Balance of family test for parent visas: how it works and who counts as an eligible child

A parent meets the balance of family test if at least half their children and stepchildren are eligible children, or there are more eligible children than children living in any other single country.

For the broader comparison, see parent visas for Australia. Start with a child-by-child table, classify each child, then calculate both routes.

The two ways to pass

The two ways to pass are alternatives: satisfying either meets the numerical test, not every visa criterion.

1. Half route: at least half the children and stepchildren are eligible children.
2. Country-comparison route: eligible children outnumber children living in any other single country.

These are the Home Affairs balance of family test rules.

A tie does not satisfy the second route. Compare countries separately rather than combining all overseas children.

Who counts as an eligible child

An eligible child must meet one of the status-and-residence definitions below. Being included in the family total is different from being eligible.

An eligible New Zealand citizen must have arrived on a New Zealand passport and meet one of these conditions:

• In Australia on 26 February 2001 and holding a special category visa (SCV) that day.
• In Australia for periods totalling 12 months in the two years immediately before 26 February 2001, and returned after that day.
• Assessed as a protected SCV holder before 26 February 2001.

Stepchildren include a current partner’s child. A former partner’s child qualifies as a stepchild if under 18 and subject to guardianship, custody or a parenting order in force under the Family Law Act 1975.

Use this manual worksheet before calculating:

This worksheet organises the calculation; it is not a prescribed evidence list.

Who is not counted

Counting exclusions remove a child from the total; failing the eligible-child definition does not. Children overseas do not disappear from the denominator simply because they are overseas.

Children, including adopted children and stepchildren, are counted unless an exclusion applies. Supported exclusions include children who:

• Are deceased.
• Have been removed from their parents’ exclusive legal custody by adoption, court order or operation of law.
• Are registered as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and live in a UNHCR-operated camp.

For unknown whereabouts, Home Affairs uses the child’s last known usual country of residence.

For example, if an overseas child is deceased, exclude that child before calculating the total. If an overseas child is merely ineligible, keep that child in the total unless a counting exclusion applies.

Worked examples

These worked examples illustrate arithmetic only, not individual eligibility decisions. Every child shown is assumed to be included, with eligibility already classified.

Who does not need the test: 173 holders and the 870

Prior satisfaction and a separate pathway without the test are different situations.

If you fail the test

Failing both routes means the numerical test is not met. Home Affairs does not waive it, even in compelling or exceptional circumstances.

1. Recheck eligibility classifications and counting exclusions.
2. Recalculate both routes.
3. Consider the 870 as a separate pathway with separate conditions, not an automatic substitute.

Sequencing matters: a person cannot apply for subclass 103 after applying for, or while holding, subclass 870 under the subclass 103 application restriction.

Before you lodge

Compare the contributory parent visa, 804 aged parent visa and Parent visa (subclass 103) pathways. Broader relationship information is available at relationshipvisaaustralia.com.au.

An application prepared by an Australian migration lawyer is more likely to succeed because child classifications, exclusions and the 870 application restriction can affect the proposed application. Seek a classification and lodgement check; enquiries from this site go to Australian Migration Lawyers.