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Moving to Australia with your family: permanent residency and planning your assets

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For many Chinese-Indonesian families, Australian permanent residency is a long-term plan: for the children’s education, for security, or to be near family already here. The visa is only one part of the move. What the family owns, where the business sits and how the estate is planned all change once family members become Australian residents. This guide gives an overview of both sides.

Pathways to permanent residency, in general terms

Australia’s visa programs change often, and some business and investor streams have closed to new applicants in recent years. The right pathway depends on each family member’s age, skills, work history, English, family ties and funds. Common routes include:

• Employer-sponsored visas, including where a family business has an Australian arm that needs a genuine manager or specialist.
• Skilled visas for applicants whose occupation, age and points qualify.
• Visas for exceptional talent, for people with an internationally recognised record of achievement.
• Partner visas for spouses and de facto partners of Australian citizens and permanent residents.
• Parent visas for parents of settled Australian children, including contributory visas that cost more but are processed faster.

Our team includes two Accredited Specialists in Immigration Law, and we regularly act in complex applications, refusals and tribunal reviews. For detailed immigration information, visit our immigration website, australiamigrationlawyer.com.au.

Plan your assets before you arrive

Once a family member becomes an Australian tax resident, their worldwide income and gains may be taxed in Australia. Decisions made before the move, about who owns the family business, what is gifted, how investments are held and which trusts exist, can make a large difference later. These decisions also interact with Indonesian law, including citizenship and land ownership rules, so your Indonesian advisers should be involved.

Property: buy before or after?

Whether a family member is a “foreign person” for Australian property purposes depends on their visa status at the time of purchase. A temporary visa holder may face FIRB requirements and foreign purchaser taxes that a permanent resident would not. Timing a purchase around the visa, and choosing whose name it is bought in, can affect costs and control. See our guide on moving family wealth from Indonesia to Australia.

Wills and powers of attorney for your new life

A family settling in Australia should have Australian wills and enduring powers of attorney that work with the family’s Indonesian arrangements and do not accidentally revoke them. Testamentary trusts can protect children’s inheritances, and guardianship clauses matter for young children. See an Australian will alongside your Indonesian will and estate planning in Victoria.

One team for the whole move

Families moving to Australia often deal with a migration agent, a real estate agent, a conveyancer, an accountant and an estate lawyer who never speak to each other. Chua Tan Associates has acted for overseas Chinese families since 1990 and can handle the immigration, property, wills and estate planning together, coordinating with your accountant in Australia and advisers in Indonesia.

More guides for families in Indonesia

• Family Business Succession When the Next Generation Lives in Australia
• Family Inheritance Disputes Across Indonesia and Australia
• Moving Family Wealth from Indonesia to Australia: Planning the Transfer
• Inheriting Melbourne property when a parent dies in Indonesia
• Buying a Melbourne apartment for a child studying in Australia
• Using Indonesian documents in Australia
• An Australian will alongside your Indonesian will
• All our services for families and businesses in Indonesia

Part of our guide: Immigration and visas · see all related guides

Important: this article is general information about Australian law as at October 2026. It is not legal, tax or migration advice, and you must not rely on it to make decisions. Laws and visa programs change, and the right answer depends on your circumstances. Please book a consultation for advice on your situation. We do not advise on Indonesian law; we work with your Indonesian advisers.