Age and Marital Status Evidence for Subclass 117 Applications (2026)

Under the requirements published by the Australian Department of Home Affairs for the Orphan Relative visa (Subclass 117), the child must be under 18 when the application is made, must be single — with no spouse or de facto partner — and must have no parent able to care for them. The documents used to prove those two conditions are the child’s current passport or national identity card, the birth certificate, and — because the official document list has no separate “single status” line — a no-marriage-record certificate, all presented so the names and dates match across the pack. This article is general information only and does not constitute personalised professional advice; your circumstances should be checked against the official information as currently published, and the Subclass 117 provisions in the Migration Regulations 1994 and the Department’s PAM3 guidance should be confirmed against the current official text.

What documents prove a subclass 117 applicant’s age?

The age test itself is set at the application date: the child must be under 18 when they apply. The official identity documents requested are the pages of the child’s current passport showing the photo, personal details, and passport issue and expiry dates. A national identity card should also be provided if the child has one, and proof of change of name is required if the child has ever been known by another name.

Acceptable proof of a change of name, according to the official page, includes change-of-name documents from an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages or the relevant overseas authority, or documents that show other names the child has been known by. So the age evidence is not one magic certificate; it is the identity record that carries the date of birth, plus the bridging document if the name on that record is not the name on the passport.

How do the passport and birth certificate work together?

The official checklist lists a birth certificate under “Child’s relationship to their relative”, not under identity documents. That placement matters: a birth certificate is normally the record that carries the applicant’s date of birth and parentage, while the passport is the travel and photo identity record. If both are included, they should agree on the child’s date of birth, and any difference in the name should be explained by a change-of-name document. The Department’s page also asks for four recent passport-style photographs (45mm x 35mm, less than six months old, good quality colour, full face against a plain light background) for the child and any other dependant included.

If the identity evidence does not line up, the application runs into the accurate-information problem the Department warns about: it explains what happens if an applicant cannot prove identity or does not provide true information. Age is not proved by argument; it is proved by documents that agree with each other.

How is “single” proved when the checklist has no single-status line?

The official overview states the child must be under 18, single, and with no parent to care for them. Under regulation 1.14 of the Migration Regulations 1994, an “orphan relative” must be under 18, have no spouse or de facto partner, have no parent able to care for them, and not have been adopted by a person other than the Australian relative; “spouse” and “de facto partner” are statutory concepts in the Act, not casual labels.

The step-by-step document list does not contain an item labelled “single status certificate”. That gap is why a no-marriage-record certificate is used in practice: it is the direct document showing that the relevant marriage authority has no record of the applicant’s marriage. The single-status question has two parts — no spouse, and no de facto partner — and a de facto relationship is a question of fact about a couple’s relationship, so it is addressed through the applicant’s consistent personal records and circumstances rather than one standard certificate.

Where does a no-marriage-record certificate fit?

The no-marriage-record certificate should be obtained from the authority that registers marriages for the applicant’s country of nationality or residence, and it should name the same person and carry the same date of birth as the passport and birth certificate. If the applicant has a national identity card, that should match as well. The result the decision-maker should see is a single, consistent identity: one person, one date of birth, no marriage recorded.

If a relationship-status change happens after lodgement, the official page requires the applicant to tell the Department about “changes to the child’s relationship status”. A no-marriage-record certificate obtained early does not freeze the evidence forever; the single-status position has to remain true, and changes must be notified.

How do birth, marriage and family-status records prove a step-relationship?

A subclass 117 applicant must be sponsored by an eligible sibling or step-sibling, grandparent or step-grandparent, aunt, uncle, step-aunt or step-uncle. The official evidence list for the child’s relationship to that relative is: a birth certificate, a marriage certificate, an adoption certificate, or a family status certificate or family book, if officially issued and maintained.

For a step-relationship, those documents are combined rather than used alone. A step-sibling link, for example, is shown by the applicant’s birth certificate identifying their parent, the sponsor’s birth certificate identifying the sponsor’s parent, and the marriage certificate of those two parents — the marriage is what creates the step-link. An officially issued and maintained family book or family status certificate can do the same job in one document if it records both children and the parental marriage. Where the link is through adoption, the adoption certificate is the document that carries it.

This matters for the age and marital-status theme because the same birth certificates that prove the step-link also carry the applicant’s date of birth. If the relationship documents are assembled as a set, the age evidence and the relationship evidence support each other instead of sitting in separate piles.

If the applicant turns 18 while waiting, what still has to be proved?

The official rule is that the child must be under 18 when they apply. Subdivision 117.22 of the Migration Regulations 1994 provides that, at the time of decision, the applicant must continue to meet the orphan-relative criteria unless the only reason they no longer do so is that they have turned 18. In other words, the age exception preserves the application, but it is an exception for the age limb only.

The no-spouse-or-de-facto-partner limb is not covered by that exception. The applicant must still have no spouse or de facto partner at the decision, and must still have no parent able to care for them. Read the current official text of subdivision 117.22 together with the Department’s published guidance when assessing this point. The official page separately requires the applicant to be outside Australia when the decision is made, and a Subclass 117 visa may be granted with condition 8515, under which the holder must not marry or enter a de facto relationship after the visa is granted.

What extra evidence does being 16 or older trigger?

Age changes the evidence load inside the same application. The official eligibility page states that if the child is aged 16 years or older, they must meet the character requirement. The character documents required for children over 16 are police certificates from every country they have spent 12 months or more in over the last 10 years since turning 16. For Australia, only National Police Certificates applied for under Code 33 — Immigration/Citizenship are accepted, issued by the Australian Federal Police; standard disclosure certificates and state or territory police certificates are not accepted. Police certificates are valid for 12 months from the issue date.

Children over 16 must also complete and provide Form 80 (Personal particulars for assessment including character assessment), and anyone who served in the armed forces of any country must provide military service records or discharge papers. Separate from character, the health requirement applies to the child and any dependent children who apply with them, and the official page notes that dependent children who are not applying might also have to meet it.

For a child still younger than 18 at the point of grant, the official page adds a consent condition: the visa can only be granted if the child has the written consent of everyone who can legally decide where they live, or the laws of the child’s home country allow them to leave, or the grant is consistent with any Australian child order about the child.

How should the pack be assembled so age or marital status is not questioned?

The practical test is consistency. The passport or identity card, the birth certificate, any name-change proof, and the no-marriage-record certificate should all describe the same person with the same date of birth and a reconciled name history. Where the step-relationship is through a parental marriage, the two birth certificates and the parents’ marriage certificate should be packaged together so the link is visible on the face of the documents.

The official page also sets handling rules: only send certified copies, not original documents, and keep a copy of the completed application and supporting documents for your own records. The application is made on paper using Form 47CH and Form 40CH, the forms must be completed in English, and the application charge must be paid before posting, with evidence of payment included. If someone is paid to provide immigration assistance, the official page states they must be a registered migration agent, a legal practitioner, or an exempt person; a different, broader rule applies to appointing someone merely to receive documents, which is done with Form 956A.

After lodgement, additional documents can be uploaded in ImmiAccount if the application has been imported — the official page says applications made outside Australia on or after 1 April 2020 can be imported. If the relationship status changes, or another notifiable change occurs, the Department must be notified; incorrect answers are corrected with Form 1023. Travel should not be arranged until the Department advises in writing that the visa has been granted.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a birth certificate required to prove age for subclass 117?

The official identity list asks for passport pages, a national identity card if held, and name-change proof, while the birth certificate is listed under relationship evidence. In practice the birth certificate is the document that carries the date of birth and parentage, so it should be included and should match the passport’s date of birth exactly.

Do I need a separate no-marriage-record certificate?

The official page requires the child to be single, and the Regulations definition of orphan relative requires no spouse or de facto partner, but the document checklist has no item labelled “single status”. A no-marriage-record certificate from the relevant authority is therefore used to evidence the no-marriage part directly, and it should name and date the applicant consistently with the passport and birth certificate.

How do I prove a step-sibling or step-aunt relationship?

Combine the applicant’s birth certificate, the sponsor’s birth certificate, and the marriage certificate of the two parents whose marriage creates the step-link. An officially issued and maintained family status certificate or family book can substitute if it records the blended family in one document, and an adoption certificate is used where the link is by adoption.

If the applicant turns 18 before the decision, does the single-status rule still apply?

Yes. Subdivision 117.22 of the Migration Regulations 1994 provides that the application can continue if the only orphan-relative criterion no longer met is age, but the applicant must still have no spouse or de facto partner at decision. Any change in relationship status must also be notified to the Department.

What documents are needed once the applicant is 16 or 17?

The character requirement applies from age 16. The applicant must provide police certificates from every country they lived in for 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16, an Australian Federal Police National Police Certificate under Code 33 if Australia is included, military records if applicable, and completed Form 80.

Do original documents have to be posted with the application?

No. The official page instructs applicants not to send original documents and to send certified copies only, while keeping a copy of the completed application and supporting documents. The two paper forms, 47CH and 40CH, must be completed in English and sent to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth with payment evidence after the charge has been paid.