Contributory Parent Category Visas

The Family Stream of Australia's Migration Program enables the reunion in Australia of immediate family members. This includes spouses, fiancés, interdependent partners, dependent children, adopted children, and certain other family members such as parents, orphan relatives, careers, aged dependent relatives, and remaining relatives.

There are two visa categories for parents wishing to migrate to Australia:

• the parent category, and
• the contributory parent category.

The differences between the two categories are that:

• the contributory parent category has more visa places available each migration program year, and
• by applying for a contributory parent visa, parents choose to make a substantially higher contribution to their future health and welfare costs.

Requirements
The core requirements for both the parent category and the contributory parent category are similar. However, applicants in the contributory parent category are required to pay a substantially higher visa application charge and Assurance of Support bond.

To apply, you must be the parent of a child who is a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. To be settled, a person must have been a resident for a reasonable period, usually two years.

Temporary contributory parent visas
A parent can apply for either a permanent or a temporary contributory parent visa. The temporary visa is valid for two years and provides access to Medicare and full work rights. A temporary contributory parent visa cannot be extended or renewed.
Once granted a temporary contributory parent visa, the visa holder parent can apply for the corresponding permanent contributory parent visa any time during the two years.

Balance of family test
All contributory parent category applicants must meet the 'balance of family' (BOF) test. This means the applicants must 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 other single country overseas.

Children of both parents are counted in the test, including any children of previous relationships or de facto relationships of either parent.
Children to be considered for the purpose of the BOF test include natural, adopted and step-children. This is irrespective of whether they are dependent, self-supporting, married, single or divorced.

The quality of the parent's relationship with such children is not a relevant factor in this test. The purpose of the test is to establish the nature of a parent's ties to Australia and the support likely to be available from their children in Australia.
Some single, aged parents who do not meet the BOF test may be eligible under the Aged Dependent Relative category if they are able to prove that they have been, and continue to be, dependent on their relative (child) in Australia.

Sponsorship
All applicants for parent migration, whether they apply within or outside Australia, must be sponsored.
The sponsor must be either an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen who is settled, ie, a person who has been resident in Australia for a reasonable period, usually two years. If the child of the parent is 18 years or older, then the parent can be sponsored by that child or by that child's cohabiting spouse. In cases where a child has not turned 18, applicants may be sponsored by the spouse of their child, a close relative or guardian of their child or a community organisation.

Generally, an applicant cannot change their sponsor after they have lodged their contributory parent category visa application. The only exception to this is if a person is a temporary contributory parent visa holder and, whilst that visa is still valid, applies for the corresponding permanent.

Public interest criteria

Each parent and all dependent family members included in an application must satisfy certain public interest requirements. All applicants must meet strict health standards designed to protect Australia from high health risks and costs, and overuse of scarce health resources. In addition, all applicants must be of good character. Forms and further instructions on undertaking required health and character checks can be obtained from the office at which an application is lodged.

Capping and Queuing
A number of visa classes in the Family Stream are subject to capping.

This means that once the number of visas set by the Minister for a visa class for that Migration Program year has been reached, no further visas can be granted in that class in that program year.

The contributory parent category is subject to capping.
When a cap is reached, applicants who have met the key legal requirements (eg, BOF, sponsorship, public interest criteria, first visa application charge, withdrawal of any other parent application) for the grant of a parent visa are placed in a global queue for the grant of that visa. When further visa places become available and applicants meet all the legal criteria for the grant of that visa, visas are granted in order of the queue date allocated to an applicant.

Visa Application Charge
All parent visa applicants are required to pay a first and second Visa Application Charge (VAC). Generally, the first VAC is the same for both the parent and contributory parent categories and must be paid at time of lodging an application. However, the second VAC for the contributory parent category is considerably higher than for the parent category. Payment of the second VAC is not required until just before grant of a visa.

As an alternative to applying directly for a permanent contributory parent category visa, applicants can choose to spread the payment of the second VAC by paying a first instalment for a two-year temporary contributory parent visa. At any time during the two-year period, such visa holders can then apply for the corresponding permanent contributory parent visa and pay the balance of the second VAC, just before the permanent visa is granted.

Assurance of Support (AoS)
All applicants for a permanent visa (Subclasses 143 and 864) in the contributory parent category require an Assurance of Support (AoS). An AoS is a legal commitment by an assurer to repay the Commonwealth of Australia any benefits paid to those applicants covered by the assurance. This is for the first 10 years after the applicants migrate from overseas or are granted permanent residence in Australia.
In addition, an AoS bond (held for 10 years) of $10,000 for the main applicant and $4,000 for any adult secondary applicant must be paid (under the parent visa category, there is a smaller bond that is held for two years).

Processing priorities
The Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs has issued a Direction for migration officers giving guidance on the order of priority for processing Family Stream applications.

Within the Family Stream, all parent visa applications are given a lower processing priority than other family members such as partners and children. Within the parent visa categories, the contributory parent category has a higher processing priority than the parent category.