The Australian visa system has six classes of visas that people may be eligible to apply for if they are wanting to assist their parents to migrate to Australia. Currently, there are two options for Parents wanting to be sponsored by their children to live in Australia.

Option 1 – Apply for an Aged Parent visa (subclass 804) or Parent visa (subclass 103)

This option has a very long waiting period for the visas to be processed, the Department of Immigration & Border Protection is currently advising that it could take up to 30 years for one of the above visas to be granted.

Option 2 – Apply for Contributory parent visa (subclass 143) Contributory Aged Parent visa (subclass 864) to save more time.

Or apply for a Contributory (temporary) Parent visa (subclass 173) or Contributory (temporary) Aged Parent visa (subclass 884)

When applying for visa 173 or visa 884, it is a two stage process. If the requirements are met, you will be issued with your temporary visa and will then have two years to apply for your corresponding permanent visa.

The permanent visa’s are the Contributory Aged Parent visa (subclass 864) and the Contributory parent visa (subclass 143) depending on the age requirements.

What is the difference between the aged parent visas, and the parent visas?

Depending on the age of the applicants, they will need to apply for a visa in respect to their current age. To be eligible to apply for an aged parent visa, you will need to be eligible for the ‘Aged Pension’ in Australia.

What are the requirements?

• You must have a child who is an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen who is willing to sponsor you
• Your child must of been lawfully resident in Australia for at least two years
• Meet the age requirements as set out by the regulations
• Meet the balance of family test
• Meet health and character requirements

What is the balance of family test?

In order to be eligible to apply for any parent visa, you will need to be able to prove that you satisfy the balance of family test.

The balance of family test is used by the Australian government to measure your connection and ties to Australia.

You meet the balance of family test requirement if you either:

• Have at least half (or 50%) of your children that live permanently in Australia
• More of your children live in Australia permanently than in any other country.

Please note: you and your partners children are included in the test which includes step children and adopted children.