One of the parent visas below may be appropriate for you if you have children living in Australia as citizens, permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens and you wish to live with them permanently. It is possible to include your spouse in the application.
Parent (Migrant) Visa (103)
This is a permanent visa that allows parents of settled Australian children to migrate to Australia. The visa applicant(s) must be overseas at the time of application.
Aged Parent (Residence) Visa (804)
This is a permanent visa that allows aged parents of settled Australian children, already in Australia, to remain permanently. The visa applicant(s) must be in Australia at the time of application.
Contributory Parent (Temporary) Visa (173)
This is a temporary visa that allows parents of settled Australian children to move to Australia temporarily. The visa applicant(s) must be overseas at the time of application and must also pay a higher second stage Visa Application Charge.
Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) Visa (884)
This is a temporary visa that allows aged parents of settled Australian children to remain in Australia temporarily. The visa applicant(s) must be in Australia at the time of application. A higher second stage Visa Application Charge applies.
Contributory Parent (Migrant) Visa (143)
This is a permanent visa that allows parents of settled Australian children to move to Australia directly, or move from a previously granted 173 temporary visa to the 143 permanent visa. A higher second stage Visa Application Charge applies.
Contributory Parent (Residence) Visa (864)
This is a permanent visa that allows aged parents of settled Australian children to remain in Australia directly on the 864 visa or move from a previously granted 884 temporary visa to the 864 permanent visa. A higher second stage Visa Application Charge applies.
Sponsored Parent (Temporary) Visa (870)
This is a temporary visa that allows parents of settled Australian children to stay in Australia temporarily from 3 or 5 years. The visa applicant(s) must be overseas at the time of application.
Frequently asked questions – Parent Visas
The low-fee Parent visas are commonly known as the non-contributory parent visas whereas the high-fee parent visas are known as contributory parent visas. The contributory parent visas were introduced as a faster option for applicants who were prepared to pay a ‘contribution’ to the Government to offset costs associated with healthcare.
The Parent Visa program is constrained by the number of places available annually. Given the low economic impact of these visas, the Government sets the number of places quite low so as these places get taken up, remaining applications are put on hold.
A parent queue is a legal mechanism that allows for an orderly management of parent visa applications. A queue is an artificially introduced processing stage whereby applications that reach a certain stage of processing are ‘queued’ and given a queue date. Processing then continues based on the queue date once places become available.