Contributory Parent Visas – (173/143 & 884/864)
If you are an Australian Citizen, Permanent Resident (PR), or eligible New Zealand Citizen wanting to sponsor your parent/s, your options will be largely restricted to the contributory parent visa.
While other streams of parent visas do exist, namely the parent visa (103) and aged parent (804), because of ‘capping and queuing’, and increasingly long wait times of up to 30 years, these visa subclasses are not realistic options to securing PR for your parents.
The only effective pathways currently available for sponsoring your parents for PR are through the contributory parent visa.
The Contributory Parent visa has 2 streams, based on the age of the parent chosen as the primary applicant:
- 884/864 Contributory Aged Parent;
- 173/143 Contributory Parent.
884/864 – Contributory Aged Parent
The 884/864 Contributory Aged Parent is the more beneficial visa of the 2 streams as it allows the applicant to make an onshore visa application and obtain an associated bridging visa to allow the applicants to remain in Australia while the application is processing.
To qualify for the aged parent visa, the primary applicant needs to be a minimum age, based on what year they were born and their eligibility for the age pension in Australia. This is generally 60 years and up for women and 65 years and up for men.
The Contributory Aged Parent visa is split into 2 subclasses. A temporary visa (884) valid for 2 years on grant, and a permanent visa (864). The temporary visa was designed to permit the visa applicant to hold a temporary visa before going on to apply for the permanent visa. One advantage of this pathway is that a financial concession is given on the application charge for the permanent visa. It is possible however, to apply for the permanent visa component straight up, and in most circumstances, will be the best strategy for sponsoring your parent and securing their PR in the shortest period of time.
As a ‘contributory’ visa, the visa application charges are significantly higher than the non-contributory streams. An application for the 864 permanent visa will generally cost the applicant a minimum of ~ $45,000 per parent sponsored.
In addition to the visa application charges, the sponsoring Australian child must provide an assurance of support with the Department of Human Services. In order to qualify for providing an assurance of support, the applicant must pass an income test which takes into account:
- How many people are being sponsored;
- How many children the sponsoring child has of their own;
- Whether the sponsoring child will be giving assurance in combination with other relatives.
The sponsoring child, or ‘assurers’ are also generally required to provide a 10 year bond to the Department of Human Services of either $10,000 or $14,000 depending on how many parents are being sponsored.
173/143 Contributory Parent
For applicants that don’t met the age required, the 173/143 Contributory Parent visa is the only option. While a parent can make an application for this visa while they are onshore, they will not be entitled to a bridging visa, and will have to ensure they have a valid visa to cover their stay in Australia while the Contributory Parent visa is processing.
The Contributory Parent visa otherwise has almost identical criteria for approval as the Contributory Aged Parent Visa as discussed above.
With application fees that can add up to in excess of $100,000 to sponsor your parents, and current visa processing times of up to 4 years, it is important that you obtain clear and accurate advice before making an application for your parents.
To arrange a consultation and discuss options for sponsoring your parents under the contributory parent visa streams, please call a MAPS registered migration agent today on 1300 899 734.