The Australian Government has announced major changes to how Parents can join their children in Australia. We assess your eligibility & options based on the new rules.
At Sterling Migration, we know that as parents, we miss our children and grandchildren when they leave us, and we all want to be close to help them and remain a part of their lives.
With a variety of parent visas available for Australia, it is possible for parents to emigrate who meet the qualifying criteria as laid out in Australian law.
We advocate for parents who wish to emigrate daily and have assisted thousands of families to be reunited so far.
Our endeavours are focused on building successful cases and helping our clients mitigate any potential risks posed by the immigration system to their short and long-term plans.
Complete our enquiry form and one of our senior Australian migration managers will be happy to provide personal advice on your options and send you our brochure on how Parents can emigrate to Australia via email.
Our Parent guide is packed with useful information you will need to know when emigrating to Australia.
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Within the Parent category, there are two visa subclasses:
(for Contributory Parent category see below)
Subclass 103 may be lodged while the applicant is still in Australia (if the applicant does not have a condition 8503 on their last visa and is not otherwise prohibited from applying), however, the applicant will not be entitled to a Bridging visa while the application is processed, and must be outside Australia at the time the visa is granted.
Subclass 804 visas are for applicants in Australia. In order to qualify you must be:
65 years of age if you are a male applicant, and of an age eligible to receive the age pension in Australia if you are a female applicant. This will depend on your date of birth (see table below) and ranges between 60 and 65 years of age.
Date of birth of woman | Qualifying age for woman |
1 Jan 1946 – 30 Jun 1947 | 64 |
1 Jul 1947 – 31 Dec 1948 | 64.5 |
1 Jan 1949 onwards | 65 |
A Contributory Parent visa is a visa which requires a large financial contribution on behalf of the applicant (this includes large application fees as well as the provision of an assurance of support requiring payment of a large bond)?
Where are four different types of Contributory Parent visas:
The difference between these subclasses is essential that some are temporary and some are permanent, some are for ‘aged’ parents, and some are for parents who are not aged. The benefit of the temporary visas is that payment of the large visa application charges, AOS and bond can be staggered between the time of application for the temporary visa, to the time just prior to the grant of the permanent visa.
WARNING: A person who holds or held a temporary Contributory Parent / Contributory Aged Parent visa since last entering Australia is restricted by law from applying for any other visa other than the corresponding permanent Contributory Parent visa, a Medical Treatment visa or a Protection visa while they remain in Australia.
Subclass 143 visa applications may be lodged while the applicant is still in Australia (if the applicant does not have a condition 8503 on their last visa and is not otherwise prohibited from applying), however, unless the applicant is the holder of a subclass 173 visa they will not be entitled to a Bridging visa while the application is processed, and must be outside Australia at the time the visa is granted.
This visa will be granted if you choose to pay the entire second instalment in one payment. Once granted the visa, the visa holder becomes a permanent resident.
Subclass 173 visa applications may be lodged while the applicant is still in Australia (if the applicant does not have a condition 8503 on their last visa and is not otherwise prohibited from applying), however, the applicant will not be entitled to a Bridging visa while the application is processed, and must be outside Australia at the time the visa is granted.
This is a temporary two-year visa. It will be granted to you if you choose to pay 60% of the second instalment as a first payment, followed by the remaining 40% after two years (at which time you will be granted a Subclass 143 visa which gives you permanent residence).
This visa will be granted if you choose to pay the entire second instalment in one payment. Once granted the visa, the visa holder becomes a permanent resident.
Subclass 884 visas are for applicants in Australia. In order to qualify, you must be:
This is a temporary two-year visa. It will be granted to you if you choose to pay 60% of the second instalment as a first payment, followed by the remaining 40% after two years (at which time you will be granted a Subclass 864 visa, which gives you permanent residence).
WARNING: A person granted a Contributory Parent visa cannot sponsor their partner or fiancé who was their partner before the grant of their Contributory Parent visa for 5 years from the time of the grant of their Contributory Parent visa.
The VAC now includes an extra charge for each applicant and/or dependent included in your application. The cost is different depending on the number of dependants included in the application, and whether your dependants are over or under 18 years of age at the time of lodgement.
You will need to include the following types of evidence in support of your application:
Any photocopies of documents to be included with the application must be certified by Haskew Law. People who make a statutory declaration for you must attach a certified copy of the front page of their passport, permanent resident’s visa, Australian citizenship certificate or birth certificate if the person making the statutory declaration was born in Australia. The statutory declaration must be signed in front of a solicitor, Justice of the Peace or bank manager.
Any documents which are not in English should be translated by an accredited translator. Both the translation and a certified copy of the untranslated original should be submitted with the application.
A ‘Substituted 676 visa’ is a Tourist subclass 676 visa that has been granted by the Minister as a result of a request for Ministerial intervention. Substituted 676 visa holders may apply for any visa, but are assessed against special eligibility criteria for the following visas only:
Substituted 676 visa holders who apply for any of these visas must satisfy the same eligibility criteria as any other applicant, with the following exceptions:
Substituted 676 visa holders must, however, meet all other criteria, including having an appropriate sponsor over the age of 18 and providing an AOS.
– The visa label for a substituted 676 visa is indistinguishable from an ordinary Tourist subclass 676, although a Substituted 676 will never have a no further stay condition 8503 on it. Accordingly, if a subclass 676 visa has a condition 8503 on it, it is not a Substituted 676. However, an ordinary Tourist subclass 676 visas may also be issued without an 8503 condition. Therefore, it is important for Haskew Law to review any correspondence between the visa holder and the Department, and to identify the visa holder’s immigration history, in order to ascertain whether the visa is a Substituted 676 and therefore whether the visa holder can access the special eligibility criteria for the visas listed above.
Discuss your eligibility and explore your options with a dedicated migration specialist.
There are seven parent visa subclasses. Four provide permanent residency, while three offer temporary residency.
The Department of Home Affairs no longer publishes a year estimate for the Non-Contributory Parent visa. It releases applications in queue order and is currently finalising applications queued around twelve years ago, so plan for a wait of that order or longer. For those over 67 years old, it is possible to apply once you have arrived in Australia and remain on a bridging visa. While holding a bridging visa, your Aged Non-Contributory Parent Visa is being processed.
AUD 6,600 Initial Applicant
AUD 3,300 Partner
AUD 2,065 2nd instalment due when the visa is approved per person
The sponsoring child must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen who is settled in Australia.
AUD 5,000 for a Single Parent
AUD 2,000 for an additional Parent
Police Report approx. AUD 200
Medical Report approx. AUD 500
The Department of Home Affairs releases Contributory Parent applications in queue order and is currently finalising applications queued around seven years ago, so plan for a wait of several years.
For those over 67 years old, you can be in Australia when applying for an Aged Contributory Parent Visa and remain in Australia on a bridging visa until the case is complete.
For those under 67 years, you will apply off-shore. During this time you are able to visit Australia, or subsequently apply for a temporary parent visa to stay for up to 10 years while your application is being processed.
AUD 6,300 Initial Applicant
AUD 2,125 Partner
AUD 43,600 per parent. This is payable when the visa is approved.
The sponsoring child must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen who is settled in Australia.
Your child must be over 18 and have held PR for over two years.
AUD 10,000 for a Single Parent
AUD 4,000 for an additional Parent
AUD 83,454.80 of household taxable income
The sponsor can combine income with a spouse, de facto partner or another child of the parent, contributing at least half of the AUD 83,454.80 themselves
For Assurance of Support income requirements, Services Australia calculates the minimum from current JobSeeker and Family Tax Benefit rates for the household.
Police Report approx. AUD 200
Medical Report approx. AUD 500
The sponsorship application is assessed first, and processing times vary with the Department’s caseload.
The sponsoring child must have been lawfully Resident in Australia for over 4-years and hold PR or citizenship.
AUD 83,454.80 of household taxable income
The sponsor can combine income with a spouse, de facto partner or another child of the parent, contributing at least half of the AUD 83,454.80 themselves
For Assurance of Support income requirements, Services Australia calculates the minimum from current JobSeeker and Family Tax Benefit rates for the household.
A separate application charge of AUD 420
Once the sponsor (Your child) has been approved, we may file for the Temporary Parent Visa, with processing times varying with demand.
AUD 1,515 Initial Government fee – per person
AUD 4,855 On approval of the visa – per person
AUD 1,515 Initial Government fee – per person
AUD 10,925 on approval of the visa, per person
Police Report approx. AUD 200
Medical Report approx. AUD 500
Permanent parent visas carry full work rights. The temporary Sponsored Parent visa (subclass 870) does not permit work.
The Department of Home Affairs is currently finalising non contributory parent applications queued around twelve years ago, and the wait for new applicants is likely to be longer still. This can be a disincentive for many parents.
Contributory parent applications queued around seven years ago are now being finalised, a far shorter wait.
You can apply for an Aged Parent Visa starting from the age of 67. The aged Parent Visas have certain advantages over the Parent visa streams. However, they do not expedite the process.
Everything indicates that Australia would prefer to abolish the Parent visa stream as they deem Parents as liabilities and possible burdens on the public purse who have paid their income taxes to another country.
Therefore, the benefits of issuing parent visas are outweighed by the risks.
However, if you receive your invitation to emigrate prior to any potential changes, any new laws will not affect you retrospectively.
Yes, it is important that parents budget for medical insurance. The Australian Medicare system will not provide adequate cover as the parent would not have paid into the system.
Temporary Parent Visas are issued for three or five years, you are able to apply for a temporary visa several times, but the limit is capped at ten years. They are designed to allow a grandparent residency in Australia during the formative years of their grandchildren’s lives.
Once the children have grown, or the visa expires, the grandparents are expected to return to their country of origin.
There may be ways to extend beyond that time period based on the current law. However, there is no way to foresee what the policy will be like in ten years or even three.
To be eligible for a permanent Parent visa, at least half of your children must live permanently in Australia, or more of your children must live permanently in Australia than in any other country.
This includes stepchildren and adopted children.
There is no family test to be eligible for a Temporary Parent visa. However, your child must be settled in Australia as a citizen or permanent resident.
Aged parents living overseas first approached Sterling after hearing that their daughter, an Australian permanent resident in Brisbane, was expecting her first child. They had a matter of months to be present for the birth. They wanted to remain in Australia afterwards, for the early years, and indefinitely.
We completed the substantive paperwork before they travelled, so that nothing in the file would later jeopardise the plan.
The balance of family was confirmed; the sponsoring child’s residence and capacity to sponsor were documented; medical and character evidence were assembled in advance. Both parents were above the Australian Aged Pension age. Sterling then placed the family on a defined Aged Parent strategy that has, over twenty-five years, become a quiet feature of our practice.
The strategy is not set out on these pages; it is the substance of the conversation we have with each family at the beginning of an Aged Parent matter.
The grandparents were present at the birth. They are present today, settled near their daughter, enrolled in Medicare, and known to their granddaughter from her first week of life.
Discuss your eligibility and explore your options with a dedicated migration specialist.
Whether you have questions or need guidance on your Australian immigration path, our specialists are ready to listen and advise. Contact us today.
