Parents and Grandparents of Australian Citizens, Permanent Migrants, and eligible New Zealand citizens will be able to come to Australia and stay for up to 5 years per visit through the Temporary Sponsored Parent Visa (Subclass 870) and re-apply for another in 3 or 5 years from 1 July 2019.
Children of Parents wanting to sponsor their parents will need to apply for Sponsorship Approval to sponsor a parent visa from 17 April 2019.
Who Can Apply For The 5 Year Parent Visa?
To be eligible for the visa, a parent must be the biological, adoptive, or step-parent of the Australian sponsor. The Australian Sponsor must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen.
Only two parents per household can be sponsored for this visa at a time, it allows them to live in Australia for the period of the visa. Other features of the visa include:
- · No Balance of Family test will be applied
- · 'No work' conditions will be applied
- · Require health insurance
- · Must provide evidence of access to funds
The Australian Sponsor must be approved before the visa can be filed. The sponsorship application fee is $420.
The Australian Government is quoted as saying “Sponsors will be able to lodge an application to sponsor their parent from 17 April 2019,” Immigration Minister David Coleman announced.
Sponsorship Obligations for the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) Visa
A parent sponsor will be required to meet obligations including:
- providing financial support and accommodation for their parent in Australia
- keeping records and providing them to the Department if asked. For example evidence of income. This obligation ends two years after the day the person ceases to be a sponsor
- advising the Department when certain events occur. For example, if they are charged with a crime. This obligation ends the day after the person ceases to be a sponsor
- paying outstanding public health debts incurred by their parent in Australia. The obligation ceases if the relevant health authority advises the debt has been repaid, or acceptable repayment arrangements have been made. However, this obligation will continue if there are outstanding health debts, even after the parent who incurred them has departed Australia.
If an obligation is breached, the Department can consider:
- canceling the sponsorship. This means any existing sponsored visa holders must either find another sponsor or depart Australia
- barring a sponsor. A bar prevents a sponsor from sponsoring further parents for a period of time.
If the parent incurs public health debts in Australia and these are not paid, the party owed the debt will be able to pursue the sponsor, through the Courts if necessary, to have the debt repaid.
How Does the Parent Visa Pathway Work?
Step 1: Apply for Sponsorship approval
Step 2: Maximum of 2 Parents will be able to apply under the one sponsorship for the Parent (Temporary) Visa from 1 July 2019:
- · 3 year stay cost - $5000.00
- · 5 year stay cost - $10,000
- · The visa application charge is payable in two installments.
Benefits of The New Pathway
The visa allows parents to remain in Australia for a longer period of time, up to five years at a time without departing. It provides an alternative option to Visitor visas which only allow shorter periods of stay. Parents are still eligible to apply for Visitor visas and/or permanent Parent visas.
While the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa allows for a significantly longer stay period than a visitor visa, it is still only a temporary visa and does not allow for permanent residence in Australia like a permanent Parent visa.
Capping the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) Visa to 15,000 Places
The visa allows parents and grandparents to live in Australia for a longer period of time, up to five years at a time without departing. It provides an alternative option to Visitor visas which only allow shorter periods of stay. The Sponsored Parents are still eligible to apply for Visitor visas and/or permanent Parent visas.
While the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa allows for a significantly longer stay period than a visitor visa, it is still only a temporary visa and does not allow for permanent residence in Australia like a permanent Parent visa.
Sponsors who wish to sponsor two new parents must lodge a new sponsorship application.
Do You Need Help With An Australian Visa Application?
At Work Visa Lawyers our team of immigration lawyers and migration agents are experienced in assisting applicants in all matters relating to Australian visa applications, including state sponsorship applications. Our areas of expertise include Skilled Migration visas, Business Skills Migration visas, Employer-Sponsored Work Visas, Partner, and other Family Migration visas as well as Migration Review Tribunal, Judicial Review and Ministerial Intervention.
Other parent visa options:
If you require further information regarding your Australia visa options you can contact us through:
(08) 8351 9956 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
