Building the Evidence File for Subclass 117 in 2026: Relationship and Parent-Status Documents

A subclass 117 file carries two load-bearing claims at once: that the child is related to an eligible sponsor, and that no parent is capable of caring for them. According to the Department of Home Affairs official page for the Orphan Relative visa (subclass 117), as of August 2026, the documentary side of the application is built around exactly those two blocks — evidence of the child's relationship to their relative, and evidence that the child has no parents who can care for them. Everything else in the file supports or corroborates one of them. This article is general information about the published requirements rather than personalised advice for any particular case, and current requirements should be confirmed against the official page.

What does the subclass 117 evidence file actually have to prove?

The criteria decide the document list, not the other way around. The child must be sponsored by an eligible sibling or step-sibling, grandparent or step-grandparent, aunt, uncle, step-aunt or step-uncle, and the sponsorship itself has to be approved before the visa can be granted. The child must be under 18 when they apply, and the visa will not be granted unless the child has no parent who can care for them — because both parents are deceased, permanently incapable of caring, or cannot be found.

A frequent misunderstanding is worth clearing early: the visa is not available where parents are capable of caring for the child but do not want to. Incapacity is a status that has to be documented, not a preference. The official page also sets out consent to migrate (written consent from everyone who can legally decide where the child lives, or the home country's law allowing the child to leave, or consistency with an Australian child order), the health requirement, the character requirement for children 16 or over, repayment of debts to the Australian Government, and the best interests of the child as a consideration that can weigh against a grant.

In what order should the file be assembled?

A case officer reads for the grant criteria first, then checks that the person in the documents is the person applying, then closes the character and procedural items. Assembling the file in that order means the officer never has to hunt for the document that decides the case.

Which documents does the relationship to the sponsor rest on?

The official page lists these as evidence of the child's relationship to their relative:

a birth certificate
a marriage certificate
an adoption certificate
a family status certificate or family book, if officially issued and maintained

The list is short because each item does a different job. A birth certificate carries the parent-child link; a marriage certificate carries a relationship created by marriage, which is what step-sibling, step-aunt, step-uncle and step-grandparent sponsorships depend on; an adoption certificate carries a relationship created by law; a family status certificate or family book can carry a whole household in one officially maintained record, which is often the most useful item where birth registration was late or incomplete.

What proves that no parent can care for the child?

The official page asks for evidence of the specific reason:

a death certificate or other official document
evidence such as a medical report, showing why the child's parents are unable to care for them

Where parents cannot be found, the evidence shifts to process rather than status: how long they have been missing, and what efforts have been made to contact or find them. Both parents have to be accounted for, because the criterion is that the child has no parent capable of caring — one documented parent and one unaccounted-for parent leaves the criterion unmet.

Where do identity, photographs and travel documents fit?

These confirm that the child named in the relationship and parent-status documents is the child applying. Provide the pages of the child's current passport showing their photo, personal details, and passport issue and expiry dates, plus a national identity card if they have one and proof of change of name if applicable. Change of name documents include those issued by an Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages or the relevant overseas authority, as well as documents showing other names the child has been known by.

Photographs and travel documents sit next: four recent 45mm x 35mm photos of the child and of any other dependant in the application, less than six months old, good quality colour (laser copies are not accepted), full face against a plain light-coloured background. Untinted prescription glasses are acceptable, and a head covering worn for religious reasons may show only the face. For travel, provide a certified copy of the passport or travel document the child will use to enter Australia and of any passports the child has held since then.

What else goes in for dependants under 18 and children over 16?

For every dependant under 18 applying with the child, provide identity documents, proof of the child's relationship with them such as a birth certificate, and character documents if applicable. Children over 16 must provide 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, and not standard disclosure certificates or state and territory police certificates. Police certificates are valid for 12 months from the issue date. Anyone in the application who served in the armed forces of any country must provide military service records or discharge papers, and children over 16 must complete and provide Form 80 Personal particulars for assessment including character assessment.

How do relationship and parent-status documents corroborate each other?

These two blocks are not independent. The birth certificate is usually the hinge: it proves the link to the sponsor and simultaneously names the parents whose status then has to be documented. A death certificate or medical report is only persuasive if it refers to the same people, in the same name form, as the relationship document.

Suppose an applicant's birth certificate records a father under one spelling while the death certificate for that parent records another. Nothing in either document is false, but the officer cannot match them without a bridge — and the file's own bridging documents are the ones already listed under identity: a change of name document from the relevant registry or overseas authority, or a document showing the other names the child or the parent has been known by. The same logic runs in the other direction. An adoption certificate does not merely prove a relationship; it also defines who counts as a parent for the purposes of the file, which changes what the parent-status evidence has to cover.

Where the sponsor relationship runs through marriage, the corroboration chain is longer: the birth certificate establishes one side of the family, the marriage certificate establishes the step link, and the parent-status documents still have to account for the child's own parents. Reading the file as one chain rather than two stacks is the practical difference between a submission that explains itself and one that generates a request for more information.

What happens if something is missing or changes after lodgement?

The official page asks applicants to provide accurate information and directs them to what happens if identity cannot be proved or information is not true. If documents were not included at the time of applying, they should be provided as soon as possible, and more information may be requested. Once a paper application is acknowledged it can be imported into ImmiAccount — including applications made outside Australia on or after 1 April 2020 — and additional documents uploaded there; where ImmiAccount cannot be used, or the application was lodged outside Australia before 1 April 2020, documents go through the Child and Orphan Relative Visa Processing Centre online form. Incorrect answers are corrected with Form 1023 Notification of incorrect answers. Health examinations and biometrics are requested separately when required, and travel should not be arranged until the visa is granted in writing.

How is the file lodged, and in what form?

Applications are paper-only and the child must be outside Australia both when the application is made and when the decision is made. Form 47CH Application for migration to Australia by a child and Form 40CH Sponsorship for a child to migrate to Australia are completed in English and sent together, with the application charge paid before posting and evidence of payment included, to the Child and Other Family Processing Centre in Perth by prepaid post or courier. Submitting at another office, in person, or by any other route does not produce a valid application. Only certified copies should be sent — originals should not — and a copy of the completed application and supporting documents should be kept for the applicant's own records. The official page directs applicants to the Visa Pricing Estimator for the charge applicable to the main applicant and any dependent children, and notes separate possible costs for health checks, police certificates and biometrics.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do original birth or death certificates have to be sent?

No. The official page instructs applicants not to send original documents with the application, only certified copies, and to keep a copy of the completed application and supporting documents for their own records.

What proves that a parent is permanently incapable of caring for the child?

Evidence such as a medical report showing why the parents are unable to care for them, alongside a death certificate or other official document where a parent is deceased. Incapacity has to be shown; the visa is not granted where parents are capable of caring but unwilling.

Which document proves the relationship if the child's birth was never registered?

A family status certificate or family book can serve this role where it is officially issued and maintained. The other listed documents — birth, marriage and adoption certificates — cover relationships established by birth, marriage or adoption respectively.

How many photographs are needed, and how recent must they be?

Four recent photographs, 45mm x 35mm, of the child and of any other dependant included in the application. They must be less than six months old, good quality colour rather than laser copies, showing the full face against a plain light-coloured background.

Does a 16-year-old have to provide police certificates?

Yes. Children over 16 must provide police certificates from every country they have spent 12 months or more in over the last 10 years since turning 16, complete Form 80, and provide military service records or discharge papers if they served in any country's armed forces. Australian certificates must be National Police Certificates applied for under Code 33 – Immigration/Citizenship, and are valid for 12 months from issue.

What if the sponsor has a criminal record?

Sponsorship is refused, along with the visa application, if the sponsor or their spouse or de facto partner has a pending registrable offence charge. Where there is a registrable offence conviction, sponsorship can be approved only in very limited circumstances.