Non-migrating family members: who you must declare, why they still do the health examinations, and what happens to the ones you leave out

MARN 1576536

Who is a member of the family unit

The regulations define a member of the family unit as the applicant's spouse or de facto partner, and the dependent children of the applicant or of the partner: a child under eighteen, a child aged eighteen to twenty-two who is dependent on the applicant and not married or partnered, and a child of any age who is incapacitated for work by a disability and dependent for that reason; for some visas and some applications lodged under earlier rules, a dependent relative in a wider sense. The definition does not ask where the person lives, whether they are coming, whether they are on speaking terms with the applicant, or whether the applicant has custody; a child who lives with the other parent in another country is a dependent child, a spouse the applicant has not seen in two years but has not divorced is a spouse, and a partner in a de facto relationship that the applicant considers private is a de facto partner. The family unit guide sets out the definition age by age, and the first step in any application is to list, on that definition, every person who falls inside it, before deciding who is applying.

Why the form asks about everyone

The application asks for every member of the family unit, with a box for whether each is migrating, for three reasons the Department does not explain on the form. The first is health: for a permanent visa the community's exposure to the cost of a family member's condition does not depend on whether that family member comes now or in five years as a subsequent entrant, so the rule examines them now. The second is identity and integrity: the family the applicant declares is checked against the certificates, the previous applications and the files of the family members themselves, and a family that appears in one place and not another is the commonest way a false statement comes to light. The third is the future: the visas that let a family member join a visa holder later require, in most cases, that the family member was declared in the original application, so the declaration now is the door for the family member later. An applicant who reads the question as asking who is coming has answered a different question from the one asked.

Declaring a non-migrating family member

A non-migrating family member is declared in the application with their full name, date of birth, relationship, country of residence and passport details where known, with the box marked that they are not migrating, and with the documents that show the relationship, a marriage certificate, a birth certificate, as for a migrating member; the Department does not grant them a visa, does not charge for them, and does not, in the ordinary case, require character checks for them, because the character requirement attaches to applicants. For a temporary visa, a 482, a student visa, a visitor visa, that is usually the end of it. For a permanent visa, the skilled visas, the employer-nominated permanent visas, the partner visas, the parent visas, the declaration is followed by the health requirement under the next heading, and an applicant who declares a non-migrating partner or child should expect the Department to ask for their health examinations or for the reasons it would be unreasonable to require them.

The health examinations for non-migrating members

Most permanent visa subclasses include a criterion that each member of the family unit of the applicant who is not an applicant must satisfy the health requirement, public interest criterion 4005 or 4007 as the subclass provides, unless the Minister is satisfied that it would be unreasonable to require the person to undergo assessment; the effect is that a non-migrating spouse, child or dependent parent is examined in their own country through the Department's panel, with the same examinations as an applicant of their age, and a condition found that would result in significant cost to the community or prejudice access to services fails the requirement for them, and through them for the applicant, which is the rule called one-fails-all-fails. Where the subclass uses PIC 4007, a waiver is available and the applicant puts the case for it with the evidence of the condition, its cost and the compelling circumstances; where it uses 4005, there is no waiver, and the refusal follows. The child health guide sets out how the rule works where a child has a condition, and the same reading applies to a non-migrating child, which is why an applicant with a child who has a significant condition, living with the other parent, has the case read before lodging rather than after the examination.

When it is unreasonable to require them

The exception is for the family member the applicant genuinely cannot produce for examination: a child in the custody of a former partner who refuses to allow it, with the court orders or the correspondence showing the refusal; a spouse from whom the applicant is separated without divorce and who cannot be contacted or will not cooperate, with the evidence of the separation and the attempts; a family member whose whereabouts are unknown; a family member in a place where the panel examinations cannot be done. The exception is asked for, in writing, with the evidence, at lodgement or when the Department requests the examinations; it is not assumed, and an applicant who simply does not arrange the examinations is treated as not having satisfied the criterion rather than as excused. The Department reads the request on the relationship as it really is, so an applicant who says the child cannot be examined because the ex-partner refuses, while the application elsewhere shows regular contact and shared holidays, has a problem of a different kind; the honest account of the relationship is the account that supports the exception.

The child from a previous relationship

The commonest undeclared family member is a child from a previous relationship who lives with the other parent, often in another country, often with little contact, and often left off because the applicant thinks of the application as being about the new family. The child is a dependent child of the applicant on the definition, is declared as non-migrating, and for a permanent visa is examined unless the custody arrangement makes it unreasonable, which it often does on request with evidence. Declared, the child can later be sponsored by the applicant as a dependent child on a child visa or added as a subsequent entrant where the visa allows, when the child is older and the circumstances change, which they do; undeclared, the child's later application is met with the applicant's own answer that they had no such child, and the applicant's visa is met with a cancellation question. The previous-relationship child guide covers including such a child in a partner visa, and the consent the other parent must give for a migrating child, which is not needed for a non-migrating one.

The partner who is staying behind

A spouse or de facto partner who is staying in the home country, to sell the house, to finish a contract, to wait and see, is a member of the family unit and is declared as non-migrating; for a permanent skilled or employer-nominated visa they are examined unless it is unreasonable, which it rarely is for a partner in an intact relationship, and for a temporary visa they are declared and no more. Declared, the partner can be added to the application before the decision if they decide to come, or can apply later as a subsequent entrant on a temporary visa or be sponsored on a partner visa once the applicant is settled; undeclared, a partner who later applies is a person the applicant said did not exist. An applicant in a de facto relationship who does not consider it a marriage, or whose family does not know, declares it; the question is about the relationship as the regulations define it, and the Department will meet the partner in the applicant's social media, their joint lease or their later partner visa application in any case.

Adding a family member before the decision

A family member who was declared as non-migrating and now wishes to come, a child born after lodgement, or a spouse married after lodgement can in most cases be added to the application before the Department decides it: the applicant notifies the Department on the form for adding a family member, Form 1436 for most visas, with the additional applicant charge, the relationship evidence, and the health and character requirements for the added person, who becomes a secondary applicant and is granted the visa with the primary applicant. The addition is made as early as possible, because a request made when the application is about to be decided can delay it or arrive after the decision, in which case the family member applies separately; a newborn child of a primary applicant is in a special position and is added on the birth certificate. A family member who existed at lodgement and was not declared is not added under this heading; they are disclosed under the next two.

The family member who was not declared

An undeclared family member creates three problems that arrive at different times. Before the decision, the application contains a false or misleading statement about a matter the form asked about directly, which engages public interest criterion 4020 and refuses the visa, with a bar of three years on the grant of most visas, where the Department finds it; it finds it through the family member's own documents, through a previous application by the applicant that listed the person, through a certificate lodged for another purpose, or through the family member's later application, and the 4020 guide sets out the criterion and the narrow waiver. After the grant, the false statement is a ground for cancellation under the general cancellation power, at any time, including after permanent residence, and the cancellation guide covers the notice that arrives. And for the family member, the visas that let a spouse or child join a visa holder require, on most temporary visas, that the person was a declared member of the family unit at the time of the primary application, and on permanent visas the later application is read against the applicant's own earlier declaration that the person did not exist; a child visa or a partner visa may still be open on the relationship as it really is, but the applicant's credibility is the first issue in it.

Correcting the answer

An applicant who realises that a family member was left off, before the decision, corrects it in writing to the Department, on the form for notifying incorrect answers, Form 1023, with the family member's details and an explanation; a correction volunteered before the Department raises it is read as a correction, and while PIC 4020 can still be engaged the Department's practice distinguishes an applicant who disclosed from one who was found out. After the grant, the same correction is made to the Department's record, which is uncomfortable and which is the only honest route, because the alternative is a cancellation ground that waits indefinitely and a family member who can never be brought. The correction is drafted with care, with the reason the person was omitted, which is almost always a misunderstanding of the question rather than an intention to deceive, and with the documents; it is the consultation's commonest family matter, and it is handled far better early.

The family checklist

1. List every spouse, de facto partner and dependent child on the regulations' definition, wherever they live and whatever the relationship, before deciding who is applying.
2. Declare each one, migrating or not, with the relationship documents.
3. For a permanent visa, expect health examinations for the non-migrating members, and ask for the exception in writing with evidence where it genuinely applies.
4. Have a non-migrating member with a known serious condition read against the health rule before lodging.
5. Add a family member who decides to come, or is born or married after lodgement, before the decision on the right form.
6. If someone was left off, correct it in writing now, before the Department finds it.

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General information only, current at October 2026; not advice on your own case. The definition of member of the family unit in regulation 1.12 of the Migration Regulations 1994, the subclass criteria requiring non-applicant members of the family unit to satisfy public interest criteria 4005 or 4007 unless unreasonable, public interest criterion 4020, section 116 of the Migration Act 1958, the subsequent entrant criteria of the temporary visas, and the Department’s forms 1436 and 1023 as in force at the date above. Outcomes depend on the Department’s assessment of each application; no registered migration agent can guarantee a result (Code of Conduct, Migration Agents Regulations). Keshab Chapagain, MARN 1576536.