Parent Migration

The Parent visa is for the parent or parents who wish to migrate to Australia to be with their children. The application must be sponsored by the child and the child must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen who is permanently resident and settled in Australia.

There are two different pathways for parent migration.  The “slow, cheap” visa and the “fast, expensive” one.

To be eligible to apply for any of the parent visas the parent applicants must meet what is called the 'balance of family' (BOF) test. This means the applicants must have:

• at least half of their children living lawfully and permanently in Australia, or
• more children living lawfully and permanently in Australia than in any other single country overseas

Children of both parents are counted in the test, including any children of previous relationships or de facto relationships of either parent.

Some single, aged parents who do not meet the BOF test may be eligible under the Aged Dependent Relative category if they are able to prove that they are dependent on their relative (child) in Australia.

The different parent visas are outlined below:

STANDARD PARENT VISA

This is this “slow cheap” visa and can usually be applied for onshore or offshore if certain conditions are met.

Onshore Lodgement

Parents may apply for an Aged Parent visa in Australia (onshore) only if one parent is old enough to be granted an Australian age pension. For men the qualifying age for an Australian age pension is 65 and for women it is gradually being increased from 60 to 65 (currently around 63).  They must also be in Australia on a visa that allows them to make a further onshore application (IE – not have a visa with a “no further stay” condition on it).

Offshore Lodgement

If the above conditions are not met, then the application is lodged offshore.

Assurance of Support

All applicants applying for parent visas require an Assurance of Support (AoS). An AoS is a legal commitment by the assurer to repay the Commonwealth of Australia any benefits paid to those applicants covered by the assurance. This is for the first two years after the applicants migrate from overseas or are granted permanent residence in Australia. However, an AoS bond is only payable for adult applicants. The amount of the bond is AU$3,500.00 for the first applicant and AU$1,500.00 for each other applicant over 18 years old.

To be an assurer, you must be at least 18 years of age, be usually resident in Australia and be an Australian Citizen, Australian permanent resident or a New Zealand Citizen who is a “protected special category visa holder”.  An assurer must have a taxable income above the threshold amount for the last two financial years and be able to provide evidence of this (Australian Tax Returns for the previous two years).

Once accepted an AoS cannot be withdrawn or cancelled.

Essentially this means that if the visa holder makes a claim for Social Security payments during their first two years, these payments will be deducted from the Assurance of Support Bond.  If the claims exceed the bond amount, then the Assuror will be responsible for paying the claim about back to the Government.

Recoverable social security payments are:

Newstart Allowance

Special Benefit

Parenting Payment (Partnered)

Youth Allowance

Austudy Payment

Widows Allowance

Mature Age Allowance

Partner Allowance

Crisis Payment

Processing Times and Queue Dates

The Parent visa classes are subject to capping. In the 2005-06 Migration Program there are approximately 500 Parent places available worldwide. Once all the legal requirements for the grant of a Parent visa are met, applications are placed in a queue for visa grant.

Currently there are around 12,000 parents in the queue and around 10,000 being processed toward placement in the queue. Parents can expect to wait many years for a visa to be granted (seven to ten years).

While waiting for the Parent visa to be processed, the parents can apply for a Visitor visa to visit their children in Australia. 

The current Visa Application Charge is currently payable in two instalments. The first instalment of AU$1,390.00 total (if lodged offshore) or AU$2,060.00 total (onshore) is payable at the time of lodging the visa application and the second instalment of AU$1,205.00 (each) is payable before the visa is granted.

CONTRIBUTORY PARENT VISA CATEGORY

On 1 July 2003 the Department of Immigration introduced new visa arrangements for people wishing to migrate to Australia as parents of children who are resident in Australia as citizens or permanent residents.

The new Subclasses of visa include:

For parents residing outside Australia:

• Subclass 143 Contributory Parent (Migrant) visa
• Subclass 173 Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa

For parents residing in Australia:

• Subclass 864 Contributory Aged Parent (Residence) visa
• Subclass 884 Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) visa

Parents of any age residing outside of Australia are able to apply however; Aged Parents residing in Australia will only be able to lodge their application in Australia (as outlined above). The visa applicant must also be able to demonstrate that they are able to satisfy the Balance of Family Test.

Both categories of visa incur a Government Lodgement Fee of AU$1,390.00 for applications lodged outside of Australia and AU$2,060.00 for applications lodged inside Australia. 

A second lodgement fee is payable under the Contributory Parent Visa Program.  The two payment options are as follows:-

Permanent Visa: - pay an AU$31,555.00 second Visa Application Charge per person (AU$1,205.00 for dependents under 18); or

Temporary Visa: - pay an AU$18,935.00 second Visa Application Charge per person (AU$1,365.00 for dependents under 18) which would entitle parents to a two-year temporary residence visa including Medicare access and work rights.

During the two year period on the temporary visa, parents may apply at any time for a permanent visa at which time the remaining payment of AU$12,625.00 per person Final Visa Application Charge would need to be paid.

Assurance of Support

The Contributory Parent visa category (permanent and temporary) also requires a 10 year, AU$10,000 Assurance of Support bond for main applicants, and AU$4,000 for adult secondary applicants.  This bond is the same as for the Standard Parent Visa but is held for 10 years instead of 2 and is for a larger amount.

The bond must be paid before approval of the PERMANENT visa application.  This means that if you apply for the temporary visa first you will have more time before you have to pay the bond.

Processing Times

Processing times are approximately 12 to 15 months from the date of lodgement and there will also be considerably more places available under four Contributory Parent visa categories each year i.e.:- 3,500 places will be available each year compared to the current 1,000 places available.

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