There are several requirements that must be satisfied before reasonably considering lodging an application for an Australian parent visa.

To help those who might be considering applying for a parent visa they are summarised here.

• The balance of family test must be satisfied. This requires that at least half of your children live permanently in Australia, or that more of your children live permanently in Australia than in any other country. Those who do not satisfy the balance of family test may be interested in the proposed new temporary Parent visa
• Applicants must have a sponsoring child who is “settled” in Australia. The subject of settled sponsors is discussed more fully here
• If applying for a subclass 804 Aged Parent or subclass 864/884 Contributory Aged Parent visa:
  1. The main visa applicant must be “aged”, this being the age when you are eligible for an Age Pension in Australia
  2. All applicants must be in Australia when the visa application is submitted to the Department of Immigration, and when it is granted
• If applying for a visa while in Australia a condition 8503 (No Further Stay) must not attach to the visa used to enter Australia.
• If applying for an offshore visa (subclasses 103, 143 – with a one step visa strategy – and 173 are offshore visas) applicants must be outside Australia when the visa is granted.

Sufficient funds to pay the 2nd Visa Application Charges – currently AUD 43,600 per applicant – must also be readily available when a Contributory Parent visa application is approaching finalisation. For some, this will require careful management of the visa application process to ensure liquid funds are to hand at the appropriate time, as the Department of Immigration requires remittance of the 2nd VAC within 28 days of the issuing of the request for payment.

Go Matilda Visas invites those who are interested in applying for a parent visa to contact us for a free initial discussion about their position, the process, and how we might help.