-To apply for parent migration or a long-term temporary visa,a sponsor is essential.The sponsor hererefers broadly to a child who holds PR or citizenship — parents cannot apply independently without a sponsor.

(For parents of international students, Subclass 485 holders, employer-sponsored visa holders, or Subclass 491 holders, the visitor visa generally remains the only realistic option for entry.)

– To sponsorparent migration, the sponsor must have been residing stably in Australia for at least two years..

–During the waiting period, parents are not eligible for the Age Pension or other welfare benefits— welfare entitlements only become accessible after 10 years of living in Australia on a permanent visa.

Subclass 103 is the standard queue-based parent migration visa,Subclass 143 is the well-known Contributory Parent visa,and once granted, it confers PR directly, allowing free movement and residency. Given the extremely long wait for Subclass 103, Subclass 143 has gradually become the preferred choice for most families.

Processing time:Currently processing applications lodged in June/July 2016; based on current grant quotas and the backlog of pending applications, a conservatively estimated wait of over 10 years should be expected for applications lodged now.

Advantages:A direct pathway to PR — permanent residency is granted upon approval. No further departure requirements, and family reunion can be achieved within a relatively short to medium timeframe.

During the pandemic,some parents were able to apply for an exemption and obtain a bridging visa while onshore.In practice, this makes the situation comparable to the aged parent pathway.If you have already lodged a parent migration visa application and spent most of the pandemic period in Australia, please contact us to assess whether you meet the bridging visa requirements.

Disadvantages:The Subclass 143 visa requires a contribution fee — currently AUD 43,900 per person, meaning over AUD 80,000 for two parents. This may represent a significant financial burden for some families. The bridging visa available during the pandemic for the 143 could be affected by policy changes at any time, and parents may still face the prospect of having to return overseas to wait for the visa to be granted.

Sponsor requirements: The sponsor is usually the applicant’s child who is a long-term resident of Australia. If the child is under 18, a relative of that under-18 child may also act as sponsor. The sponsor must also satisfy the family balance test, which covers all children, stepchildren, adopted children, and so on.

Sponsor financial requirements:Every application must have a financial assurance provider, who can be any person (generally a child or the child’s spouse, though this is not required).The financial assurance provider must pay a bond and assurance fee of AUD 10,000 at the time the visa is being processed, which can be refunded after 10 years. The primary purpose of the financial assurance provider is to guarantee that the applicant can live stably for 10 years without relying on government welfare.The Department of Home Affairs requires the financial assurance provider to have an annual income of AUD 45,000 per year. This amount may vary depending on the number of applicants and the sponsor’s household composition.

Visa benefits:Before the pandemic, Subclass 103/143 could only be applied for from offshore. It is only due to the special circumstances of the pandemic that onshore applications have been permitted. So under normal circumstances there is no bridging visa, and without a bridging visa there are no entitlements whatsoever. There are no inherent benefits attached to these visas, so costs such as insurance and healthcare must be met by the applicants themselves.

Subclass 804/864 are not significantly different from the standard parent migration categories mentioned above.The key distinction is that Subclass 804/864 are aged parent migration visas that require parents to have reached a certain age.For the specific age requirement, please refer to the table below.

Additionally, Subclass 804 and 864 are visas that can be lodged and granted onshore. The difference between them and Subclass 103/143 is that the former have always been available for onshore application and grant, whereas the latter were only made available onshore as a humanitarian measure during the pandemic — and will revert to their normal offshore-only requirements once the pandemic emergency is resolved.

Other requirements, such as processing times and sponsor financial requirements, can be referred to the Subclass 103/143 visa conditions as a general guide.

There are two options:

1.Parents can lodge Subclass 103/143 directly from offshore;Subclass 804/864 cannot be lodged offshore.

2.Parents may consider applying for a visitor visa first,then coming to Australia, after which the appropriate migration visa can be determined based on the parent’s age and the sponsor’s household income.

With the parent onshore,the first step is to confirm whether the visitor visa contains a Condition 8503 (no further stay) condition.If it does not, a visa application can be lodged onshore, or an exemption from the condition may be explored. The following options are available:

1. The first option to consider is continuing to renew the visitor visa, depending on how long the parents have been staying.If parents have spent most of the pandemic period in Australia, continuing to renew the visitor visa carries significant risk.

2. If there are concerns about the visitor visa risk,consider sponsoring parent migration directly;if migration is not being considered,the Subclass 870 short-stay visa is also an option.Upon lodgement of the 870, parents can receive a bridging visa. It is important to note that the Subclass 870 Permission and Sponsorship must be arranged in advance, as parents will not be granted a visa to remain onshore during the period when the Sponsorship and Permission are being processed.Therefore, please allow sufficient time — preparations should begin at least six months before the current visitor visa expires.permissionDuring this period, parents will not be granted a visa to remain onshore.

408During the bridging visa period, a parent migration visa application can be lodged normally. If applying for870the relevant visa, it is necessary to first apply forPermissionapproval before proceeding.

Migration Information and Q&A Group