VisAustraliaVisAustraliaParent visas allow Australian permanent residents or citizens to sponsor parents to migrate to Australia.
Parent visas are open to those parents who pass the balance of the family test. This requires parents to have at least half of their children settled in Australia. This means you can sponsor your parents if you are living in Australia and you have one sibling overseas but if there are two siblings overseas, you cannot sponsor your parents.
Parents are always welcome to apply for a Visitor visa to come to Australia to visit.
To be a formal sponsor you need to be living in Australia for a period of two 2 years before you can sponsor your parents to apply for the visa. You must also give a written undertaking to provide support, accommodation, and financial assistance to your parents during their first 2 years in Australia.
There are a number of different Parent visas. Parent visas are divided by age, with different visas for parents who are over 67 years old, by place being whether your parents are already in Australia or overseas, and whether your parents can contribute to the cost of medical expenses when the visa is granted. Parent Visa can also be provisional, being visas that transition to permanent residence, or permanent.
Visa processing times for non-contributory visas are excessive and in the order of 30 years. The reason for this is the Australian Government grants very few Parent visas each year, and there is now an large number of people waiting in the queue for the available visas.
Contributory parent visas
In 2003 the Australian Government created the Contributory Parent visa under which visa applicants, or their sponsors, can make a lump sum payment of around AUD $43,000 per parent to the Australian Government just before the visa is granted. This payment covers likely on-going medical expenses in Australia.
However, the waiting time for the Contributory Parent visas is now around 6 years.
If your parents are over 67 years old and retired and are in Australia on a Visitor visa, they can apply for an Aged Parent or an Aged Contributory Parent visa. On applying for the visa, your parents will be granted a bridging visa that will allow them to continue living in Australia until the visa is processed.
If your parents are not over 67 years old or not in Australia they cannot apply for an on-shore Aged Parent visa. While they can apply for a Visitor visa and come to visit, if they also apply for an off-shore Contributory Parent visa, they will need to wait for the Parent visa to be granted.
For more information about this strategy and general advice we encourage you to contact us and book a time for a consultation.
This is the temporary version of the Contributory Parent visa that you apply for from outside Australia. It allows a parent of a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen to stay in Australia for two years. At the end of this period, you can transition to a permanent Subclass 143 visa.
The current waiting time for this visa is between 5 and 6 years.
Applying for this visa allows you to divide the full cost of applying for a Contributory Parent visa into two parts.
This visa allows you to spread the cost of applying for a permanent Parent visa over a number of years by applying in 2 steps:
To be eligible to apply for this visa you must:
To discover whether you are eligible for Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa, we invite you to book a consultation with one of our expert migration lawyers.
Contributory Parent visas are currently taking around 5.5 years to process. These time frames are subject to change.
You pay for this visa in 2 instalments. The first instalment is paid when you apply for the visa and the second instalment at the end of the processing period.
In no case will the second instalment be paid and a visa not granted.
First instalment – initial application fee:
Second instalment for each applicant = AUD$ 29,130.
To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not include other costs you might also have to pay such as those for police certificates, health checks, biometrics and professional fees to get assistance with the visa application process from an immigration lawyer/agent.
This is the permanent version of the Contributory Parent visa. It allows a parent of a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen to move to Australia permanently. You can apply for this visa from inside our outside Australia.
The current waiting time for this visa is between 5 and 6 years.
You can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want for 5 years from the date of the visa grant. This is as long as the travel facility on this visa remains valid.
You can apply for the Subclass 143 visa as a two-step process by first applying for a Contributory Parent (Temporary) (Subclass 173) visa. Applying for the Subclass 173 visa and then the subclass 143 visa allows you to spread the cost of the visas over a number of years.
To be eligible to apply for this visa you must:
To discover whether you are eligible for Contributory Parent (Permanent) visa, we invite you to book a consultation with one of our expert migration lawyers.
Processing times are indicative only and may vary depending on individual circumstances or government policy.
This visa takes approximately 5 to 6 years to process and is a permanent visa from the date of the approval.
This visa costs in total AUD $47,825.
You pay for this visa in 2 instalments. The first instalment is paid when you apply for the visa and the second instalment at the end of the processing period after you have passed the health and character tests.
In most cases the second payment is made 5 – 6 years after the first payment. In no case will the second instalment be paid and a visa not granted.
First instalment – initial application fee:
Second instalment for each applicant = AUD$ 43,600
If you are a Subclass 173 visa holder then the second instalment for each applicant for the Subclass 143 is $19,420.
To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not include other costs you might also have to pay such as those for police certificates, health checks, biometrics and professional fees to get assistance with the visa application process from an immigration lawyer/agent.
This is the temporary version of the Contributory Aged Parent visa for people who in Australia and over 67 years old. It allows a parent of a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen to stay temporarily in Australia for two years. At the end of this period, you can transition to a permanent Subclass 864 visa.
The current waiting time for this visa is between 5 and 6 years.
If you apply for this visa while in Australia with a Visitor visa, you will be granted a bridging visa that will allow you to keep living in Australia until the visa is decided.
You can apply for the permanent subclass 864 visa as a two-step process by first applying for a Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) Subclass 884 visa. Applying for the Subclass 884 visa and then the Subclass 864 visa allows you to spread the cost of the visas over a number of years.
If you are in Australia as the holder of a valid visa and you make an application for a Contributory parent visa (subclass 884), you can be granted a Bridging Visa “A” (BVA). The BVA enables you to remain lawfully in Australia while your visa application is being processed.
To be eligible to apply for this visa you must:
To discover whether you are eligible for Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) visa, we invite you to book a consultation with one of our expert migration lawyers.
Processing times are indicative only and may vary depending on individual circumstances or government policy.
This visa takes approximately 5 to 6 years to process.
This visa costs from AUD $ 33,285.
You pay for this visa in 2 instalments.
The first instalment is paid when you apply for the visa and the second instalment is paid just before the visa is approved. In no case will a second instalment be paid and a visa not granted.
First instalment – initial application fee:
Second instalment for each applicant = AUD$ 29,130.
To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not include other costs you might also have to pay such as those for police certificates, health checks, biometrics and professional fees to get assistance with the visa application process from an immigration lawyer/agent.
Applying for this visa allows you to divide the cost of applying for a Contributory Parent visa into two parts.
This is the permanent version of the Contributory Aged Parent visa. It allows a parent of a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen to move to Australia permanently. You must be over 67 years old and be in Australia when you apply.
The current waiting time for this visa is between 5 and 6 years.
On applying for the visa, you will be granted a bridging visa that will allow you to keep living in Australia until the visa is decided.
You can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want for 5 years from the date of the visa grant.
You can apply for the Subclass 864 visa as a two-step process by first applying for a Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) (Subclass 884) visa. Applying for the Subclass 884 visa and then the Subclass 864 visa allows you to spread the cost of the visas over a number of years.
If you are in Australia as the holder of a valid visa and you make an application for a Contributory parent visa (Subclass 864), you will be granted a Bridging Visa “A” (BVA). The BVA enables you to remain lawfully in Australia while your visa application is being processed.
To be eligible to apply for this visa you must:
To discover whether you are eligible for Contributory Aged Parent (Permanent) visa, we invite you to book a consultation with one of our expert migration lawyers.
Processing times are indicative only and may vary depending on individual circumstances or government policy.
This visa takes approximately 5 to 6 years to process.
This visa costs from AUD $47,755.
You pay for this visa in 2 instalments. The first instalment is paid when you apply for the visa and the second instalment is paid just before the visa is approved. In no case will a second instalment be paid and a visa not granted.
First instalment – initial application fee:
Second instalment for each applicant = AUD$ 43,600
If you are a Subclass 884 visa holder then the second instalment for each applicant to apply for this permanent visa Subclass 864 is $19,420 instead.
To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not include other costs you might also have to pay such as those for police certificates, health checks, biometrics and professional fees to get assistance with the visa application process from an immigration lawyer/agent.
This is the permanent Aged Parent visa. It allows a parent of a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen to move to Australia permanently. You must be over 67 years old and be in Australia when you apply.
The current waiting time for this visa is around 30 years.
On applying for the visa, you will be granted a bridging visa that will allow you to keep living in Australia until the visa is decided.
To be eligible to apply for this visa you must:
To discover whether you are eligible for Aged Parent visa (subclass 804), we invite you to book a consultation with one of our expert migration lawyers.
The processing time for this visa is excessive and are currently running at 30 years.
You would realistically only apply for this visa as a strategy to access the bridging visa that would then allow you to live in Australia while awaiting visa processing.
This visa costs from AUD6,415. There is also an additional charge for each family member who applies with you.
It is significantly less expensive than the Contributory Parent visas.
To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not include other costs you might also have to pay such as those for second instalment, police certificates, health checks, biometrics and professional fees to get assistance with the visa application process from an immigration lawyer/agent.
This temporary visa lets a parent of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen visit Australia for up to 3 or 5 years.
You cannot work in Australia while you hold this visa.
Please note that this visa does not lead to permanent residence. You cannot apply for a permanent parent visa when you have this visa.
You must have an approved Parent Sponsor to apply for this visa.
Your sponsor’s household is limited to one sponsorship at a time.
Your sponsor’s sponsorship can cover up to 2 parents per household at a time.
Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa applicants must:
To discover whether you are eligible for Sponsored Parent visa (subclass 870), we invite you to book a consultation with one of our expert migration lawyers.
Processing times are indicative only and may vary depending on individual circumstances or government policy.
The latest processing times published by the Department of Home Affairs are as follows:
This visa costs from:
You pay for this visa in 2 parts called instalments.
Pay the first instalment when you apply. Pay the second instalment when required.
To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not include other costs you might also have to pay such as those for second instalment, police certificates, health checks, biometrics and professional fees to get assistance with the visa application process from an immigration lawyer/agent.
This permanent visa lets a parent of a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen move to Australia.
You can travel to and from Australia as many times as you want for 5 years from the date of the visa grant. This is as long as the travel facility on this visa remains valid.
If you want to travel after the initial 5-year travel facility:
To be eligible to apply for this visa you must:
To discover whether you are eligible for Parent visa (subclass 103), we invite you to book a consultation with one of our expert migration lawyers.
The processing time for this visa is unavailable. Applications are subject to capping and queueing.
This visa costs from AUD6,415. There is also an additional charge for each family member who applies with you.
You pay for this visa in 2 parts, called instalments.
1st instalment – initial application fee:
Pay the first instalment when you apply. Pay the second instalment when required.
To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not include other costs you might also have to pay such as those for second instalment, police certificates, health checks, biometrics and professional fees to get assistance with the visa application process from an immigration lawyer/agent.
English 
Spanish