Australia has both temporary and permanent options for parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents to help them migrate to Australia.
For many people, a permanent contributory parent visa may be out of the reach, financially, and the non-contributory visa not practical due to the lengthy processing times. A visitor visa may be a fast and inexpensive alternative to bring parents to spend time with family in Australia. Longer validity visitor visas are available for parents of Australian permanent residents and citizens. Parents of Australian permanent residents and citizens currently have the option of using the Visitor (Subclass 600) visa stream to spend time with their children, which enables longer stays in Australia of up to 12 months in any 18 month period.
The Subclass 870 visa is a temporary visa which allows a parent of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen to visit Australia for up to three (3) or five (5) years. The visa allows parents to remain in Australia for a longer period of time, up to five years at a time without departing. It provides an alternative option to Visitor visas which only allow shorter periods of stay. More information can be found at the Temporary Sponsored Parent subclass 870 visa.
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.
There are currently six classes of Parent visas which fall into two major categories – non-contributory and contributory. They may also be classified on the basis of an applicant’s age; and temporary and permanent residence.
There are two pathways for permanent residency for parents: ‘non-contributory’ and ‘contributory’. The non-contributory Visa has a much longer processing time although attracts a lower Government application charge. The contributory parent visa can be processed a lot sooner but the application charge is far greater.
There is however an option to spread the costs for the contributory parent visa over two stages. The first stage is where the provisional visa is applied for which is approved for a period of two years. The second stage of the application is applied for prior to the provisional visa expiring, where you can apply for the permanent stage, paying the balance of the fees.
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.
This time starts when your visa is granted. During the AoS period should you experience any financial hardship then the money used to provide you with income will come from the ‘AoS bond.’
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