Parent visas can be applied for from inside or outside Australia.

Only “aged” parents are eligible to make an application from within Australia, which would entitle them to a bridging visa to remain in Australia whilst the application is being processed.

To satisfy the “aged” parent requirement, at least one of the applicants must meet the following age criteria:

Males: 65 or over
Females: Gradually being increased from age 60 to 65

A summary of the main criteria for the parent visas are as follows:
The parent(s) must be sponsored by a child who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident. The sponsor must have been lawfully resident in Australia for at least 2 years.

If applying in Australia, the parent must be of retirement age. If applying from overseas there is no minimum age requirement for the parent.

The applicant must satisfy the "Balance of Family test". That is, the number of children who are lawfully and permanently resident in Australia must be:

• Greater than, or equal to, the total number of children who are resident overseas; or
  

• Greater than the greatest number of children who are resident in any single overseas country.

The Australian government has recently introduced the "contributory" parent visa categories, which require the payment of a much higher application fee to cover medical expenses, but which are processed much faster than the old parent visa applications, which can currently take at least 5 years.

For applicants who are able to pay the new visa charges of $25,000.00  per person, they will be able to be granted permanent residency fairly quickly.

The first instalment of the visa application fee is $1,210.00, with the $25,000.00 to be paid once all applicants are deemed to have met health and character requirements. You will also need to pay a second application fee of $1,080.00 for any dependents included in the application who under 18 years old at the time of application

For those who cannot pay the $25,000.00 per person fee, then they have the option to pay $15,000.00 per person, which will entitle their parents to a 2 year temporary visa. At any stage during these 2 years, the applicant is able to pay at any time, the remaining $10,000.00 per person and be eligible to be granted permanent residency, less the fees paid for the temporary visa.
 
Please note that the contributory parent visas also requires a $10,000.00, 10 year Assurance of Support bond (with an additional $4000.00 for each adult applicant). At the end of the 10 years, this bond will be refunded back to you in full, if the applicants have not accessed any Centrelink payments, along with any interest earned. The Assurer will need to have an annual taxable income of at least $31,755.00, adding on another $,2000.00 for the Assurer’s dependent spouse, $4000.00 for 2 adults who are migrating and $624 for any extra applicants. If you do not meet the required income threshold, then you can find someone else to be the assurer, or lodge a joint Assurance of Support.

If you have considerable assets behind you, you could also consider applying for a 4-year retirement visa, which would also be processed faster.

If you would like to discuss the options available to you, please contact our office and one of our Registered Migration Agents will contact you to advice best suitable for your needs.