CARER VISA (SUBCLASS 116) AND FACTORS FOR CONSIDERATION

The Carer Visa (Subclass 116) offers a pathway for individuals in Australia to bring a carer from overseas to provide substantial and long-term care for someone with special needs. This visa is particularly beneficial when no suitable care is available in Australia.

Are you having trouble finding a suitable carer to care for a loved one with special needs? You may consider bringing a carer from overseas by applying for a Carer visa (subclass 116).

The Carer visa application involves a stringent process with multiple criteria that must be met by both the sponsor and applicant, in order to become satisfactory under the Immigration Department’s assessment.
Please kindly read the following information on the requirements involved for a Carer visa application.

When considering applying for a Carer Visa, it’s essential to understand that the applicant must be willing and able to provide the necessary care. The care recipient must have a long-term or permanent medical condition that requires assistance with daily tasks, health care, or both. The sponsor, typically a family member or guardian of the care recipient, must prove that the care needed cannot be reasonably obtained in Australia, whether through social services or family support.

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Carer visa assessment by BUPA Medical Visa Services

Please note it is better to apply for the Carer visa after the person in need has received an assessment from BUPA. This is because if you make an application for a Carer visa and later discover that the required impairment rating is not met, the application for a Carer visa will be refused and you will not receive a refund of the visa application charge.

The person in need must undergo an assessment by Bupa to obtain a certificate showing that:

he/she has a medical condition that is causing physical, intellectual or sensory impairment of the ability to attend to practical aspects of life (e.g. bathing, toileting, cooking, shopping and housecleaning);

because of the medical condition he/she needs direct assistance in attending to the practical aspects of daily life; and

he/she will continue to need that help for at least 2 years.

If the person in need is currently eligible to receive government fundings, such as under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (‘NDIS’), then this requirement should be easy to satisfy.

Evidence of why it is not reasonable for any other family members in Australia to provide the required care

Documents such as statutory declarations, letters from employers or medical certificates explaining why other family members (such as spouse, parents, siblings, children and other immediate family members of the person in need of care) are unable to provide the required care for the person in need.

Please note that besides from requiring such evidence from any adult family members, if any family members currently under the age of 18 become 18 or above by the time of the Carer visa application is assessed, then the Immigration Department may also require explanation as to why those family members cannot care for the person in need.

Evidence of why it is not reasonable to obtain the required care through other services (such as NDIS)

You may obtain letters from agencies or government services stating that community services are not available or cannot assist for care of the person in need adequately and /or other evidence showing that the person in need:

has difficulty obtaining the care that he/she needs because of specific language, religious, cultural needs; or

requires full-time care in the home which cannot be provided by government or community services.

If the person in need is currently already receiving fundings from the government, you must also prove that the government fundings is unable to meet all his/her needs, e.g. being unable to find a carer who could tend to Marcus’ needs during night time (e.g. a night nurse).

The applicant (carer) must satisfy health requirements

Please note that the current expected assessment timeframe of Carer visa is around 5 years or more. By the time the Immigration Department is ready to make a decision on the visa application, if the applicant is determined to be of ill health, it will cause the application to fail. Therefore, this is a point to consider for potential carer who is of old age.

If the carer you wish to bring over to Australia is a parent of an Australian citizen or permanent resident, you may also consider the Contributory Parent visa (subclass 143) and Sponsored Parent visa (subclass 870) pathways.

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