Australian parent visas: Bring your parents to Australia

Australian Parent visa types

Parent visas can be divided into several categories including:

• Permanent or temporary residence (whether you can stay in Australia indefinitely or not)
• Contributory or non-contributory (whether you have to pay a large amount upfront or not)
• Onshore or offshore (whether you can apply from Australia or outside)

Permanent residency visas are the most popular as they allow you to settle in Australia permanently and can lead to citizenship. They include:

• Subclass 143 – Contributory Parent visa
• Subclass 804 – Aged Parent visa
• Subclass 864 – Contributory Aged Parent visa

The subclass 884 (Contributory Aged Parent visa – Temporary) is the only temporary residency visa that allows you to apply for a permanent residency visa after it’s completed.

Australian Parent visa requirements

When you apply for an Australian parent visa, there are certain criteria that need to be met. Aside from mandatory medical certificates and police checks that all visa applications are subject to, you must also:

• Meet the balance of family test
• Be of a certain age
• Meet the Assurance of Support requirement

Balance of family test

To meet this requirement, at least 50% of your children have to reside in Australia. They must be permanent residents or citizens, and must have lived in Australia for at least two years. If you’re applying with a partner, this will include any stepchildren along with children you have together.

Age of the applicant

If you’re applying onshore from Australia then the main applicant must be 67 at the time of application. If you’re applying with a partner then their age is of no consequence.

You must be older than 18 if you are applying from outside of Australia.

Assurance of Support (AoS)

This is a bond that is paid to the Australian government by your sponsor – usually your adult child that you will be joining in Australia. The AoS for contributory visas is held for 10 years, while the AoS for non-contributory visas is held for four years. The AoS is given back to you after that time. The AoS is used by the government in case there is a circumstance where the parent visa applicants need to draw upon public funds.

Other criteria

The health and character checks are mandatory for all applicants applying for permanent visas. You will need to attend a medical examination and provide police checks to satisfy this requirement.

The Australian bridging system

When you apply for most types of visas in Australia, you are automatically granted a Bridging visa A (BVA). The BVA is designed to bridge the gap between the period of time when your current visa expires, and when the next visa is granted.

If you are applying for the subclass 804 (Aged Parent visa) or subclass 864 (Contributory Aged Parent visa), you will benefit from the BVA because of the long processing time of these visas. Logistically, you will come to Australia on a Visitor visa and then apply for a subclass 804 or a subclass 864. You will be granted a BVA, which will be dormant until your Visitor visa expires and then the BVA will come into effect. You will then be able to remain in Australia for an indefinite period, whilst your application is in process.

Australian parent visa waiting time and application process

When you engage our services, our Australian caseworkers will prepare the application in our Australian office and post it to Perth where it will be processed.

The contributory parent visas, both subclass 143 (Contributory Parent visa) and subclass 864 (Contributory Aged Parent visa), are currently estimated to take 12 years to process. These visas are part of a “cap and queue” system, meaning that there is a very small number of these visas that are processed a year and because of that the queue at this point in time is 12 years long.

Very few of the non-contributory visas (subclass 103 and subclass 804) are processed because the cap for these visas is so small, and with the amount of people applying for them, the queue is over thirty years long. The likelihood of it being granted in your lifetime is very low.

Australian Parent visa costs

The cost of an Australian Parent visa is split into a first and a second visa application charge (VAC), in addition to the AoS.

For the non-contributory visa, the subclass 804, you will likely only pay the first visa application charge (VAC) as there is a 30-year processing time for this visa.

Health insurance

Health insurance is not a government mandated charge, but it is wise to get some because you will not be able to access MediCare (Australia’s public medical system) until your permanent residency visa is issued. If you are applying for a subclass 804, you could be in Australia on a BVA for an indefinite amount of time, which means you will always need private medical insurance as paying for all your hospital and doctor’s visits can be expensive.