Category Archives: 173 visas

Parent visa numbers are capped – Program year ended 30 June 2025

103 visa, 143 visas, 173 visas, 804 visas, 864 visas, 884 visas, ,

As is customary – although perhaps not this early in the year, which is maybe indicative of the Federal Election being called imminently – Australia’s Immigration Minister has capped the number of parent visas that can be granted by the Department of Home Affairs in the program year, which for 2024_25 ends on 30 June 2025.

In summary:

  • A maximum of 6,800 Contributory Parent visas can be granted between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025
  • Of this number no more than 112 can be granted to what are known as pathway applicants, being applicants who hold subclass 410 or 405 visas
  • A maximum of 1,700 non-Contributory Parent visas can be granted between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2025
  • Of this number no more than 13 can be granted to pathway applicants, these again being those applicants who hold subclass 410 or 405 visas

These numbers do not include subclass 870 Sponsored Parent Temporary visas, and are in line with the capped number of parent visas in the last couple of years.

Our last blog at the end of January advised details of the number of parent visas granted; we will be posting again in the next few weeks with updated details of the number of parent visas that have been granted.

Parent Visa Grant Numbers – Year to 30 June 2024

103 visa, 143 visas, 173 visas, 804 visas, 864 visas, 870 visas,

We have received details of the number of Australian parent visas granted during the year to 30 June 2024.

The number of visa grants (with the number of visa refusals in brackets) was as follows:

Contributory Parent visas – 7,111 (535)

Non Contributory Parent visas – 1,709 (240)

TOTAL – 8,820 (775)

The total number of Contributory Parent visa applications cleared in the year to 30 June 2024 (ie granted plus refused) was therefore 7,646 – which is less than the total number of such applications lodged in May and June 2017.

As those who closely watch Contributory Parent visa processing will know, a large number of applications for these visas were lodged in May and June 2017, with most of the last processing year taken up with clearing just those two months of visa applications.

The Department of Home Affairs is now substantially through processing June 2017 applications, with applications held over into this month now being granted (we have had a 21 June 2017 subclass 143 visa application granted today, after the main Visa Application Charge was paid on 17 June 2024).

With the non Contributory Parent visa applications it is noteworthy that most of the visa grants were to subclass 103 applicants (1,581); only 128 visas were granted to subclass 804 visa applicants.

The number of subclass 870 visa applications granted in the year to 30 June 2024 was 3,734, with 110 refusals.

Note: Contributory Parent visa applications are made under subclasses 143, 173, 864, and 884.

The number of grants in the year to 30 June 2024 for each subclass was:

143 – 6,438

173 – 292

864 – 374

884 – 7

 

Parent Visa Numbers are Capped for the Year to 30 June 2024

103 visa, 143 visas, 173 visas, 804 visas, 864 visas, 884 visas,
A Legislative Instrument has been published by Australia’s Immigration Minister that caps the number of visas that can be granted to parents in the program year to 30 June 2024 as follows:
  • Contributory Parent visas – 6,800
  • Non Contributory Parent visas – 1,700
Of these totals some 112 Contributory Parent visas can be granted to Retiree pathway applicants; 13 can be granted to non-Contributory Parent visa applicants by Retirees.
 
Retiree pathway applicants are those who are applying under the pathway that is available to subclass 410 and 405 visa applicants.

Parent visas – The number of visas granted to date

103 visa, 143 visas, 173 visas, 804 visas, 864 visas, 870 visas, , ,

Following a Freedom of Information request we have received the following information from the Department of Home Affairs regarding the number of parent visas granted during the current program year through to the end of February 2024 – ie from 1 July 2023 to 29 Feb 2024.

  Number Granted Number Refused
Contributory Parent Visas (CPVs) 4,624 308
Non Contributory Parent Visas 1,231 203
Subclass 870, Sponsored Parent Temporary 2,672 70

The parent visa program planning level (which excludes subclass 870) for the year to 30 June 2024 is for 8,500 visa grants, so if this is to be achieved there are some 2,624 parent visas available for grant in the 4 months to the end of June 2024.

In recent years there has been a tendency for the number of parent visas granted during a program year to come in at a few hundred less than the planning level – watch this blog for the actual numbers for the full year in the coming months.

Queuing Confusion! – Subclass 143 Contributory Parent Visa Applications

143 visas, 173 visas, 864 visas, 884 visas,

As noted in an earlier blog post the Department of Home Affairs now queues applications for Contributory Parent visas.

The process of queuing Contributory Parent visa applications has had a slow start, but we are now starting to see subclass 143 Contributory Parent visa applications being reviewed by delegates at the Parent Visa Centre with a view to them being given a queue date.

Specifically, from Ministerial Direction 103:

queue date means the date  on which the applicant is assessed by a delegate as meeting all of the prescribed criteria for the visa, other than the following:

…

(c)  for Onshore Parent visas (Subclass 804) and Contributory Parent visas (Subclass 864 and 884), the applicant’s payment of the second instalment of the visa application charge and, where applicable, assurance of support requirements;

(d)  for Parent visas (Subclass 103) and Contributory Parent visas (Subclass 143 and 173), the applicant’s health and character requirements, payment of the second instalment of the visa application charge and, where applicable, assurance of support requirements.

Customarily with the non Contributory Parent visa caseload (subclasses 103 and 804) the queue date given is the date the application is assessed by the delegate as meeting certain requirements.

Some of the queue dates issued recently – notably in October 2023 – were the dates on which the delegate assessed the prescribed criteria as being met, as per the Ministerial Direction.

However, a short time later these applicants (or their agents) received letters from the Department of Home Affairs advising of updated queue dates, which was the date the visa application was submitted to the Department.

We have made enquiry of the Department and have been advised:

The Department is currently assessing a large number of Contributory Parent visa applications for a place in the queue. In order to ensure that clients are not disadvantaged by the delay in assessing their application for the queue, the Parent Visa team are currently utilising provisions within Ministerial Direction 103 to assign a retrospective queue date.

Given the large number of Contributory Parent visas under current assessment this will ensure that cases lodged months or potentially years apart do not ‘skip’ each other for a place in the queue due to our processes. It will also align with the queue method applied to Contributory Parent visas that were lodged up to 1 June 2018. To ensure equity, the Parent Visa team are currently revising the queue date assigned to a small number of Contributory Parent visa applications that were incorrectly assigned a 2023 queue date.

While we do not wholly subscribe to the procedure being adopted – it doesn’t align with the queuing of non Contributory Parent visa applications under subclasses 103 and 804 – this response does provide context to what we and some other visa applicants have experienced recently.