Process

• Upon approval of a sponsorship application, a sponsored parent can apply for a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa.

• Parents can then apply for a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa.

  • Within six months of sponsorship approval, a visa application must be submitted.

Goal

This visa allows parents to temporarily reunite with their children and grandchildren in Australia, while ensuring that taxpayers aren’t burdened with additional costs. As a result of community concerns about the limited number of Parent places in the migration program, and the long waiting times associated with them, the visa has been created.

Eligibility

In order to qualify for the visa, a parent must be:

• Sponsor’s biological, adoptive, or stepparent,

• An Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen.

Benefits of this visa

Parent visas allow parents to stay in Australia for up to five years without having to leave. Unlike Visitor visas, which are only valid for short periods of time, it offers an alternative option. Parents may still apply for a Visitor visa or a permanent Parent visa.

Number of places available

Each program year (from 1 July to 30 June), up to 15,000 Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visas may be granted.

A cap of 15,000 has been established by the Government in recognition of the challenges associated with an aging population and the overall budget impact of older migrants. Furthermore, the limit reflects the Government’s priority of providing visa pathways for children and partners of Australians, as well as the need to target young skilled migrants to maximize economic benefits.

In the event that the cap is reached in a program year, no further visas will be granted until the next program year commences on 1 July.

The visa and existing pathways

For parents of Australian citizens/permanent residents, the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa replaces the Visitor visa concession that previously existed.

The Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa allows for a significantly longer stay period than the Visitor visa, but it is still only a temporary visa and does not allow permanent residency in Australia.

In the meantime, existing Parent visa applicants can travel to Australia temporarily to spend time with their children and grandchildren while their permanent Parent visa application is being processed.

In order to determine which visa is most suitable for their circumstances, applicants should note that each visa has its own requirements, application fees, conditions, and stay periods.

Eligibility

The following criteria must be met by sponsors:

• Sponsors must have a taxable income of at least $83,454.80 – it can be a combined income from all partners

• Sponsor/parent relationship requirements (i.e., a biological, adoptive, or step-parent must be the sponsor’s parent and a step-parent can only apply if they are still married/de facto to a biological parent)

• A minimum age of 18 is required

• An Australian citizen or permanent resident, or a New Zealand citizen who has lived in Australia for at least four years

• Any prior sponsorship obligations have been met

• Do not disregard adverse information unless it is reasonable to do so

• Have no Commonwealth or public health debts unless payment arrangements have been made

• A minimum household income threshold (based on the income of the sponsor, or the combined income of the sponsor and their spouse/partner and/or another child of the sponsor)

• Provide police clearances for any country they have spent more than 12 months in cumulatively in the past 10 years

• Give permission for information to be shared with visa applicants.

As a sponsor, you must also agree to comply with the sponsorship obligations for the parent(s) you are sponsoring.

Sponsorship obligations

As a parent sponsor, you will be required to meet the following obligations:

• Supporting their parent in Australia financially and providing accommodation

• Maintaining records and providing them to the Department upon request. Evidence of income, for example. Upon ceasing to be a sponsor, this obligation ends two years later

• Notifying the Department when certain events occur. In the case of a criminal charge, for instance. This obligation ends the day after the person ceases to be a sponsor

• Paying back public health debts incurred by their parents in Australia. Once the relevant health authority receives notification that the debt has been repaid or acceptable repayment arrangements have been made, the obligation ceases. Despite the parent’s departure, this obligation will continue if there are outstanding health debts.

In the event that an obligation is breached, the Department may take the following actions:

• Sponsorship has been canceled. Therefore, any existing sponsored visa holders must either find another sponsor or leave Australia

• In the absence of a sponsor. It prevents sponsors from sponsoring parents for a set 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 thcourtsts if necessary, to have the debt repaid.

Sponsorship validity

Parent sponsorship will cease:

• In the event that the sponsor’s permanent visa is revoked

• In the event of the death of the sponsor

• In the event that the sponsor withdraws their sponsorship

• If the sponsored parent does not apply for a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa within six months of sponsorship approval

• the day that the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa ceases.

Even after sponsorship, some sponsor obligations will continue, including the obligation to pay any outstanding health debts incurred by the visa holder in Australia.

Sponsorship cost

The sponsorship application fee is $420.

Sponsoring other kinds of visas

The Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa sponsor can also sponsor other visa holders if the requirements of that sponsorship are met (for example, a sponsor for a Temporary Skill Shortage visa or a Sponsored Family Visitor visa).

The sponsor can apply to vary their sponsorship, allowing them to sponsor a different (new) parent.

New parents must also be parents or stepparents of the sponsor or their spouse/partner. If the sponsor already has two sponsored parents, they will need to withdraw their sponsorship of one parent. This parent must either leave Australia or apply for and be granted a different visa before an application for sponsorship variation can be lodged.

In order to sponsor two new parents, sponsors must submit a new sponsorship application.