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102 Adoption Visa

If you adopt a child as an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, your child may qualify for a Subclass 102 Adoption visa. This visa is only appropriate where you as the adopting parent already held the status of citizen or permanent resident at the time of adoption. If your child was adopted prior, but was not included in your permanent residency application, you would need to alternatively consider the Subclass 101 or 802 Child visas.

  • The child applicant must not have turned 18 years of age;
  • The sponsoring adoptive parent, or prospective adoptive parent, must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.
  • The child applicant must be outside Australia at the time of application.
  • Adoption laws of the applicant’s original country of residence have been complied with.

 

Sponsorship Refusal

Sponsorship by an adoptive parent can be refused in cases where the sponsoring parent has a significant criminal history in relation to specified types of offences. Mandatory refusal may apply to perpetrators of child sex offences, which are termed registrable offences.

 

Child Adoption Visa Australia

There are four (4) scenarios in which a child may be eligible for the adoption visa. We have outlined each scenario below.

[Scenario 1] – Sponsor Residing Overseas

Where the sponsoring adoptive parent has been residing overseas for a prescribed duration, the child will be eligible, subject to compliance with the adoption procedures of the child’s country of citizenship, for an adoption visa.

It is crucial to stress that the overseas residency of an adoptive parent must not have been contrived for the purposes of satisfying the Subclass 102 criteria. If it is deemed that the relevant overseas residency was contrived for visa purposes, it remains a possibility that the visa application may be refused.

 

[Scenario 2] – Approval by an Australian “Competent Authority”

If the adopting parent resides in Australia, the child applicant will be eligible where the adoption has been approved by a relevant State Central Authority delegated by the Commonwealth after a comprehensive assessment process.

 

[Scenario 3] – Approval by an Overseas “Competent Authority”

If the adopting parent resides in Australia, the child applicant will be eligible where he or she has been allocated for adoption under the laws of Ethiopia, South Korea, Taiwan or an adoption convention country as mentioned in Schedule 2 of the Family Law (Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption) Regulations 1998.

 

[Scenario 4] – Adoption under the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption

An Australian citizen or permanent resident may execute an adoption with two (2) foreign countries which are both parties to the Hague Convention. In such circumstances, the Department of Home Affairs will still recognize the adoption despite non-involvement of any Australian authorities.

For example, the sponsoring parent may reside in the United Kingdom, and the child applicant may reside in the Republic of Belarus. If the adoption is accepted by the British and Belarussian authorities who are currently parties to the Convention, the adoption will satisfy the eligibility requirement for a Subclass 102 visa.

 

Definition of a Competent Authority

Under the Regulations, eligibility for an Australian adoption visa is often contingent on approval from a “competent authority.” The identity of these authorities vary depending on the jurisdictions.

 

[1] Australia

For adoptions under the Adoption Convention, the competent authority may be any of the following State Central Authorities:

For adoptions under bilateral agreement, the authority is the competent authority for the State in which the person adopting the child habitually resides.

 

[2] Adoption Convention Country

Convention countries include the following jurisdictions, or parts thereof, prescribed under Schedule 2 of the Family Law (Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption) Regulations 1998 (Cth).

Competent authorities, in the context of a convention country, are authorities specified by the convention country pursuant to article 6 of said convention. 

 

[3] Prescribed Overseas Jurisdiction

Proscribed overseas jurisdictions are those who have entered into bilateral adoption agreements with Australia. They are:

  • Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
  • Republic of Korea
  • Taiwan (Republic of China)

The competent authority is whichever person, body or office is responsible for approving the adoption of children within said jurisdiction.

 

Adoption Assistance

Intercountry adoption is a highly complex matter, involving the laws of multiple jurisdictions, and international treaties. Such advice is multi-disciplinary that touches many other fields of law in addition to Australian migration law. It is therefore important that you obtain comprehensive legal advice from a migration solicitor, as well as a legal practitioner specializing in intercountry adoption.

 

Adoption Visa Application Charge

First instalment for an applicant:

(a) who appears to the Minister, on the basis of information contained in the application, to be an orphan relative; or

(b) whose application is combined, or sought to be combined, with an application made by that person:

    • Base application charge: $1,870
    • Additional applicant charge for an applicant who is at least 18: $935
    • Additional applicant charge for an applicant who is less than 18: $470

First instalment for any other applicant:

    • Base application charge: $3,055
    • Additional applicant charge for an applicant who is at least 18: $1,530
    • Additional applicant charge for an applicant who is less than 18: $765

 

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