If you have a family member who is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, or are in a relationship with such a person, you may be eligible for one of the 'family' visas.  All family visas require sponsorship by your relative/partner.  Some may also require the payment of a 'bond'.

The key 'family' visas include:

Partner/spouse visas

These are for people who are in a 'genuine and ongoing' relationship with an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.  This includes de-facto/common law relationships and same sex relationships.  There are onshore and offshore options for this visa.  There are lengthy processing delays within this visa category so careful advance planning regarding where you will be when you lodge is very important.

Fiance visa

These are for individuals who are engaged to an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and have or will make plans to marry within 9 months of the date of visa grant.  This visa must be applied for offshore and you must be offshore when the visa is granted, although visits to Australia on a visitor visa during the processing phase might be a possibility.

Parent visas

These are for people with one or more children 'settled' in Australia as citizens, permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens, where the number of other children living overseas is either equal to or does not exceed the number in Australia, or is less than the greatest number of children residing in any single overseas country (this is called the ‘Balance of Family’ test).  There are currently both contributory parent and non-contributory parent visas available - the former does require the payment of very significant fees to the Department of Immigration and please note that it is likely that the Department of Immigration may remove the non-contributory parent visa options with little notice in the near future.  There are onshore and offshore options with this visa category, and processing is not fast, so planning whether you lodge onshore or offshore is important.

There are also temporary parent visas available for people who do not pass the Balance of Family test or who do not want to seek permanent residency of Australia.  These visas allow stays of up to 10 years in total. 

Child visas

These are for children (including step and adopted) of Australian citizens, permanent relatives and eligible New Zealand citizens who are less than 18 years old (with some very limited exceptions to this age limit).