Fill Out Home Affairs Form 40CH Online

Who can sponsor a child

The sponsor must be the child's parent, relative or guardian as applicable to the visa category, and must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen aged 18 or over.

For an Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117 or 837), the sponsor must also have been lawfully resident in Australia for a reasonable period, usually two years, and must be able to provide adequate financial support and accommodation for the child.

Police checks and protection of children

Australia applies strict child protection rules to sponsorships. Where the child is under 18, sponsors and their partners must provide an Australian National Police Check and, where relevant, foreign police certificates, and must disclose any convictions or outstanding charges for child related offences.

A sponsorship limitation in the Migration Regulations 1994 prevents approval where the sponsor or their partner has a conviction or outstanding charge for a registrable offence, unless the Minister exercises discretion where at least five years have passed since the sentence was completed and there are compelling circumstances. Where an Australian state or territory adoption authority has approved an adoption, separate police checks are not required with the application.

How to complete and lodge Form 40CH

Read the information about family members in form 1496i first, because the sponsorship asks about every member of the child's family unit included on the visa application. Then work through the form and the undertaking in Part O.

• If the child is under 18, you complete form 40CH and lodge it together with the completed form 47CH and all supporting documents on the child's behalf.
• If the child is 18 or over, send the completed sponsorship to the child so they can lodge it with their own form 47CH.
• Attach proof of your relationship to the child, such as certified copies of birth certificates, plus evidence of any name changes.
• Attach evidence of your status: a certified citizenship certificate, full Australian birth certificate, or proof of permanent residence or eligible New Zealand citizen status.
• Post the package, with correct prepaid postage, or courier it to the department's Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Western Australia. Applications lodged any other way are not valid and cannot be lodged in person.

Parental responsibility and Assurance of Support

If anyone else can legally decide where the child lives, that person's permission is required. This is given through a completed form 1229, a statutory declaration, or a court order permitting the child's permanent removal from their home country or an Australian child order consistent with the visa grant.

An Assurance of Support may be requested if the child is assessed as a potentially high user of the welfare system. This is a legal commitment to repay certain recoverable welfare payments, assessed and managed by Services Australia. New migrants can also wait up to four years for most welfare payments, which is worth weighing when you sign the two year support undertaking. A registered migration agent can help if the family situation involves adoption, custody orders or previous refusals.