Parent Visas (Temporary and Permanent Options)

Parent Visa (Permanent)

The Parent Visa enables parents of children who are Australian citizens or permanent residents to be sponsored for permanent residence in Australia.

The Parent visa migration program is capped and queued, some visa types have a long processing time of up to 30 years. Your application will be processed in the order in which they are lodged.

Primary requirements

• Parent of a citizen or permanent resident
• The Applicant must be the parent of an Australian citizen or permanent resident who has spent at least two (2) years living in Australia
• Balance of Family Test
  You must pass the balance of family test (at least half of the applicants’ children and step-children must be citizens or permanent Residents in Australia, or more of the main applicants’ children must be settled permanent citizen or residents of Australia than any other single country)
• Applications lodged onshore for both the non-contributory and contributory parent visas require the main applicant to be 67 years of age or older.
• Assurance of support (AoS)- Applications for a permanent Parent category visa require an AoS, which is a legal commitment from an individual or organisation to give the applicant financial support, so they do not have to rely on social security payments.

Further Criteria for Contributory Aged Parent visa

• The main applicant of this visa must be 67 years of age or older, however, if they have a partner aged younger than this, they can be included as a secondary applicant.
• Health and Character
  Your parents will need to meet health and character requirements and will need to undertake a medical assessment, chest x-ray and HIV test.
• Assurance of support (AoS)- Applications for a permanent Parent category visa require an AoS, which is a legal commitment from an individual or organisation to give the applicant financial support, so they do not have to rely on social security payments.

What is an Assurance of Support?

The Assurance of Support (AoS) is a promise to pay back any income support provided to the visa holder during their initial stay in Australia. The AoS support period differs for each visa type.

• 10 years for Contributory Parent Visas (143 / 864)
• 4 years for Parent Visas (103/804)

This time starts when your visa is granted.

An Assurer must:

• Be an adult (i.e. over 18 years of age);
• Be usually resident in Australia;
• Have sufficient income to ensure that they can meet any debts if they arise – income, assets, liabilities and spouse’s income may all be relevant to the assessment of the Assurer’s financial status; and
• Be able to provide a notice of assessment issued by the Australian Taxation Commissioner for each of the last two financial years.