General Parent visa requirements

To qualify for a Parent visa, you must:

• have at least half of your children living permanently in Australia, or more of your children living permanently in Australia than in any one other country (the ‘balance of family’ test).

The ‘Aged’ categories require applicants to be old enough to qualify for the Australian age pension (meaning 66-67 years old, depending upon your birthdate).

Parent visas allow for work and study in Australia. The permanent visas also provide access to the public health system under the government Medicare program. Temporary Subclass 173 and 884 visa holders may also access Medicare.

There are several categories of parent visa to choose from and they need careful consideration as they differ in cost, processing times and benefits.

Non-Contributory Parent visa (103 & 804).

The non-contributory parent offshore and onshore (Aged) visas are permanent visas that have lower fees and a lower ‘Assurance of Support’ requirement however they processing queues are many years long as this visa category is not prioritised by the government.

Assurance of Support

For all permanent Parent visa categories, you will also need to have a relevant person, or organisation, provide an ‘Assurance of Support’ for each adult included in the visa application. This monetary bond is held for a specified period of time (10 years for Contributory visas, 2-4 years for other visas) as a guarantee to meet the assurees’ welfare costs during the bond period.