Australian Aged Parent Visa

The Australian Aged Parent visa allows aged parents who are already in Australia on a valid temporary visa to remain permanently through sponsorship from an eligible Australian or New Zealand child settled in Australia.

The number of Aged Parent visas is capped each year and current applicants are experiencing significant waiting times despite an additional 4000 Parent visas being recently announced in the Family Migration stream.

Eligible applicants may choose to apply for a Contributory Aged Parent visa where a larger application fee and an Assurance of Support bond is required but the waiting period is much shorter.

Australian Aged Parent Visa Basic Requirements

To be eligible to apply for an Aged Parent visa, applicants must meet the age requirement, pass the 'balance of family' test and be sponsored by their child who must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen settled in Australia.

Aged

An aged parent is one who is old enough to be granted an Australian age pension. For male applicants, the qualifying age is currently 65 years and for female applicants, the qualifying age ranges from 63 to 65 depending on the applicant's date of birth.

Balance of Family

The 'balance of family' test applies to all Parent visa applicants and the applicant must demonstrate that they have:

• at least half of their children living lawfully and permanently in Australia; or
• more children living lawfully and permanently in Australia than in any one single country overseas.

An Aged Parent visa must be applied for onshore and applicants are required to be in Australia at the time that the visa is granted.

All Australian visa applicants are required to satisfy health and character requirements.

Australian Aged Parent Visa Entitlements

Successful applicants and holders of an Australian Aged Parent visa become permanent residents of Australia. Australian permanent residents are entitled to live, work and study in Australia on a permanent basis. Additional benefits of Australian permanent residence include access to government-subsidised healthcare (Medicare), certain social security benefits and the ability to apply for Australian citizenship.

Successful applicants and holders of an Australian Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) visa will be granted a two year temporary residence visa.