Child Visa Processing Times Australia: 101, 802, Delays and Follow-Up
Waiting for a Child Visa can affect schooling, work, care arrangements and where a family lives. Online timelines can make that uncertainty worse: one family reports a quick grant while another has waited years. The useful starting point is the correct Department category, followed by a careful assessment of what is happening in your own application.
Explore our Australian Child Visa hub and Child Visa 101 legal representation for the underlying visa pathway.
Discuss your child’s visa options
Tell us the child’s age and location, the parent’s visa or citizenship status, and any approaching deadline. Call 1300 807 134 or request a call back below.
How to read 50% and 90% processing figures
A 50% figure is a median-type processing measure for the Department’s reported cohort. It does not mean a new application has a 50% chance of approval within that time. A 90% figure does not mean the remaining cases will be refused, or that a decision must be made on the day your application reaches the number.
The figures can change as the mix of completed cases changes. Clearing older files can lengthen reported historical times even if current workflow improves. Conversely, a shorter figure does not prove your particular case has moved forward. Use the official tool with the correct subclass and distinguish a statistical guide from an individual case update.
Do not apply one subclass’s timeline to another
A 101 offshore Child Visa is not the same application as an 802 onshore Child Visa. A 445 is temporary and must be coordinated with the parent’s permanent Partner Visa process. Adoption 102 and Orphan Relative 117/837 involve different legal questions and caseloads. A chart headed child visas without subclass labels can therefore be misleading.
At the 29 September 2026 check, the official tool showed 101 at 23 months for 50% and 33 months for 90%, and 802 at 21 and 30 months respectively. These observations do not justify changing a lawful pathway solely to pursue the shorter number. Application validity, the child’s location and eligibility come first. Where a subclass has no published figure, that absence is not a zero-month processing promise.
No acknowledgement: confirm receipt before chasing a decision
For paper-based lodgement, preserve the complete package, payment record and delivery evidence. Check the destination and approved arrangements that applied when lodging. A courier delivery event is useful but is not itself a visa acknowledgement or a determination that the application is valid.
Home Affairs’ Child and Orphan Relative enquiry guidance asks for tracking details, confirmation of the postal address and proof of receipt where more than approximately one month has passed without acknowledgement. Check the authorised contact’s inbox and junk folder first. If the application may have been sent incorrectly or the charge was wrong, obtain advice promptly rather than simply waiting for the normal processing percentile.
An acknowledged application can still have unresolved work
Review every Department communication, not just the last one. A request may concern identity, parentage, consent, health, sponsorship or adult dependency. Check the response deadline, whether the documents were actually submitted and whether they answer the question asked. A portal status label alone rarely explains the whole assessment.
Keep passports and contact details current and notify material changes as required. Do not pre-emptively repeat expensive examinations solely because time has passed; follow current instructions and obtain advice. Equally, do not ignore a request because similar material was uploaded earlier. A concise response identifying the evidence and resolving the officer’s concern may be needed.
Need advice on the difficult part of your case?
Tell us the child’s age and location, the parent’s visa or citizenship status, and any approaching deadline. Call 1300 807 134 or request a call back below.
When to request priority or explain compassionate circumstances
A priority request should describe the actual circumstances, why they are unusual and how delay affects the child. Relevant evidence may include a carer’s medical condition, a documented safety issue or other circumstances specific to the family. Identify the current care arrangement and the proposed practical solution.
Family separation is distressing, but it is also common in the category. A request should not promise that ordinary hardship guarantees expedition or portray a parent as deceased, missing or incapacitated unless the facts support it. Home Affairs applies its legal priorities and discretion. The lawyer’s role is to present a justified request, not sell access to a faster queue.
Enquiry, complaint and legal advice are different tools
A case enquiry asks what is happening or supplies material information. A service complaint concerns an administrative problem. Legal advice about prolonged delay examines whether a remedy might be available on the specific history and law. These routes should not be conflated, and none should be described as automatically forcing a visa grant.
Before escalation, compile a chronology of lodgement, acknowledgement, requests, responses and follow-up. Keep the tone factual. If a family approaches a lawyer after years of waiting, that record allows a more useful assessment than a single screenshot of the application status. Do not withdraw and reapply merely to reset the process without advice about fees, eligibility and the consequences for any associated status.
Department fees and the total cost of a child visa matter
The Department’s standard base application charge, checked on 29 September 2026 against Schedule 1 of the Migration Regulations, is AUD 4,040 for subclasses 101, 802, 102 and 445. For Orphan Relative subclasses 117 and 837, the standard base charge is AUD 2,475. These are government charges, not Emigrate Lawyers’ professional fees. The charge applicable when a valid application is made must be checked before payment.
Do not assume a child pays an additional-applicant rate merely because they are young. A child who makes their own primary application generally attracts the base charge. Siblings normally require separate Child Visa applications. Additional-applicant charges concern eligible people properly included in an application, such as an applicant’s own dependent child.
| Cost component | What to budget for |
|---|---|
| Government charge | Standard base fee above; check concessions and any eligible additional applicants. |
| Evidence and checks | Translations, police certificates where required, panel medical examinations and document retrieval. |
| Professional assistance | An agreed legal scope and written fee quote, with GST treatment and disbursements identified. |
| Complex issues | Foreign-law advice, court proceedings, specialist reports or review work may need a separate scope. |
Eligible Pacific-regional passport holders can receive lower charges: the relevant Schedule 1 categories currently provide a base of AUD 3,315 for the usual Child/Adoption/445 pathways and AUD 2,030 for Orphan Relative applicants. Specific welfare-authority-supported onshore applications also have special rules. Eligibility, not financial hardship alone, determines the concession. Ask for a calculation for the actual applicant rather than relying on a generic fee screenshot. Check Home Affairs visa pricing.
Processing times: what the Department’s figures mean
The Home Affairs processing tool reports how long recently decided applications took. It does not reserve a decision date for your child, identify the case officer, or give a different service standard for each Australian city. The official processing-time guide should be checked for the exact subclass before making travel or school commitments.
At our 29 September 2026 check, the tool displayed 23 months for 50% and 33 months for 90% of Subclass 101 applications. These historical percentiles are not a minimum wait, a guarantee, or figures that can be transferred to another subclass. The tool showed an update date of 4 September 2026. An application outside the published range warrants a careful status check; it does not automatically establish an error or a right to immediate approval.
| Visa subclass | 50% decided within | 90% decided within |
|---|---|---|
| 101 | 23 months | 33 months |
| 802 | 21 months | 30 months |
| 445 | 24 months | 31 months |
| 102 | 8 months | 17 months |
| 117 | 76 months | 99 months |
| 837 | Not displayed | Not displayed |
Keep the acknowledgement, payment evidence, application reference and copies of everything submitted. Monitor Department correspondence and update changed passports, addresses and relevant family circumstances. A targeted enquiry should explain what is outstanding and provide evidence of any urgent circumstances. Repeated identical emails, a school start date or payment of a higher legal fee do not create a guaranteed fast-track service.
Case example: a long wait with an overlooked evidence request
A family believes their 101 application has been inactive for months. A review of the authorised recipient’s correspondence reveals a request for evidence of consent that was forwarded but never answered. The first task is to assess the deadline and current position and obtain advice on an effective response—not to send an unsupported demand for immediate approval.
In another case with no outstanding request, the appropriate step may be a targeted enquiry supported by the full chronology. Identical elapsed time does not mean identical legal circumstances. The purpose of the example is to identify the stage before choosing the remedy.
The Emigrate Lawyers method
Our approach starts with the legal question that could decide the matter. For this article’s scenario, that means identifying the actual stage and cause of concern, then making a focused and supported enquiry. The file should explain why the evidence meets the relevant rule, rather than leave the decision-maker to infer the answer from a large collection of documents.
- Map the family and status history. Identify the applicant, proposed sponsor, parental responsibility, previous applications and relevant dates.
- Test the pathway before paying. Check the subclass, location, application validity, sponsorship and any exception that must be established.
- Build an evidence plan. Separate documents already available from material that needs translation, independent verification or specialist advice.
- Prepare a consistent application. Reconcile forms, supporting statements and earlier immigration records, explaining genuine discrepancies.
- Manage the period after lodgement. Track requests, changing circumstances, visa conditions and any time-sensitive response.
Emigrate Lawyers is based at Suite 807, 365 Little Collins Street, Melbourne VIC 3000 and assists clients throughout Australia and overseas through a paperless practice. Remote service does not remove a requirement to attend a medical examination, biometrics appointment or court process where one is needed. We explain the agreed work and professional fees before that work begins; no lawyer can guarantee a visa grant or Department processing speed.
Frequently asked questions
Does passing the 90% figure mean the Department must decide?
No. The published guide is not a statutory deadline for your case. An unusual delay can justify closer enquiry and legal advice, but it does not itself guarantee a decision or approval.
Are Reddit timelines reliable?
They can reveal common concerns, but the underlying facts, completeness and visa history may differ. Use them as anecdotes, not as the Department’s service standard.
Can paying a lawyer reduce the queue?
Professional help can address errors and present supported requests. It does not purchase a guaranteed fast-track or a special processing allocation.
Should I lodge a second application to get attention?
Do not do so without advice. Another application can create extra charges and legal consequences without resolving the first application’s problem.
Request a Child Visa consultation
Tell us the child’s age and location, the parent’s visa or citizenship status, and any approaching deadline. Call 1300 807 134 or request a call back below.
Sources and further reading
Information checked on 29 September 2026. The applicable legislation and facts control the outcome; Department pages and processing figures can change.
- Home Affairs: live processing-time guide
- Home Affairs: family visa processing priorities
- Home Affairs: Child Visa 101
- Home Affairs: Child Visa 802
- Current Child Visa application arrangements
Madhab Kharel — Principal Lawyer
Madhab Kharel is Principal Lawyer and Director of Emigrate Lawyers. The firm assists with Australian immigration and family law matters, including child and partner migration, complex evidence issues and visa refusals.
General information: This article is not individual legal advice. Obtain advice on the child’s circumstances before lodging, travelling, withdrawing an application or allowing a visa or review deadline to expire.
