As we await the much anticipated introduction of the new temporary parent visa – scheduled for introduction this month – it is a good time to summarise what we know about the obligations and requirements to be met by a child who is to sponsor a new temporary parent visa application.

The Department of Immigration has already advised that the sponsor will need to:

• Be a biological, adoptive, or a step-child of their parent
• Provide valid evidence of their identity
• Be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen
• Be 18 years or older
• Have lived in Australia for at least four years
• Meet a household income requirement
• Meet character requirements – ie provide police clearance certificates
• Accept legal liability for any outstanding public health debt their sponsored parent accrues

In respect of the character requirements we anticipate that these will follow the changes that were introduced for partner and prospective marriage visa applicants in November 2016.

Before the new visa is introduced some legislation is also required to become law.   This is presently sitting in the Upper House (the Senate) in the form of the Migration Amendment (Family Violence and Other Measures) Bill 2016.

Among other things, this Bill will separate the role of the sponsor from the visa applicant, such that once it becomes law the sponsor of a parent visa will be required to be approved by the Department of Immigration before the visa application is lodged.

At the present time the application for approval of sponsorship by the child of a parent visa applicant is lodged at the same time as the parent visa application.

We are also expecting that for the new temporary parent visa the application for approval as a sponsor and the subsequent visa application by the parent will be submitted to the Department of Immigration electronically.

Check back here regularly at the Go Matilda Parent Visas Blog for more information about Australian’s new temporary visa for parents!

A tracker website for Australian parent visa applications – sponsored by Go Matilda Parent Visas – is now live!

The site allows you to enter details of the key stages in your parent visa application, and to track the timeline of other visa applications lodged with the Department of Immigration’s Parent Visa Centre.

We hope you will find the tracker site helpful, whether you have a parent visa application already lodged, or are planning to submit a parent visa application.

News reaches us of a surge in the number of parent visa applications lodged at the Parents Visa Centre in the last month.

The receipting of offshore visa applications (subclasses 143 and 173) is therefore taking longer than usual, and a delay in receiving the acknowledgment of delivery and a file reference of 4 to 6 weeks can be expected.

Onshore visa applications continue to be receipted quickly, as they must due to the need for the granting of Bridging Visas.

We anticipate the surge in the number of applications has been a result of concerns about a significant increase in the Visa Application Charges in the lead up to the Federal Budget, following the release of a Productivity Commission report last year.

With processing times for subclass 143 and 173 visa applications now extending beyond 30 months many applicants are considering how they can spend time in Australia while awaiting a decision on their visa application.

The introduction of a new temporary parent visa scheduled for November 2017 may provide a solution – albeit one that is relatively costly – but in any event visitor visas may be a more agreeable and less financially risky option for parent visa applicants that want to spent time in Australia while a subclass 143 or 173 visa application is being processed.

More specifically, an application can be made for a subclass 600 visitor visa.

Department of Immigration policy is to grant a visitor visa with a 12 months stay permitted every 18 months:

Officers are encouraged to consider granting parents who have a history of compliant travel to Australia a Tourist stream visa with 3 year travel period, 12 month stay and multiple entry so that the parent can visit their family for longer periods on regular occasions.

Thus, subclass 143 and 173 visa applicants who have complied with the conditions attaching to previous visits to Australia – in particular, they have departed Australia before their previous visitor visas have expired – can anticipate a subclass 600 visitor visa being granted that allows for a stay of up to 12 months in every 18 months, with an arrival in Australia allowed at any time in the 3 years following the granting of the visitor visa.

Visa conditions that will attach to this visa will almost certainly include:

• 8501 – Must maintain health insurance
• 8503 – No further stay (ie no further visa application can be made while in Australia)
• 8558 – Maximum 12 months stay in 18 months
• 8101 – No work
• 8201 – Maximum 3 months study

In respect of private health cover, information about Overseas Visitors cover is available from these companies:

• BUPA
• Australian Unity

Following the Government’s confirmation of the introduction of a new temporary parent visa the issue that is by far the most concerning is the apparent need for parents to leave Australia after 10 years.

In other words, it will only be possible for a parent to have one renewal of a 5 year temporary parent visa.

Is the Government seriously proposing that an elderly parent will be required to leave Australia after living in Australia for 10 years?

While we acknowledge there are circumstances when this new visa will have a role to play – most notably allowing parents who have lodged an offshore Contributory Parent visa application under subclass 143 or 173 where application processing times are pushing out towards 3 years to come to Australia while their CP visa application is being processed – we think there are significant risks for parents who leave their home country for Australia, do not have a permanent residency visa pathway available, and who are expected to depart Australia 10 years later.

Given this new visa will place the risk of health costs on the parents and family in Australia we can see no reason for a limit on the number of times this visa can be renewed.

Representations are being made to the Minister’s office in an effort to relax the limitation on the duration an individual can hold a temporary parent visa, before it is included in the legislation later this year.