This visa category may be relevant where a person wishes to apply for a visa based on their relationship with an Australian citizen or permanent resident. The person must satisfy all the requirements for a visa, and does not have an automatic right to come to or remain in Australia based on the relationship. The criteria for some visa types will be easier to satisfy than others. For some visa types, such as parent visas, the waiting periods are extremely lengthy. A wide range of relationships are covered under the family visa class, including:

DIMIA has a number of booklets about family migration, which cover the areas of partner migration, child migration, parent migration and other family migration.