Including Dependent Children in a Subclass 101 Application: Timing and Health Rules for 2026

Yes — the dependent children of a Subclass 101 applicant can be included either when the application is lodged or at any point before the Department makes its decision, and they cannot be added afterwards. That timing rule comes straight from the Australian Department of Home Affairs page for the Child visa (Subclass 101), and it carries two practical consequences: every dependent child included before the decision must satisfy the health requirement, and each one adds a separate charge to the application.

This article is general information about how the published rules are structured, not individual advice on a particular family's case; where your circumstances sit against those rules should be confirmed against current official guidance or with a qualified professional.

Who can actually be included as a dependent child?

On this visa, the main applicant is the child of an Australian citizen, eligible New Zealand citizen, or Australian permanent visa holder. The people who can ride along on that application are the applicant's own dependent children — not their brothers and sisters. Siblings who want to migrate each need their own separate application.

That distinction matters for planning. A family cannot consolidate two children of the sponsoring parent into one form; each child's relationship to the parent, dependency evidence, health and character position is assessed in their own file. The only "add-on" category is the next generation down.

How much does it cost to include dependent children?

The official page sets out three layers of cost, and only the first two are part of the visa application charge itself:

Cost layer	How it is charged	Covered by the pricing estimator?
Main applicant	One charge for the child applying for the visa	Yes
Each dependent child	An additional charge per dependent child included	Yes
Health exams, police certificates, biometrics	Charged separately, outside the application charge	No

Because the amounts move with policy and exchange settings, the Department routes costing through the Visa Pricing Estimator rather than publishing a flat figure on the visa page; the estimator deliberately excludes health exams, police certificates and biometrics, so the true outlay is higher than the estimate alone.

One relief valve is worth flagging for families planning a 2026 lodgement: from 1 July 2026, a lower visa application cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens lodging a valid application. Eligibility is recognised through a valid passport from a listed country held by the primary applicant, family members included on the application also receive the lower cost, and the specified countries are the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

When is the last moment to add a dependent child?

The deadline is the decision, not the lodgement date and not any intermediate milestone. The visa page states the position twice in different sections: dependent children can be included when the applicant applies or at any time before the decision, and dependants cannot be added once the Department has made a decision.

Adding early is usually cheaper in effort, for three reasons. Documents are being collected anyway, health examinations for everyone can be sequenced together, and the full family's charges are paid in one transaction before lodgement. Adding late means triggering those steps mid-stream, while the file is already queued.

After a decision, the page directs families to explore other visa options for the family member rather than to the subclass 101 grant — there is no mechanism to bolt a dependant onto a granted 101 visa.

What if a baby is born while the application is pending?

A birth during processing is one of the changes the Department asks to be told about, and because the file is still undecided, the newborn falls within the window in which a dependent child can still be added. This is the scenario where the timing rule and the "tell us if things change" obligation meet: notification and the addition request belong in the same conversation with the processing centre.

What does the health requirement mean for dependent children?

Dependent children who apply for the visa must meet the health requirement. Less obviously, dependent children who are not applying — family members who will stay behind — might also need to clear it. The same asymmetry appears in the family-wide framing elsewhere on the page: family members who are not coming to Australia may still have to meet the health requirement.

Operationally, health examinations are sequenced by the Department rather than by the applicant. After lodgement the Department advises when to arrange the child's examinations, so families should not book and pay for health checks speculatively before being told to do so — those costs sit outside the application charge.

Which documents does each dependent child need?

For each dependant under 18 included in the application, the page lists identity documents, travel documents, proof of the relationship with the applicant (such as a birth certificate), and character documents where applicable. Four recent passport-size photographs (45 mm × 35 mm, under six months old) are required for the applicant and for each dependent child included.

Dependants aged 16 or over move into the character stream as well: police certificates from every country where they have spent 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16, plus Form 80. For Australia, only AFP National Police Certificates issued under Code 33 – Immigration/Citizenship are accepted, and for immigration purposes a police certificate is valid for 12 months from its issue date.

Two lodgement mechanics constrain all of this. The application is a paper one — Form 47CH and Form 40CH posted or couriered to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth, with the application charge paid before posting — and the applicant must be outside Australia when it is submitted. Errors on a form after lodgement are corrected with Form 1023.

What happens after the grant, for the whole family?

Once granted, the travel facility runs for five years from the grant date, and each person's first entry date is generally set at 12 months from grant. Permanent residence for citizenship purposes starts on the day a person enters Australia on the visa, which means family members travelling at different times start their own clocks separately.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I add a dependent child after lodging but before the decision?

Yes. The Child visa (subclass 101) page allows dependent children to be included at lodgement or at any time before the Department decides the application. Adding them early keeps health examinations and document collection in one pass rather than interrupting a queued file.

What happens if I miss the deadline and try to add a dependent child after the decision?

Dependants cannot be added to this visa after a decision has been made. At that point the family member needs their own pathway, and the official page points applicants toward exploring other visa options rather than toward the granted 101 visa.

Is there an extra government charge for each dependent child?

Yes. The page states there is a charge for each of the applicant's dependent children who apply, on top of the charge for the main applicant. The Visa Pricing Estimator models those two layers but does not include health exams, police certificates or biometrics.

Do dependent children need health checks even if they are not migrating?

Possibly. Dependent children included in the application must meet the health requirement, and dependants who are not applying may also need to meet it. The Department tells applicants when to arrange examinations rather than expecting them to be booked upfront.

Do dependent children need their own photographs and police certificates?

Each dependent child included needs four passport-size photographs, plus identity, travel and relationship documents. Those aged 16 or over also need police certificates from relevant countries and Form 80; Australian certificates must be AFP National Police Certificates issued under Code 33.

Can siblings be included in the same subclass 101 application?

No. Siblings each submit separate applications. Only the applicant's own dependent children can be included on a subclass 101 application.