190 Over-18 Dependant Evidence 2026: Financial Dependency and Medical Reports

You can include a child over 18 in a Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) application, but only if they meet one of two dependency tests, and the documents you lodge have to prove the dependency itself — not just the parent-child relationship. According to the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190) official page, reviewed as of the July 2026 version of that page, an over-18 child must be either over 18 but not yet 23 and dependent on you or your partner, or over 23 and unable to earn a living to support themselves because of physical or cognitive limitations, while also being dependent on you or your partner.

The evidence chain has three moving parts — proof of relationship, proof of financial dependency, and (in the disability limb) a medical practitioner's report. This article is general information drawn from that official page; it is not advice on your individual circumstances, and the criteria, forms and document lists can change, so the current official page is the authority to rely on.

Who actually qualifies as an over-18 dependant on a 190?

The official page sets out two separate pathways, and they are not interchangeable.

Situation	What the official page requires	Extra evidence triggered
Over 18 but not yet turned 23	Must be dependent on you or your partner	Proof of relationship, Form 47a, proof of financial dependency
Over 23	Must be unable to earn a living to support themselves due to physical or cognitive limitations, and dependent on you or your partner	Everything above, plus a qualified medical practitioner's report

The first pathway is purely about age plus dependency. The second adds a causation element: the reason the adult child cannot support themselves has to be a physical or cognitive limitation, and the medical report has to say so explicitly.

Note also that the page treats "aged 23" and "likely to turn 23 during processing" the same way for the medical report. It is not only about the child's age on the day you lodge.

What documents does the page list for an over-18 dependant?

For a child over 18, the official page lists:

• identity documents
• documents about their other relationships, if applicable
• proof of your relationship with the dependant, such as a birth certificate or adoption papers
• a completed Form 47a Details of a child or other dependent family member aged 18 years or over
• proof of financial dependency, such as bank statements, money transfers and rent receipts
• if the child is 23 or is likely to turn 23 while your application is being processed, a report from a qualified medical practitioner stating they are dependent on you or your partner due to the total or partial loss of their bodily or mental functions

Form 47a is the anchor document: it is the form on which the dependant's details are declared. The financial and medical evidence then supports what has been declared there.

How do bank statements, money transfers and rent receipts work together?

The page gives these three as examples of proof of financial dependency, and they cover different parts of the same story. Read together, they show a continuing pattern rather than a single event:

• Bank statements show the money arriving and being spent — the ongoing flow of support.
• Money transfers connect you, as the sponsor, to that flow; they identify who is actually funding the dependant.
• Rent receipts show where the money goes — that the dependant's housing cost is being met by that support rather than by their own income.

The value of the combination is that each document type covers a gap the others leave open. Transfers alone show money moving out of your account; statements show it landing and being used; rent receipts tie the spending to a dependant's basic living cost. The page does not set a minimum period, a minimum amount, or say that any single one of these is sufficient on its own, so treating them as one package is the safer reading of what is asked for.

Because the page uses "such as," these are examples rather than an exhaustive list. It does not publish a checklist of how many months of statements or how many receipts are needed.

When does the medical practitioner's report become mandatory?

Two triggers appear on the official page:

1. The child is aged 23 at the time of application.
2. The child is likely to turn 23 while your application is being processed.

In either case, the page requires a report from a qualified medical practitioner that states the child is dependent on you or your partner due to the total or partial loss of their bodily or mental functions. The wording matters: the report has to link the dependency to the loss of function. A report that documents a diagnosis without addressing dependency, or that describes dependency without attributing it to the physical or mental limitation, does not match the wording the page sets out.

The page does not specify which specialty the practitioner must hold, nor how recent the report must be.

What if your child turns 18 or 23 while the application is being processed?

This is where most over-18 dependant cases become difficult, because the page assesses the criteria across the processing period, not only at lodgement.

• Turning 18 during processing: the page's note on under-18 dependants says that if your child is likely to turn 18 while your application is being processed, you need to provide evidence they are dependent on you. A child who turns 18 during processing and is not dependent on you cannot satisfy the criteria for this visa.
• Turning 23 during processing: the page says that if your child is likely to turn 23 while the application is being processed, you need to provide evidence they are dependent on you due to disability. A child who turns 23 during processing and does not meet these requirements cannot satisfy the criteria for this visa.

The practical consequence is that the disability limb, with its medical report, can become the applicable test even if the child was comfortably under 23 when you lodged.

What happens after you lodge?

Family members can be added after lodgement but before a decision is made, using Form 1436 Adding an additional applicant after lodgement, paid through ImmiAccount, with the form and supporting documents attached. Family members who apply for the visa must meet the health and character requirements; family members who are not coming to Australia still have to meet the character requirement and might have to meet the health requirement.

Two other constraints from the same page are worth keeping in mind. First, an invitation to apply gives you 60 calendar days to lodge, and the page states this cannot be extended. Second, the department is not obliged to request more documents and may decide the application without asking for them, which means incomplete dependant evidence lodged "to be topped up later" carries real risk. If you later find a mistake in what you submitted, the page directs you to notify the department using Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers.

On assistance: the page states that only some people can help with your application — a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person.

常见问题

Can I include my 22-year-old child if they are studying full time?

The official page's test for the 18–23 group is dependency on you or your partner; it is not expressed as a student-status test. Your child must be over 18 and not yet turned 23, and you must provide proof of financial dependency such as bank statements, money transfers and rent receipts.

Does an over-18 dependant still need Form 47a?

Yes. Form 47a Details of a child or other dependent family member aged 18 years or over is listed on the official page as a required document for an over-18 dependant, alongside proof of the relationship and proof of financial dependency.

How early should we lodge if our child is close to 23?

The page does not publish processing timeframes, so no safe margin can be calculated from it. What it does say is that if your child is likely to turn 23 while the application is being processed, you must provide evidence of dependency due to disability, and a child who turns 23 during processing without meeting those requirements cannot satisfy the criteria.

Who can write the medical report?

The page requires a report from a qualified medical practitioner stating that the dependant is dependent on you or your partner due to the total or partial loss of their bodily or mental functions. It does not name a required specialty or set an expiry period for the report.

Can I add an over-18 dependant after I have already applied?

Yes, before a decision is made, using Form 1436 Adding an additional applicant after lodgement, paid through ImmiAccount with supporting documents attached. The added family member must meet the health and character requirements.

Does an over-18 dependant need to prove English?

The official page states that dependants under 18 do not have to prove functional English. It does not list any English requirement among the documents for dependants over 18.

参考资料

• Australian Department of Home Affairs — Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)