Australia’s Parent Visa Program

Depending on your country of nationality and your travel history, you may require health examinations to process your visa. Hannan Tew will advise you of the relevant assessments once you have completed the information questionnaire.

You will need to provide police clearances for all countries in which you have resided for 12 months or more in the last 10 years.

An Assurance of Support (AoS) is a legal undertaking by the sponsor, family relative, an organisation, or any other person who may be eligible to be an assurer, to repay certain social security payments to the Australian Government which has been paid to a person or their family members applying to migrate to Australia during their AoS period.

The Assurance of Support is required to remain in place for two years from the date you and any accompanying family members arrive in Australia.

The assurer must:

1. give sufficient financial support so that you or any accompanying family members do not have to rely on any government support; and
2. reimburse the Australian Government for any recoverable social security payments, this includes payments made by Centrelink to you and any others covered by the AoS; and
3. pay a refundable security bond before the visa is approved

Generally speaking the permanent residence visa is granted without conditions (apart from, in some cases, the condition to enter into Australia before a particular date).

A parent meets the balance of family test if:

1. at least half their children and stepchildren are eligible children or
2. there are more eligible children than children living in any other single country

A child is an eligible child if they are:

1. an Australian citizen or
2. an Australian permanent resident usually resident in Australia
3. or an eligible New Zealand citizen usually resident in Australia

Note you will not have to pass the balance of family test if you are applying for the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) (subclass 870) visa.

Australia’s Immigration Minister has the power to “cap” or limit the number of visas which can be granted each year in a particular visa subclass.

In other words, when the number of visas set by the minister for a visa class for the migration program year has been reached, no further visas can be granted in that program year. Parent and Contributory Parent visas are subject to capping by the Minister and processing times are now in the decades.

Contributory Parent visas are not presently queued which makes them a costly, but still viable pathway to permanent residence.

Yes, you can still obtain a Visitor visa (or appropriate visa) that allows you to spend time with friends and family in Australia. This will not adversely impact your permanent residency visa application, and policy provides that such Visitor visas can have longer stay periods in Australia.

At least one parent must be old enough to receive the age pension in Australia.

The pension age will be gradually increased from 65 to 67 years as set out in the table here.

You will only be granted a Bridging Visa if (among other things) you apply for an Aged Parent or Contributory Aged Parent visa in Australia whilst holding a substantive visa.