How Do I Sponsor My Parents?

How can I sponsor my parents for a parent visa?

We recently spoke to Julie, a kindergarten teacher who built her dream life in Australia - permanent residency, a rewarding career, a new home with her Australian partner, and plans to start a family. But one piece was missing: having her parents by her side.

After they supported her through university at QUT, Julie felt it was her turn to give back. Yet navigating parent visa options left her overwhelmed. Contributory or non-contributory? Aged or non-aged? Processing times and costs? These questions can feel daunting.

If you're in a similar situation, wondering how to bring your parents to Australia, let's cut through the confusion together and find the right path for your family.

Do my parents meet the balance of the family test?

The first and foremost critical question to ask when considering permanent residency for your parents is: does my parent (who is the main applicant) meet the balance of the family test?

Put simply, the majority of your parent's (biological, adopted or step) children must be usually resident of Australia and Australian permanent residents or citizens.

Where there is no strict legislative definition of what "usually resident" means, the period that is typically referred to is 4 years in the context of parent visas.

Stepchildren: when are they included?

In legal terms, a "step-child" means:

step-child
in relation to a parent, means:
(a) a person who is not the child of the parent but who is the child of the parent's current spouse or de facto partner; or
(b) a person who is not the child of the parent but:
i. who is the child of the parent's former spouse or former de facto partner; and
ii. who has not turned 18; and
iii. in relation to whom the parent has:
A. a parenting order in force under the Family Law Act 1975 under which the parent is the person with whom a child is to live, or who is to be responsible for the child's long-term or day-to-day care, welfare and development; or
B. guardianship or custody, whether jointly or otherwise, under a Commonwealth, State or Territory law or a law in force in a foreign country

In other words, these children may be included in the calculation of the balance of the family test:

1. Children of the main parent visa applicant's current partner or spouse;
2. Underaged dependent children of the main parent visa applicant's ex-spouse or ex-partner whom the main parent visa applicant has partial or full legal responsibility over

Requirements on sponsors

Typically, sponsors of parents will need to fulfil income tests and this can vary depending on the number of child dependents the sponsor has, the number of parents the sponsor is looking to sponsor, and whether another assurer (such as the son or daughter in law) is available to support the sponsorship. You can check the income requirements and Assurance of Support payable on Centrelink's calculator here.

Contributory and non-contributory parent visas

There are two categories of parent visas that lead into permanent residency: contributory and non-contributory.

The non-contributory parent visas carry longer processing times of anywhere from 25 to 50 years. Contributory parent visas have shorter processing times of about 12 years. The costs of contributory parent visas are much higher than that of the non-contributory visas.

Sponsors of the contributory parent visas are also required to provide an Assurance of Support (AOS) bond to the Australian government. The period by which sponsors are required to leave the bond with Centrelink for and the amount of bond required are dependent on a number of factors, such as the visa type, your relationship status and the number of parents that they are sponsoring.

The advantage of contributory parent visas is that they typically take significantly less time than the non-contributory parent visas.

We have created the following tables to help you quickly see which visa option may be more suited to your circumstances.

If your parents are of pension age and are in Australia on a visitor visa (without an 8503 condition), they may consider the following options:

Otherwise, if your parents are not of pension age, they may consider the following options:

Subclass 870 Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa

If your parents do not satisfy the balance of family test, permanent residency will not be possible - however it will be possible to look at a 3-5 years stay on a temporary parent visa. A parent can be granted.

This visa may be seen as the mid-way between the non-contributory and contributory parent visa types. There is no bond required for this parent visa, and the processing times are fairly short.

Applications should be made offshore, although there have been exceptions made for certain cases to apply onshore such as due to health considerations for the parents who are currently onshore. Applicants of this visa type do not need to satisfy the balance of family test.

Processing of this visa type is also fairly fast, currently averaging at 3-5 months for sponsorship applications, and 8-10 months for visa applications.

Bridging visas

The bridging visa is one of the most effective tools for circumventing the long waiting periods of several permanent parent visa types, in that it allows your parent to wait in Australia whilst the visa is being processed.

If your parent is considered to be of pension age, i.e. ranging from 64 to 68 (this is dependent on the year that the applicant is born in), they may be able to apply for the aged category of parent visas that allows them to be onshore and stay onshore during the visa processing time, provided they are holding a substantive visa such as a visitor visa at the time of visa application.

Health and character criteria

All applicants are required to attend a health exam and satisfy the health criterion. If one of the applicants does not satisfy the health criterion, the entire application fails.

All applicants are also required to satisfy character requirements.

Limitations on applying for a temporary or permanent parent visa onshore, i.e. in Australia

There are some circumstances which can stop applicants from applying for a parent visa in Australia, including but not limited to:

• If your parent's current visa grant shows a visa condition that stops them from applying for another visa while in Australia
• if your parent holds a sponsored visitor visa
• if your parent had a previous visa refusal or cancellation, and/or does not hold a substantive visa

Be careful when choosing your parent visa type

Once you have applied for a parent visa, you may not look at applying for another type of parent visa unless the previous one has been validly withdrawn. Furthermore, given that the processing times for several types of parent visas are so long, important to choose the parent visa that is appropriate for your parents' circumstances and long-term outlook.

The content on this page does not constitute legal or immigration advice. Australian immigration doesn't have to be complex and we can help with your unique circumstances. As family and dependent visa specialists, we'll meticulously guide you through the visa process and determine the right level of detail to meet the Department of Home Affairs' requirements for your visa grant. To seek legal advice or information that is specific to your situation, please contact us.