Parent Visas

Overseas Parents may be able to migrate to or temporarily stay in Australia if they have a child/children in Australia who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.

Parent includes an adoptive parent and a step-parent.

Generally, the following requirements are common for all Parent Visa Subclasses:

• Applicants must be a parent of a child who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen;

• Your child must be settled in Australia (in most cases, resident for at least 2 years) and must sponsor you;

• Applicants must pass the Balance of Family Test – which basically requires at least half of your children to live permanently in Australia or you must have more children living permanently in Australia than in any other single country;

• Applicants must meet Health and Character requirements;
  Applicants must, in addition to paying the 1st Visa Application Charge upon lodging a visa application and meeting the requirements listed above, must also pay a second instalment of the Visa Application Charge;

• If applying for any permanent Parent Visa, you will also be required to provide an acceptable Assurance of Support and provide evidence of payment of an Assurance of Support bond;

• If applying for any Aged Parent Visa, you must be an Aged Parent.

Once all the legal requirements for the grant of a visa in the Parent category are met, applications are placed in a queue for visa grant. Given the number of parent visa applications exceeds the number of places available, applications for the existing parent visa will be held in a queue, possibly for several years.

All applicants for a visa in the Parent category can expect a very substantial wait before their applications are finalised.

Therefore, subject to finances applicants should, consider the Contributory Parent Visa Subclasses.

The Contributory Parent category was introduced in mid-2003 to allow the expansion of the Parent migration program on the basis that applicants pay a higher visa application charge and a larger Assurance of Support (AoS) bond (with a longer Assurance of Support period.) There are considerably more places available in the Contributory Parent category each year than are available in the Parent category.