Guide to Australia’s Temporary Parent Visa

One of the motives behind Australia’s migration programs is to reunite families of permanent residents and citizens living in Australia by enabling their close relatives to join them. The migration program has a separate Family Stream to further this objective.

To help migrants to bring their parents to Australia, the immigration department introduced the Temporary Parent visa last year. The other option of bringing parents through the Permanent Parent visas only make up 1 percent of the total permanent migration program in the country but can take a long time to process. The other option of the Contributory Parent visa has a shorter processing time but costs more than AUD 45,000 for every applicant.

Features of the Temporary Parent visa:

The number of places under this visa will be limited to 15,000 every financial year

Parents can get this visa for either three or five years in Australia. The three-year visa will cost AUD 5,000, while the five-year visa will cost AUD 10,000.

Parents who come to Australia under this visa will be eligible to re-apply for a Subclass 870 visa, and if it is approved, they can stay in Australia for a cumulative period of 10 years. But they cannot work under this visa.

Conditions of the visa:

The Temporary Parent visa was introduced as a more viable option for these two visas. Before a parent can apply for this visa, the child must get approval from the government as a parent sponsor. The conditions to get approval include:

• Must be a citizen or permanent resident of Australia
• Have a taxable income or a combined income with your spouse or de facto partner of AUD 83, 454 for the recent financial year
• Must have completed the relevant police checks
• Not have any debts to pay for public health or Commonwealth
• Must be ready to provide your parent with financial support and accommodation in Australia
• Must not have a partner who is a parent sponsor
• Once you gain approval as a parent sponsor your parent or parents can apply for a Temporary Parent visa

 Eligibility requirements for a Temporary Parent visa:

• Applicant should be the biological parent, adoptive parent, stepparent or parent-in-law of their child living in Australia
• Must have enough funds to meet their expenses during the duration of their stay in the country
• Plan for health insurance for the duration of their stay
• Must have complied with the conditions of any previous Australian visas they have had
•  Have the intent to stay in Australia on a temporary basis
• Must satisfy the health and character requirements

Advantages of the visa:

The new temporary parent visa offers the option for Australian permanent residents and citizens to bring their parents to Australia on a temporary basis.

If the parents succeed in getting a Subclass 870 visa, they will be able to stay in the country for a longer period compared to staying on a visitor visa which is valid for a stay between 12 to 18 months.

The Temporary Parent visa of Australia seeks to reunite family members of permanent migrants and citizens. The visa fulfils a primary objective of the country’s migration program.