Australia’s Subclass 870 Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa — the best option for parents of PRs to live here long term
If you are the parents of an Australian PR or citizen, have already lodged a parent migration application, and also hold a visitor visa that lets you stay for up to 12 months at a time — but that still isn’t enough, and having to time your departures and re-entries each time is inconvenient.
Or perhaps your child is not an only child — only one of your children is an Australian permanent resident or citizen, so you cannot pass the balance of family test and cannot lodge a parent migration application, yet you still want to live in Australia long term.
Today we’ll once again explain how parents can live in Australia for an extended period within a relatively short timeframe. Is there another visa option? The answer is yes! It lets parents stay in Australia for up to 5 years at a time, and it can be renewed once it expires.
A long-term visa designed for the parents of PRs and citizens
For the parents of a PR or citizen, there is a visa category called the Subclass 870 visa. On your first application you can apply for a five-year visa (a three-year option is also available). The biggest difference from a visitor visa is that you don’t need to leave the country part-way through — you can stay as long as you like, and you can remain onshore for the full 3 or 5 years without ever departing. What’s more, this visa can be renewed once, so it can allow parents to stay in Australia for up to 10 years in total.
Basic Subclass 870 application requirements
- There must be an Australian PR or citizen acting as sponsor (at least 18 years old). The applicant may be the sponsor’s biological parent, parent-in-law, legal parent (including adoptive parent) or step-parent.
- The sponsor has lived in Australia for at least 4 years (including any time held before becoming a PR).
- The sponsor’s income must exceed approximately AUD 84,000 (assessed mainly on the previous financial year’s income), and it may be household income.
- A family can hold only one sponsorship approval at any one time, and one approval can sponsor up to two parents. Applying for the Subclass 870 does not require passing the balance of family test, so it also suits families who cannot lodge a parent migration application because they fail the balance of family test but still want to keep their parents onshore long term.
The Subclass 870 and parent migration can run in parallel
For many people who have already lodged a parent migration application and are in the queue, this is a very good visa: while you wait in the queue, it doesn’t affect parents and children being reunited sooner. If you haven’t yet lodged a parent migration application, we recommend lodging that first and then applying for the Subclass 870 visa.
Some people may worry about medical matters, but there is no need to be overly concerned. This visa requires health insurance, with premiums of roughly AUD 160–180 per month, and most commonly used services are covered.
Plan ahead and you can achieve an almost seamless transition
Families who need to apply for the Subclass 870 value a seamless transition most of all, because they rely on the grandparents to help with school runs or childcare and cannot afford to have them leave the country for several months. If your parents are currently onshore on a visitor visa, then with the right understanding and planning in advance, you can achieve an almost seamless transition between the visitor visa and the Subclass 870 visa, minimising the time your parents spend offshore.
The Subclass 870 visa involves two steps — the sponsorship approval and the visa itself. The child first obtains the sponsorship approval, and then the parents apply for the visa. Processing times are currently somewhat unstable, with each step potentially taking 6 months to assess, which means you can come and consult us to plan a year before your visitor visa expires.
