Overview

Many visa applicants require a sponsor or nominator, and for many visas, there is a requirement for an assurance of support and/or a social security bond. Nearly all visas have requirements related to members of the family unit of the primary applicant, called ‘secondary criteria’ in Schedule 2, even though, in some cases, those ‘secondary’ people are not included in the visa application. Like all people who have already made a visa application in Australia, they may be refused a second opportunity to make an application. Those matters are canvassed in Chapter 4.

Most visas have application charges, and several of the permanent visas require those payments to be made in two instalments. The second instalment might include a health charge or payment for English language classes. Those payments are set out in the relevant visa class in Schedule 1.