where the adoption is recognised in Australia and an adoptive parent is an Australian citizen, the child may be able to apply for citizenship directly, without first holding a permanent visa.
• Adoptions finalised in Australia: where the child enters Australia on a 102 visa and the adoption is later finalised by an Australian court, the child may become an Australian citizen through the adoption if an adoptive parent is a citizen.
• Expatriate adoptions: these are generally not recognised automatically in Australia, so the child usually needs the 102 visa and may later apply for citizenship by conferral.

The right pathway depends on the country, the type of adoption and the parents’ citizenship. Read Adopted Children and Australian Citizenship and Adoption Law and Migration to Australia before deciding which application to make.

How to Apply for the 102 Visa

The 102 is lodged on paper using Form 47CH for the child, with the sponsoring parent completing Form 40CH. The forms are lodged together by post or courier with the Home Affairs processing centre in Perth, which handles new Child category applications. The visa application charge is paid online in advance through ImmiAccount using the pre-payment option for paper applications, and the receipt is included with the forms. Paying the wrong amount, or lodging the wrong way, can make the application invalid.

From 1 July 2026, the charge is $4,040 for the main applicant, with $2,020 for each additional applicant aged 18 or over and $1,015 for each additional applicant under 18. Health examinations, police checks, translations and any adoption agency or legal costs are extra.

Document Checklist

For the child:

• certified copy of the child’s passport or travel document
• certified birth certificate or other official identity documents
• two recent passport photos (45mm x 35mm)
• health examinations, and police certificates for a child aged 16 or over, when requested

For the adoption:

• if the child has been allocated for adoption through an Australian central authority, a letter from that state or territory central authority
• the adoption papers or adoption compliance certificate, including evidence that the authorities in the child’s country allow the child to migrate
• for an expatriate adoption without central authority involvement, a written statement explaining why you were living outside Australia, with supporting evidence

For the sponsor:

• signed Form 40CH
• evidence of Australian citizenship, permanent residence or eligible New Zealand citizenship
• an Australian police check for the sponsor and their partner if they have spent time in Australia since turning 16, plus police certificates from other countries where they lived for 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16

Documents not in English need an English translation. Send certified copies unless Home Affairs asks for originals.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Arranging a private adoption overseas while still living in Australia. This generally does not meet the expatriate adoption rules and can leave the child without a visa pathway.
• Assuming an overseas adoption order is automatically recognised in Australia.
• Applying for a 102 when the child could apply for citizenship directly, or applying for the 101 when the adoption took place after the parent became a permanent resident or citizen.
• Leaving the application too late for an older child. The child must be under 18 when the visa is decided, not just when it is lodged.
• Bringing the child to Australia on another visa before the 102 is granted. The child must be outside Australia at the time of the decision.
• Not keeping up with post-placement reporting to the central authority and the child’s country.

Adoption Visa 102: Frequently Asked Questions

Can I lodge the 102 before the adoption is finalised?

Yes, if the adoption is being arranged through an Australian state or territory central authority. For expatriate adoptions, the adoption generally needs to be completed before the visa can be granted.

Can I adopt a child from overseas while I live in Australia without going through a central authority?

Generally no. If you live in Australia, intercountry adoption is normally arranged through your state or territory central authority. The expatriate adoption pathway is for people genuinely living outside Australia for more than 12 months.

Can a relative’s child be adopted and brought to Australia?

It may be possible, but adoptions within families raise extra questions, including whether the adoption is genuine and legally valid. Depending on the circumstances, another visa, such as the Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117), may be more suitable.

Can siblings be adopted and apply together?

No. Each child needs their own application, even if they are adopted at the same time.

Will my child become an Australian citizen?

That depends on the type of adoption and where it is finalised. Some children become citizens once the adoption is completed in Australia, others can apply for citizenship directly, and others apply for citizenship by conferral after a period as a permanent resident.

Can I get help with an adoption visa?

Yes. A registered migration agent can check which pathway applies, prepare the application and coordinate the immigration steps with your adoption process. Book a consultation with our team.

Related:

• Adopted Children and Australian Citizenship
• Surrogacy and Australian Citizenship by descent
• Adoption visa categories
• Adoption visa (subclass 102)

Family visa guides

• Partner visa Australia
• Onshore partner visa (820 and 801)
• Offshore partner visa (309 and 100)
• Prospective Marriage visa (300)
• Partner visa costs
• Parent visa Australia
• Sponsored Parent visa (870)
• Parent visa costs
• Child visa Australia
• Relative visa options
• Family visa processing times
• Partner visa assessment

Related guides

• Child visa offshore (subclass 101)
• Child visa onshore (subclass 802)
• Child visa options in Australia
• Family visa processing times
• Book a consultation