Contributory Parent & Parent Visa

Contributory Parent Visas allow parents of an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen to migrate to, or remain in, Australia permanently.

Applicants must be sponsored by their child. The sponsoring child needs to be settled in Australia (lived lawfully in Australia for at least 2 years before lodging the application).

To be eligible, you must be able to demonstrate one of the following:

• At least half of your children are Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens who are usually resident in Australia;

or

• You have more children living in Australia as Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens than in any other country.

These Visas are made up of two main types, consisting of:

• Contributory Parent Visas (temporary and permanent)
• Contributory Aged Parent Visas (temporary and permanent)

Contributory Parent Visas are typically for parents who are of working age (Typically under 65 years of age). These visas are usually applied for offshore unless you can meet the definition of “Aged Parent”. Contributory Aged Parent Visas can be applied for onshore and will allow you to remain in Australia while your application is being processed. To be eligible, males must not be less than 65 years of age and females can be between 64 and 65 depending on their year of birth.

Contributory Parent and Contributory Aged Parent Visas are usually decided in under 2 years, although are very expensive. For a main applicant and spouse, the total costs are likely to exceed $100,000.

As of 25 September 2014, applications for the standard parent visas will be accepted for a limited time. Non-Contributory Parent Visas are likely to be repealed in the near future. This is Australia recommends lodging applications for this category immediately if you to intend to apply.

The department of immigration are currently allowing applications for the non-contributory parent visas. These visas are much cheaper although the processing times are dramatically longer. For the main applicant and spouse the total costs are likely be around $17,000.

The Department’s website is reporting extensive queues for these visas and you should be aware that processing times for Non-Contributory Parent Visas can take approximately 30 years.

This is a permanent residence visa. It lets you and any family members who have also been granted this visa to:

• Stay in Australia indefinitely;
• Work and study in Australia;
• Enrol in Medicare, Australia’s scheme for health-related care and expenses;
• Apply for Australian citizenship (if you are eligible);
• Apply for Australian citizenship (if you are eligible);
• Sponsor eligible relatives for permanent residence;

Travel to and from Australia for five years from the date the visa is granted (after that time, you are required to have a resident return visa or another visa to return to Australia).

You will not automatically receive the age pension or social security payments in Australia and will have to wait:

• Two years for most social security payments
• Ten years for age and disability pension payments.