(Cth) Provide Family Reunion Pathways for RoS Visa Holders and Their Children
- Akash Merai, Alice Nigro, Helene Opsahl, Jemima Tabacco, Lucy Watson & Pema I’Anson
- 9 hours ago
- 9 min read
Author: Akash Merai, Alice Nigro, Helene Opsahl, Jemima Tabacco, Lucy Watson & Pema I’Anson | Publish date: 26/5/2026
P: In Australia, refugees who hold permanent residency through ‘Resolution of Status’ (RoS) visas cannot sponsor their children who have already turned 18 to join them in Australia.
S: The Minister for Home Affairs should amend the Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) to provide RoS visa holders with family reunion mechanisms to allow dependent family members (including ‘aged out’ children) to come to Australia.
E: Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC): In the context of now-RoS visa holders - ‘Provide family reunion mechanisms to allow dependent family members (including ‘aged out’ children) to come to Australia.’
Problem Identification:
Under the Special Humanitarian Program (SHP), most refugees can sponsor members of their immediate family to join them in Australia, regardless of their age and without any costs. However, according to the Refugee Council of Australia (RCOA), RoS visa holders ‘are prohibited from proposing people under the Special Humanitarian Program [SHP]’, and must instead utilise a general stream for all residents or citizens to reunite with family members; for their children, this is the Child (Subclass 101) visa.
This means that the adult children of RoS visa holders are subject to stricter requirements (e.g. must be under 25, studying full-time, have no partner, are not financially independent, etc.) than the children of other refugee families (i.e. no age limit). As detailed by the ASRC, long visa processing delays mean that children of RoS holders are often ‘aged out’ of the capacity to be sponsored by their parents, making it ‘almost impossible for children over the age of 18 to reunite with their parents in Australia.’ The ASRC further argued that this has left families ‘torn apart and separated for protracted and indefinite periods.’
Context:
In February 2023, a specific cohort of refugees (the ‘legacy caseload’) who arrived in Australia by boat prior to 1 January 2014, and were previously on temporary protection visas, are now to be granted the Resolution of Status (RoS) visa. According to the RCOA, as of 31 January 2026, 22,435 RoS visas have been granted to the 31,665 who are eligible. No data is available on subsequent family visa applications.
As of 30 April 2025, Nomos Legal reported that the backlog for the general stream family visas was at 155,000 applications. The Department of Home Affairs grants 52,500 family visas per year, of which 3,000 are for children.
Arguments:
The ASRC highlighted that ‘excessive visa processing delays … [during which] children are ‘aged out’ of the ability to be sponsored by their parents’ can be a source of ‘distress’. For example, according to the RCOA, Ministerial Direction 80 (enacted under the Migration Act 1958, in place from 2013 to 2023) instructed that family visas for refugees who arrived by boat should be ‘placed at the end of the queue’. The RCOA pointed out that this meant children were ‘growing up without ever knowing their parents’. The RCOA further said that for refugees who have already survived persecution at home, and then waited years for protection, this has left them ‘unable to put down roots in Australia.’ As highlighted by the ASRC, various significant ‘bureaucratic barriers to family reunification’ have negatively impacted ‘the mental health and resettlement of people seeking asylum.’ The Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) argued that ‘the harm caused by family separation can be so severe that in certain circumstances it amounts to torture under international law.’
The HRLC stated that ‘the Australian Government separates families in different ways based on when [and how] a person arrived in Australia’, which they identified as ‘discrimination’. As laid out by the Department of Home Affairs, the SHP provides refugees of any age with a free pathway to apply to ‘join a member of [their] immediate family’ in Australia, whilst the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) reported that the family reunification pathway available to RoS holders has significant associated costs. Moreover, the JRS highlighted that once the ‘thousand[s] of dollars in fees [are paid], it can still take years’ for family reunification to happen. The RCOA further argued that ‘there is no clear rationale for prohibiting refugees who arrived by boat from accessing the SHP [which is only accessible to those who arrived by plane] … It simply punishes people who are already in Australia and is an unnecessary barrier to successfully settling in Australia.’
Advice/Solution Identification:
The ASRC called for family reunion mechanisms to be provided to RoS visa holders which allow for dependent family members (including ‘aged out’ children) to come to Australia and the RCOA called for the prioritisation of visas for those children who ‘aged out’ due to processing delays. The HRLC emphasised that this could provide families with the ‘certainty and stability’ needed to thrive in Australia.
Precedent:
There is international precedent for ensuring that children do not age out of visa applications due to delayed processing. In Canada, reunification applications ‘lock in the age of dependent children’ when the applications are submitted ‘so they won’t become ineligible’ before the application is processed.
Public Support:
Broad Support:
Open Letter: This open letter advocates to ‘fix delays and address aging out issues … by prioritising “aged out” adult children [of RoS visa holders] to be reunited with parents’.
This list reflects publicly stated positions and should not necessarily be taken as endorsement of this specific brief.
News Coverage:
SBS News - “After 14 years in visa limbo, Ferdos felt conflicted as Iran’s soccer team gained asylum”. The article explored the delays in visa processing for Ferdos and other asylum seekers from Iran in Australia, in the context of members of the Iranian women’s soccer team being immediately granted protection visas. No Author Listed | 24 March 2026 - Read the article here.
The Conversation - “‘I’m always afraid for the future of my family’: why it’s too hard for some refugees to reunite with loved ones”. The article highlighted the ongoing struggles of ‘the legacy caseload’, who remain separated from their families due to restrictive government policies. By: Mary Anne Kenny | 29 April 2025 - Read the article here.
ABC News - “Calls to change refugee reunification system that has separated family for 13 years”. The article described the journey of Susan Dahal and her husband Raj, who were able to begin the formal process of reuniting with their 2 eldest children after 13 years of separation and being locked in a legal limbo that barred them from sponsoring family members. By: Rochelle Hotchkin | 7 September 2025 - Read the article here.
ABC News - “Afghan refugees in Australia deeply worried those left behind with the Taliban have been forgotten”. The article explored the growing sense of abandonment felt by Afghan refugees in Australia following the Taliban's takeover of their homeland in late 2021, with many expressing deep anxiety over their uncertain legal status and the safety of family members they had to leave behind. By: Aryana Mohmood and Nibir Khan | 27 December 2021 - Read the article here.
SBS News - “Australia's 'lowest priority': The men waiting a decade to reunite with their families”. The article detailed the decade-long separation of refugee men in Australia from their families due to a discriminatory ‘lowest priority’ processing policy, highlighting the psychological toll of missing their children growing up and remaining in a state of constant anxiety. By: Rebekah Holt | 14 April 2021 - Read the article here.
Where to go to learn more:
(2025) Reuniting refugee families – How to fix family reunion for refugees | Refugee Council - This open letter advocated to ‘fix delays and address aging out issues … by prioritising ‘aged out’ adult children to be reunited with parents’. View the full open letter here.
(2025) Policy Paper - Fairness | Asylum Seeker Resource Centre - This paper advocated for the improvement of family reunification rights awarded to asylum seeker and refugee communities, by recommending supporting children who age out of Child (Subclass 101) visas and reuniting family members who were ‘aged-out’ of the family sponsorship stream. View the full paper here.
(2021) Together in Safety – A Report on the Australian Government’s Separation of Families Seeking Safety | Human Rights Law Centre - This report outlined the restrictive practices of family separation of asylum seekers and refugees in Australia, placing a spotlight on the discrimination imposed, and the distress and harm that this causes. View the full report here.
(2018) Understanding the Mental Health Consequences of Family Separation for Refugees: Implications for Policy and Practice | American Journal of Orthopsychiatry - This study provided insight into the ramifications of family separation policies which asylum seekers and refugees are subject to. Read the full study here.
(2017) Report of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants on his mission to Australia and the regional processing centres in Nauru | United Nations General Assembly - This report explained the situations that asylum seekers and refugees navigate in Australia, including stories of first-hand contact with distressed people separated from their families. Read the full report here.
(2023) Opportunities for Global Leadership: Australia’s Role in Refugee Resettlement and Protection | Refugee Council of Australia - This response to the Australian Government’s Discussion Paper on the 2023-2024 Humanitarian Program contributed an analysis of the current processes in place for refugee and asylum seekers seeking humanitarian aid, and contributes urgent, medium-term, and long-term solutions to the improvement of these processes. Read the full response here.
Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth) - Read the full Regulations here.
Human Perspective:
Trigger Warning: Ethnic discrimination, distressing experiences of asylum seekers and refugees facing family separation for extended periods
Aadhi arrived in Australia in 2012 by boat after fleeing Sri Lanka in fear of persecution as a Tamil person. He hoped to secure a new home for himself and his family. He was recognised as a refugee on Australian shores, but was granted only temporary protection through a Safe Haven Enterprise Visa. With this visa, he worked in regional Australia, and sent whatever money he could save back home. With no permanent residence pathway in place for another 11 years, he was unable to sponsor his family to come to Australia and reunite, therefore keeping him separated from his loved ones for what he felt could be forever. Aadhi’s 3 children grew up without their father, and his youngest son only knew him through WhatsApp. Despite significant stress on their marriage and family, Aadhi and his wife continued to hold out hope for reunification. When he was finally granted a RoS visa in 2024, Aadhi immediately began searching for ways to utilise his permanent residency to bring his family to join him.
Aadhi made friends with another man who was granted refugee status in Australia upon arrival, who did not arrive by boat. He found out that this friend was able to sponsor his family to come to Australia for free and without age restrictions, through the Special Humanitarian Program (SHP). However, after researching, Aadhi found that he would not have access to the SHP due to his mode of arrival and would instead have to save up for the immense expenses associated with the family stream, including a Partner visa and Child visas. He also discovered that he would not be able to sponsor his eldest daughter, as during the wait for his permanent residency, she had aged out of eligibility. At 22 years old, she was no longer considered to be ‘dependent’ because she did not study full-time, despite still being completely financially dependent on her parents, and being a key support for her disabled younger brother. Aadhi and his wife could not imagine leaving their daughter alone in an increasingly dangerous environment, thus leaving their family in an impossible, interminable limbo.
To protect the anonymity of those involved, this is a fictionalised account drawn from an amalgamation of real-life stories, experiences and testimonials gathered during the research process for this brief. Any resemblance to actual individuals is purely coincidental.
Conflict of interest/acknowledgment statement:
N/A
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Reference list:
Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. (2025). Fairness: Permanent Protection & Fair Process. https://asrc.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Updated-Fairness-Policy-Paper-in-template.docx-2.pdf
Asylum Insight. (2021, June 1). The legacy caseload. https://www.asyluminsight.com/the-legacy-caseload
Department of Home Affairs. (2026, May 15). Migration Program planning levels. Australian Government. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/migration-program-planning-levels
Department of Home Affairs. (2026, May 7). Resolution of Status visa (subclass 851). Australian Government. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/resolution-of-status-851
Department of Home Affairs. (2026, May 5). Global Special Humanitarian visa (subclass 202). Australian Government. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/global-special-humanitarian-202
Department of Home Affairs. (2025, October 24). Child visa (subclass 101). Australian Government. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/child-101
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada. (2025, July 3.). Who you can include as a dependent child on an immigration application. Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/age-limit-requirements-dependent-children.html
Human Rights Law Centre. (2021, June). Together in safety. https://www.hrlc.org.au/app/uploads/2025/04/HRLC_Together_in_Safety_REPORT.pdf
Jesuit Refugee Service Australia. (2023, April 18). Undoing a decade of enforced family separation. https://aus.jrs.net/en/news/policy-note-tpv-shev-visa-holders-undoing-a-decade-of-enforced-family-separation
Migration Regulations 1994 (Cth). https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1069515/1226_1296040337_4d3eee082-3.pdf
Nomos Legal. (2025, July 11). Australia's Family Migration Backlog: A Growing Crisis with No End in Sight. https://www.nomos.com.au/blog/australias-family-migration-backlog-a-growing-crisis-with-no-end-in-sight/
Refugee Council of Australia. (2023, May). Opportunities for Global Leadership: Australia’s Role in Refugee Resettlement and Protection – Response to the Australian Government discussion paper on the 2023–24 Humanitarian Program. https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/RCOA-2023-24-Humanitarian-Program-Submission.pdf
Refugee Council of Australia. (2023, November 24). Refugee Council welcomes lifting of restriction on refugee family reunion. https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/refugee-council-welcomes-lifting-of-restriction-on-refugee-family-reunion
Refugee Council of Australia. (2025, March). Reuniting refugee families: How to fix family reunion for refugees [Open Letter]. https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Family-reunion-brief-2025.docx.pdf
Refugee Council of Australia. (2026, May 9). Fast tracking and ‘Legacy Caseload’ statistics. https://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/fast-tracking-statistics
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