Parent visa lets parent of Australian Citizen or Permanent Residents or eligible New Zealand citizens to live in Australia permanently. To be eligible for this visa applicant must have Children in Australia who is Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. Applicant must meet the balance of family test to be eligible for this visa:

·      At least half of your children live permanently in Australia

·      More of your children live permanently in Australia than in any other country.

There are two types of categories available for parent visa. Core requirements for any of the category are same.

Two categories are:

1.    Non-contributory Parent visa  category :

Non contributory parent visa are available to parents to apply onshore or offshore.

To be eligible to apply onshore, they must have a valid visa at the time of application and there aren’t any restrictions to apply onshore. Applicants must meet the age requirements as defined in law to be eligible for onshore non contributory parent visa.

Non- Contributory parent visa has longer waiting period which may extend up to 30 years.

2.    Contributory Parent Visa Category :

Under this category applicant can apply in Australia under contributory aged parent (migrant) visa or Contributory aged parent (temporary) visa. To apply onshore visa, Main applicant must meet the age requirement defined under law.

Parents can also apply contributory parent visa (permanent or Temporary) offshore as well.

In either case temporary visa comes for two years and not extendable. Applicant must have applied for permanent visa during these two years.

In any of the parent visa category, applicant must be sponsored by Australian citizen who at the time of application is“settled” in Australia. That means they must be in Australia for at least 2 years as defined under policy.

All Parent visa categories have to pay VAC 1,VAC 2 payment. VAC 2 payments is significantly higher in contributory parent visa categories than other parent category. Applicant must also have Assurance of support before permanent visa is granted.