Subclass 445 and the ‘No further stay’ condition in 2026: can the child apply onshore?
Answers whether a child in Australia holding a ‘No further stay’ visa can meet Subclass 445 eligibility, using the Department’s criteria.
No. If the child is in Australia and the visa they currently hold carries a ‘No further stay’ condition, they cannot meet the onshore eligibility requirement for the Dependent Child visa (Subclass 445). The Department of Home Affairs puts this plainly on its Dependent Child visa (subclass 445) eligibility page: if the child is in Australia, they can’t hold another visa that has a ‘No further stay’ condition. That page was current as at July 2026, and everything below comes from it.
Can the child apply for Subclass 445 while in Australia on such a visa?
Not while that visa is the one in effect. The restriction is written as an eligibility criterion, so it operates before anything else about the application is considered — sponsorship, age, health and character all come later. An application made onshore while the child holds another visa with a ‘No further stay’ condition is an application by someone who does not meet that criterion.
Two things about the wording matter in practice. First, it is the visa that carries the condition, not the child; the question is always what is attached to the visa currently in effect. Second, the criterion is expressed by reference to being in Australia. The eligibility page does not say that an application lodged from outside Australia is barred by it, and it does not set out any waiver process for a ‘No further stay’ condition. Where a condition may be waived is dealt with in the Department’s separate published material on visa conditions, and that material — not summaries on other websites — is what you should rely on, because the published position can change.
Visa conditions and eligibility both turn on individual facts, and this article is general information only. It is not advice about your child’s circumstances, and it cannot tell you what will happen in a particular case; the Department’s current published requirements, or advice from a registered migration professional about your own situation, should govern any decision.
How do you work out which conditions the child’s current visa carries?
Start from the visa the child is actually on now, not from one they held in the past or one they have applied for. Conditions are attached to particular visas, and a child who has travelled to Australia more than once may have held several. The one that matters here is the visa in effect at the time of the Subclass 445 application.
The conditions attached to a visa are set out in the visa grant documentation and in the Department’s own records for that visa. Checking those records first is what makes the rest of the analysis possible: if the condition is there and the child is in Australia, the onshore pathway described on the eligibility page is closed, and any further planning has to deal with the condition itself or with the location of the application.
Suppose, for example, a child is in Australia holding a visitor visa with a ‘No further stay’ condition, and their parent holds a Partner visa (subclass 820). On those assumed facts the child does not meet the onshore requirement. Nothing else on the eligibility page — sponsorship, dependency, health — changes that outcome, because each criterion has to be met.
What does the Subclass 445 eligibility page require?
The page lists a set of criteria that all have to be met. The ‘No further stay’ point is only one of them.
| Criterion | What the page requires |
|---|---|
| Parent’s visa | The child must be dependent on a parent who holds a Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309), a Partner visa (subclass 820), or a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445) |
| Sponsor | The child must be sponsored by the same person who sponsored or nominated the parent’s permanent Partner visa application, and the sponsorship must be approved |
| Age | Under 18, or over 18 and financially dependent on the parent holding the temporary Partner or Dependent Child visa |
| Health | The child, and any of their dependent children applying with them, must meet the health requirement |
| Character | If the child is 16 or over, they must meet the character requirement |
| Australian values | If the child is 18 or over, they must have read or had explained the Life in Australia booklet and sign an Australian Values Statement |
| Debt to government | Any money owed to the Australian Government must be repaid, or covered by a formal arrangement to repay |
| Travel consent | For a child under 18, written consent from everyone who can legally decide where they live, or the home country’s law allowing them to leave, or consistency with any Australian child order |
| Best interests of the child | The visa might not be granted if granting it is not in the best interests of an applicant under 18 |
Which visa does the parent need to hold?
One of three: subclass 309, subclass 820, or subclass 445. That list is closed on the face of the page. A parent who is at some other stage of the partner process — for instance, one who has only applied for a provisional visa and does not yet hold it — does not meet this criterion, and the criterion is about the visa held, not the application made.
The link between the two applications is also tighter than families sometimes expect. The page states that the child must apply to be added to the parent’s permanent Partner visa application once the Subclass 445 visa has been granted. Subclass 445 is a step towards the parent’s permanent Partner visa; it is not the permanent visa itself.
Who can sponsor the child, and when can sponsorship fail?
The sponsor must be the same person who sponsored or nominated the parent’s permanent Partner visa application, and the Department must approve the sponsorship before the visa can be granted. Approval is a separate hurdle from the child’s own eligibility.
The page sets out two limits tied to registrable offences. If the sponsor, or their spouse or de facto partner, has a pending registrable offence charge, the sponsorship and the visa application will be refused. If either has a registrable offence conviction, the sponsorship can be approved only in very limited circumstances. The Department publishes further detail on the child protection measures that apply in this visa context.
Are there other routes worth understanding?
Australian citizenship by descent is the one the eligibility page itself points to. A child may apply for citizenship by descent instead of a visa to travel to Australia if they were born outside Australia and one of their parents was an Australian citizen at the time of the birth. For a family whose child meets those two facts, that is a different pathway from a visa application altogether, with its own requirements.
Beyond that, the page does not describe any alternative procedure for applying onshore while a ‘No further stay’ condition is in force. Because the published requirements change over time and this page’s own terms can be updated, treat the Department’s current published information as the reference point.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a child in Australia apply for Subclass 445 if their current visa has a ‘No further stay’ condition?
No. The Department of Home Affairs states on the Subclass 445 eligibility page that if the child is in Australia, they can’t hold another visa that has a ‘No further stay’ condition. The restriction is an eligibility criterion, so it applies regardless of whether the other criteria are met.
Does the restriction apply if the child is outside Australia?
The criterion is written by reference to the child being in Australia. The eligibility page does not extend it to an application made from outside Australia, so the condition’s effect depends on where the child is when the application is made.
Can the ‘No further stay’ condition be waived so the child can apply onshore?
The Subclass 445 eligibility page states the restriction and does not set out any waiver process for the condition. Waiver of visa conditions is covered by the Department’s separate published material, which is the only reliable source for whether and how a waiver is available in a given case.
Which partner visa does the parent need to hold for the child’s Subclass 445 application?
The parent must hold a Partner (Provisional) visa (subclass 309), a Partner visa (subclass 820), or a Dependent Child visa (subclass 445). Holding one of these is what makes the child’s dependency on that parent relevant to the application.
Does being granted Subclass 445 give the child the permanent Partner visa?
No. The eligibility page says the child must apply to be added to the parent’s permanent Partner visa application once the Subclass 445 visa has been granted. The two steps are separate, and the second one still has to be made.
Can the child apply for Australian citizenship instead of this visa?
Yes, on the facts the page sets out: the child was born outside Australia, and one parent was an Australian citizen at the time of the birth. In that case the child may apply for Australian citizenship by descent instead of a visa to travel to Australia.
Does the child need to meet health and character requirements?
The child, and any of their dependent children applying with them, must meet the health requirement. If the child is 16 or over, they must also meet the character requirement.