Parent Migration

Contributory Parent Migration

Parents of any age residing outside of Australia are able to apply however; Aged Parents residing in Australia will only be able to lodge their application in Australia. To be considered "aged", a person must be old enough to obtain an aged pension in Australia. For men the requirement age is 65 years and for women is currently 62. The age requirement for women will gradually increase until it is 65 years.

The visa applicant must demonstrate that they are able to satisfy the Balance of Family Test. Under this test, the applicant must demonstrate that at least half their children are resident in Australia as citizens or permanent residents, or the number of children they have resident in Australia is greater than the greatest number of children resident in any other single country.

Both categories of visa incur a Government Lodgement Fee of AU$1,210 for applications lodged outside of Australia and AU$1,795 for applications lodged inside Australia. A second lodgement fee is payable under the Contributory Parent Visa Program. The two payment options are as follows:

1. Permanent Visa: pay a AU$25,000 second Visa Application Charge per person (AU$1,050 for dependents under 18); or

2. Temporary Visa: pay a AU$15,000 second Visa Application Charge (AU$1,050 for dependents under 18) which would entitle parents to a two-year temporary residence visa including Medicare access and work rights.

During that period, parents may apply at any time for a permanent visa at which time the remaining payment of AU$10,000 is required (nil for dependents under 18). The Contributory Parent visa category also requires a 10 year, AU$10,000 Assurance of Support bond for main applicants, and AU$4,000 for adult secondary applicants (for temporary visa holders, this is payable during processing of the permanent visa).

There will also be considerably more places available under four Contributory Parent visa categories each year i.e.: 3,500 places will be available each year compared to the current 1,000 places available.

Aged Parent Migration

Parents may apply for an Aged Parent visa in Australia only if one parent is old enough to be granted an Australian age pension. For men the qualifying age for an Australian age pension is 65 and for women it is gradually being increased from 60 to 65. Until June 2003 the age is 62. Parents of any age may apply outside Australia for a Parent visa.

All Parent applicants must meet the 'balance of family' (BOF) test. This means the applicants must have:

• at least half of their children living lawfully and permanently in Australia, or
• more children living lawfully and permanently in Australia than in any other single country overseas.

Children of both parents are counted in the test, including any children of previous relationships or de facto relationships of either parent.

Some single, aged parents who do not meet the BOF test may be eligible under the Aged Dependent Relative category if they are able to prove that they are dependent on their relative (child) in Australia.

All applicants for parent migration, whether they apply within or outside Australia, must be sponsored by their children (natural, adopted or stepchild). The sponsor must be either an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, and would usually be 18 years of age or older.

All applicants applying for parent visas require an Assurance of Support (AoS). An AoS is a legal commitment by the assurer to repay the Commonwealth of Australia any benefits paid to those applicants covered by the assurance. This is for the first two years after the applicants migrate from overseas or are granted permanent residence in Australia. However, an AoS bond is only payable for adult applicants. The amount of the bond is $3500 for the first applicant and $1500 for each other applicant over 18 years old.

The Parent visa classes are subject to capping. In the 2002-03 Migration Program there are 500 Parent places available worldwide. Once all the legal requirements for the grant of a Parent visa are met, applications are placed in a queue for visa grant. Currently there are around 12,000 parents in the queue and around 10,000 being processed toward placement in the queue. Parents can expect to wait many years for a visa to be granted.

Working Aged Parent Migration

The following criteria must be met under this category of visa:

• The applicant and spouse must be sponsored by an Australian resident child;
• The applicant and spouse meet the "balance of family" test wherein they have at least half or more children living in Australia than in any other single country (once you have been a permanent resident in Australia for 2 years, your parents would meet this criteria).