Overview

With this visa you can:

stay in Australia permanently
work and study in Australia
enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare
sponsor your relatives to come to Australia
travel to and from Australia for 5 years
if eligible, become an Australian citizen
Newly arrived residents may have to wait before they can access certain Australian Government payments and benefits.

How long can you stay?

This is a permanent visa. It lets you stay in Australia indefinitely. The visa has a travel component that expires 5 years after the date of visa grant.

You become a permanent resident on the day you are granted the visa.

For citizenship purposes, your permanent residence starts on the day:

You are granted the visa if you are in Australia
you enter Australia on this visa if you are outside Australia

Include family

You can include members of the family unit in your application. You can:

include them when you lodge your visa application
add them after you lodge your application but before the department decides on your visa.

Family members who apply for the visa must meet the health and character requirements.

If your partner or dependent children are not included in this application, you must provide the reason why (for example, they already hold Australian citizenship or are a permanent resident).

Cost

The visa costs AUD4,045 for the main applicant.

There is also a charge for each family member who applies for the visa with you.

To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator.

You might have to pay an extra charge for any applicant 18 years old or older who has less than functional English. This charge is the second instalment. Pay it only when you are asked to do so by the Department. The payment is asked only if you are going to be granted the visa.

The second instalment charge for family members is AUD4,885.

The Visa Pricing Estimator does not include the second instalment or other costs. You might also have to pay other costs for health checks, police certificates and biometrics.

Apply from

You can be in or outside Australia when you apply for the visa but not in immigration clearance when the visa decision is being made.

If you apply in Australia, you must hold a substantive or a subclass 010 Bridging A visa, a subclass 020 Bridging B visa or a subclass 030 Bridging C visa, otherwise your application will not be processed.

Processing Timelines

Applications are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and actual processing times can vary due to individual circumstances including:

whether you have lodged a complete application, including all necessary supporting documents
how quickly you respond to any requests for additional information
how long it takes to perform required checks on the supporting information provided
how long it takes to receive additional information from external agencies, particularly in relation to health, character, and national security requirements
for permanent migration visa applications, how many places are available in the migration program

Travel

You can travel in and out of Australia as many times as you want for 5 years from the date the visa is granted. After 5 years you will need a Resident Return (RRV) visa (subclass 155 or 157) to re-enter Australia as a permanent resident.