Parent visas

Parent visas program is for people who wish to join their child/children in Australia.

For the Parent visas you need to satisfy the following requirements:

1. You must be a parent of a child who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen


2. Your child must be settled in Australia (resident for 2 years in Australia, in most cases) and must be prepared to sponsor you


3. You must have at least half of your children living permanently in Australia or have more children permanently living in Australia than in any other single country (Balance of family test)


4. You must meet health and character requirements


5. If you are applying for a permanent parent visa, you will also be required to provide Assurance of Support, which is a financial support to the person applying to migrate, so that person will not have to rely on any government forms of support in Australia


6. If you are applying for a parent visa that has 'aged' in its title, you must be of the certain age as required by the law.

Parent visa subclasses

Contributory Parent (temporary) subclass 173
Contributory Parent (temporary) subclass 884
These are temporary visas valid for 2 years. The applicant for subclass 173 can be of any age, the applicant for the subclass 884 must be 'aged' i.e. old enough to receive age pension as prescribed by the Australian law. The applicant must meet Balance of family test. The health charge is also payable. Some exceptions apply for the holders of substituted subclass 676 visa. Within 2 years of the temporary visa the holders of these visas may apply for a permanent residency.

Parent (migrant) subclass 103
Aged Parent (residence) subclass 804
These are permanent visas. The applicant for subclass 103 can be of any age, the applicant for the subclass 804 must be 'aged' i.e. old enough to receive age pension as prescribed by the law. The applicant must satisfy the Balance of family test provide assurance of support, bond and health charge. There are some exceptions for the holders of substituted subclass 676 visa.

Contributory Parent (migrant) subclass 143
Contributory Aged Parent (residence) subclass 864
These are permanent visas. The applicant for subclass 143 can be of any age, the applicant for the subclass 864 must be 'aged', i.e. old enough to receive age pension as prescribed by the Australian law. The applicant must satisfy the Balance of family test, provide Assurance of Support and health charges. Some exceptions apply for the holders of substituted subclass 676 visa and holders of a temporary visa.

Application Costs and Processing times

Application fee for ‘Aged Parent’ visa to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) is currently: AUD $2,525 currency converter

Application fee for ‘Parent’ visa to the Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) is currently: AUD $1,705 currency converter

Other expenses are Assurance of Support, bond and health charges.
For a temporary Contributory Parent subclass 173 visa and Contributory Aged Parent subclass 884 visas the health charge is currently AUD$20,595 currency converter per adult applicant and AUD$1,485 currency converter for other applicants that are under 18 years of age.

For a permanent Contributory Parent subclass 143 visa and Contributory Aged Parent subclass 864 visas the health charge is currently AUD$34,330 currency converter per adult applicant and AUD$1,485 currency converter for other applicants that are under 18 years of age.

Parent category visa is accessible at lower cost and longer wait option. There may be a longer processing queue for a visa place to become available.

A contributory parent category visa is accessible at higher cost and shorter wait option.

Do I meet the criteria?

Please proceed through these three steps: