Often once you have migrated and settled permanently in Australia you want to bring your parents to join you and your family.
This blog is not intended to be an exhaustive examination of all of the options available to parents but covers some information in relation to the more main Parent visa types. We suggest that you schedule an initial consultation to discuss specific options to you and your parents.
Given the length of processing time of permanent residence parent visa applications, parents may also need to consider short-term temporary visas such as Visitor visas that enable them to live in Australia on a temporary basis whilst the permanent resident visa is being processed.
There are certain basic requirements that have to be met by all permanent residence visas for parents and they are summarised as follows:
- Parents must have an Australian child who is a citizen or permanent resident “settled” in Australia willing and able to sponsor them. It’s generally accepted that “settled” requires the sponsoring child to have been living in Australia for a period of two years prior to the parent visa application.
- A ‘Balance of Family Test’ needs to be met, which requires at least 50% of the parent’s children to be permanently residing in Australia or have more children in Australia than any other country. It’s important to include the combined children of both parents, normally not an issue but in cases where parents have had children with other partners it’s a consideration that needs to be taken into account.
There are basically two (2) types of permanent resident visa for parents namely the Contributory and Non-Contributory. Please note that the processing time of a non-contributory parent visa applications is currently around 30 years so it is usually not practical to rely upon this type of visa to obtain permanent residence as a parent in Australia.
As far as contributory parent visa applications a distinction is made for parents applying onshore (in Australia) and offshore.
Onshore “Aged” Parent – Contributory (Subclass 864)
This visa is called an ‘aged’ parent visa because the parent who is the primary applicant has to be of retirement age. The Contributory Parent Visa is currently the fastest way for your parents to stay permanently in Australia. Whilst this is the most expensive option (because of the “contribution” that your parents make to Australia in terms of Visa application fees and charges) waiting times are currently about 30 months.
The “contribution” made to the Australian Government by way of visa application charges of approximately $AUD92 355 for both parents is high once the contributory parent visa is approved it will give your parents access to government funded healthcare (Medicare) and Australia is essentially bearing the risk of future medical costs which could be incurred by ageing parents.
Your parents need to be inside Australia at time of application and hold a visa that does not prohibit them from filing an onshore application in Australia. This needs to be checked carefully and Nevett Ford Lawyers can assist in this regard.
Contributory Parent Visa (Subclass 143)
This is the offshore version of the contributory parent visa application (above). The requirements are similar to the onshore application except that for the offshore version parents do not have to be of retirement age. Because of the time it takes to process these applications (the Department recently published that the current wait times are 44 – 56 months) it would be common for parents wanting to visit their children in Australia to apply for temporary Visitor visas in the interim period.
Most parents would normally apply for a Long Stay Visitors Visa (Subclass 600) which can be granted for periods of 5 years, 3 years, 18 months or 12 months.
If you and your family are thinking about applying for a Parent visa we strongly advise that you obtain advice prior to embarking on the application process. Nevett Ford Lawyers can assist so please contact us by telephone on +613 9614 7111 or melbourne@nevettford.com.au for further information and to schedule an initial consultation.