Australia's has introduced changes to family visas, restricting the definition of a family member.
Some visas allow applicants to include family members in their application under the ‘member of the family unit’ (MoFU) arrangements.
The definition of Member of the Family Unit (MoFU) is changing. For applications made on and after 19 November 2016, MoFU will be limited to direct family members.
From 19 November a person might be a member of your family unit if they are your:
- spouse or de facto partner
or - child or step child; and:
- have not turned 18
or - have turned 18, but have not turned 23, and are financially dependent on you or your partner
or - have turned 23 and are dependent on you or on the partner as they have a mental or physical disability that stops them from earning a living to support themselves
- have not turned 18
- grandchild or step-grandchild who is a dependent of a child who meets one of the criteria under above under paragraph 2.
A child is not eligible if they are engaged to be married or have a spouse or de facto partner.
The change will apply to permanent visa subclasses and some provisional and temporary visa subclasses. The change won’t apply to refugee, humanitarian or protection visas.
According to the , these changes make the family members who can be included in a visa application, as a MoFU, more consistent with arrangements available to Australian citizens and permanent residents seeking to bring family members to Australia.
