Parents visiting Australia · latest 2026 policy
Parents’ Subclass 600 visitor visas are now commonly granted for six months, often with condition 8503
This article was written in 2016. From August 2026, Subclass 600 visitor visas have generally been granted with a shorter validity period and often carry condition 8503 (No Further Stay), which closes off the onshore lodgement pathway.
Depending on how much validity is left on your parents’ current visa, there are three pathways — short, medium and long term.
Related pages: Subclass 870 visa page · Subclass 870 guide (2026)
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With the holidays coming up, another big group of students is about to graduate! So how do international students who have worked hard on their own for years invite their parents over for the graduation ceremony and share that proud, joyful moment with them? Ta-da! We are going to walk you through applying for your parents’ visitor visa step by step. If anything comes up along the way, please get in touch with our consultants directly.
Visitor visas, family-visit visas and business visas are now all classified as Subclass 600. Applications can be lodged by taking the documents in person to the Australian consulates in Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou, or by post. Apart from the Beijing consulate, the other two require the original passport to be posted in. The visa application charge is currently AUD 130 (converted to CNY at the exchange rate), and lodging an application also requires a service fee of CNY 175 and a return-postage fee of CNY 50.
Go to the Australian Visa Application Centre website http://www.australiavisa-china.com
Select the visa category that matches your purpose of travel to Australia and download the relevant visa application forms (forms 1419 and 54). Please note: you can also obtain the visa application forms from the Australian Visa Application Centre (AVAC).
Submit supporting documents. An Australian visitor visa requires the following:
1. Original passport (signed by the holder on the back page; valid for at least six months beyond the end of the trip).
2. Forms (forms 1419 and 54)
3. Three recent 2-inch colour photographs on a white background.
4. If you have personal business cards, please provide 2–3.
5. Original employer letter: it must state the applicant’s position, income and length of service; it must be signed by the person in charge and bear the company seal; it must be printed on company letterhead.
6. Business owners must provide a copy of the company’s business licence (bearing the company seal).
7. Copies of bank passbooks or original bank statements (covering the past three to six months), copies of property title deeds, copies of vehicle registration certificates and other evidence of personal assets. (Every page of a bank passbook must be copied and it must show entries up to the most recent deposit or withdrawal; property purchase contracts, bank term-deposit certificates, shares and bonds are also acceptable.) A spouse’s assets may be provided, but a copy of the marriage certificate is required.
(Tip: personal business or leisure travel is assessed more strictly on financial capacity. As a rule it helps to have a car, property and savings in China, so being able to provide plenty of evidence of financial capacity matters — a balance of at least CNY 50,000 is typical, and more is better. If you have several bank accounts, provide them all. Focus on accounts with a steady pattern of deposits and withdrawals; avoid depositing a large sum shortly before applying, as it can raise doubts.)
8. Copy of the ID card (both sides copied onto a single A4 sheet)
9. Copy of the whole family’s household register. (Copies of every member’s page are required, not only your own page.)
10. Applicants aged 75 and over must have a medical examination at a consulate-designated hospital after lodging. Once the examination is passed, Australian health insurance must also be purchased. Retirees should provide a copy of their retirement certificate.
12. Itinerary (a rough outline of the travel plan for this trip)
13. If a married couple is travelling together, a copy of the marriage certificate is required
PS: if a child under 18 is travelling with you, provide the original passport, three photographs, a copy of the birth certificate, a school holiday letter (if enrolled), and a parental consent letter (if only one parent is travelling, the parent not travelling must complete a consent letter), plus a copy of the ID card of the parent not travelling
If the trip is to visit relatives or friends in Australia, you will also need to additionally provide the following:
1. A copy of the photo page of the inviter’s passport and a copy of their Australian visa (for Australian citizens, only the photo page of the passport is needed)
2. The inviter’s full address and a letter of invitation; if the inviter is a student, the school must provide a confirmation of enrolment
3. A notarised certificate of the family relationship (for friends, provide photographs together or letters)
4. Inviting parents to a graduation ceremony also requires the completion letter and the Conferral of Degree Letter showing the graduation ceremony details
Pay the visa application charge (CNY 740) and the service fee (CNY 180). Note that these fees must bepaid separately .
If you are applying AVAC in person, please book an appointment before lodging. No appointment is needed for a postal application. Post the visa application form, supporting documents and original passport in a sturdy envelope to ensure safe delivery. A damaged envelope will not be accepted.
There are three visa application centres in China — Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Applicants should choose the centre that covers their city. Please make sure two separate payment receipts are provided with the application: ★ The remittance receipt for the correct visa application charge payable to the visa section of the Australian embassy or consulate in China ★ The remittance receipt for the correct service fee and courier fee payable to the AVAC ★ The payment methods for the visa application charge, the service fee and the courier fee. Please enclose a separate sheet in the envelope stating the following: ★ Number of visa applications ★ Applicant’s return address in Chinese (within mainland China) ★ Applicant’s contact telephone number ★ If necessary, the relevant Australian visa section will contact you to request further information.
Beijing Australian Visa Application Centre
Areas covered: Beijing, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui
Address: Rooms D, E, F, G, H and I, Level 21, Oriental Kenzo, 48 Dongzhimenwai Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing
Email: info.aupek@vfshelpline.com
Website: www.australiavisa-china.com
Within China call: 020-29106150
Outside China call: 0086-20-29106150
Lodgement hours: 07:30 to 15:00 (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays)
Passport collection hours: 07:30 to 17:00 (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays)
Telephone enquiry hours: 08:00 to 17:00 (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays)
Shanghai Australian Visa Application Centre
Areas covered: Beijing, Hebei, Henan, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Shandong, Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui
Address: Level 2, Guangdong Development Bank Tower, 555 Xujiahui Road, Huangpu District, Shanghai
Email: info.ausha@vfshelpline.com
Website: www.australiavisa-china.com
Within China call: 020-29106150
Outside China call: 0086-20-29106150
Lodgement hours: 07:30 to 15:00 (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays)
Passport collection hours: 07:30 to 17:00 (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays)
Telephone enquiry hours: 08:00 to 17:00 (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays)
Shanghai Australian Visa Application Centre
Areas covered: Guangdong, Guangxi, Yunnan, Fujian, Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou, Gansu, Ningxia, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Chongqing, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Tibet and Shaanxi
Address: Unit 02, Level 29, Huimei Building, 3 Jinsui Road, Zhujiang New Town, Tianhe District, Guangzhou, China
Email: info.aucan@vfshelpline.com
Website: www.australiavisa-china.com
Within China call: 020-29106150
Outside China call: 0086-20-29106150
Lodgement hours: 07:30 to 15:00 (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays)
Passport collection hours: 07:30 to 17:00 (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays)
Telephone enquiry hours: 08:00 to 17:00 (Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays)
Applicants must complete and sign the application form for the relevant visa category and pay the corresponding visa application charge and service fee. For applicants under 18, the application form must be signed by a parent or guardian. All supporting documents and information should be submitted together with the application. For some visa categories, all non-English documents must be submitted with a translation.
To avoid possible delays, you should provide all relevant information and additional documents when lodging your application.
If you do not submit all the specified documents when lodging, a decision on the visa may be made on the basis of the information you have provided. Australian migration law allows a decision on a visa application to be made at any time after it is lodged.
A family-visit visa is a temporary substantive visa, applied for by people intending to visit family in Australia and, while there, undertake tourism and other non-work activities. This visa type is further divided into single-entry visas (allowing the holder to enter once) and multiple-entry visas (allowing the holder to enter multiple times within the visa’s validity). A family-visit visa is valid for up to one year, and a stay in Australia is generally not permitted to exceed three months.
When applying, you also need to provide a financial guarantee, evidence of the applicant’s approved leave and similar documents, and the embassy may also make enquiries with the applicant’s employer and with the applicant. These are all important factors affecting the outcome of an application.
Editor: DumpoKing
NewStars Original content — reproduction strictly prohibited
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