Fill Out Home Affairs Form 40 Online

Who can sponsor with Form 40

The sponsorship requirements are set out in the form's information pages and in the Migration Regulations. In broad terms, a sponsor must meet all of the following.

• Be aged 18 years or over.
• Be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.
• Be a relative of the applicant, or in some visa classes the cohabiting partner of the relative.
• Be settled and resident in Australia when the application is lodged. Under policy, settled usually means lawfully resident for at least two years.

When Form 40 is not the right form

Only use this form for the family visa subclasses listed above. Partner and fiance sponsorships are lodged online through ImmiAccount as a Sponsorship for a partner to migrate to Australia, and child sponsorships use form 40CH instead.

There are also special provisions where the person being sponsored is the parent of someone under 18. In that situation a relative, legal guardian or an approved community organisation can act as the sponsor, subject to the definitions and conditions explained in the form's information pages.

How to complete and lodge Form 40

Work through the form in English and answer every question that applies to you as the sponsor. You will be asked about each member of the visa applicant's family unit, even those not migrating, so read form 1496i on including family members first.

• Your identity and status: evidence of Australian citizenship, permanent residence or eligible New Zealand citizen status, such as a certified copy of a citizenship certificate or full birth certificate.
• Proof of relationship: official documents such as birth certificates that establish how you are related to the applicant, plus evidence of any name changes.
• Sponsorship undertaking: your commitment to support the applicant, bearing in mind that new migrants can wait up to four years for most welfare payments.
• Lodgement: the sponsorship is lodged at the same time as the visa application and the Visa Application Charge. Offshore applicants are encouraged to send their documents to the sponsor, who forwards the whole package to the department's Perth processing centre by mail or courier.

Assurance of Support and other follow-ups

Some applicants assessed as potentially high users of the welfare system are asked for an Assurance of Support, a legal commitment to repay certain recoverable welfare payments. The sponsor does not have to be the assurer; another eligible Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen can take on that role, and Services Australia assesses all Assurance of Support applications.

Parent visa cases in particular can involve long processing times and significant charges, so many families engage a registered migration agent to check eligibility before lodging. You can verify an agent's registration on the Office of the Migration Agents Registration Authority website.