Australian Immigration Daily News

On Friday 5 May 2017, the Government confirmed that subject to the passage of relevant legislation, the temporary sponsored parent visa will be introduced during the 2017-18 Migration Programme year.  Due to lengthy delays involving passing of the legislation, the subclass 870 temporary parent visa was placed in an indefinite hiatus.

The temporary sponsored parent visa is designed to allow the parents of Australians to spend longer periods of time with their children in Australia without placing additional burden on Australia's health care system.  The introduction of the temporary sponsored parent visa was subject to passage of the Migration Amendment (Family Violence and other Measures) Bill 2016 (the Bill) through Parliament which was finally given Royal Assent in December 2018.

On 1 March 2019, Minister Coleman announced that applications to sponsor a parent for a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa will be open from 17 April 2019.

Once a sponsorship application has been approved, a sponsored parent will be able to apply for a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa. Applications for the visa are intended to open from 1 July 2019

What we know so far:

The new visa will allow Australians to sponsor their parents to stay in Australia for up to five years at a time. This new visa arrangement does not replace the existing Parent category visas. Intention of the subclass 870 visa is to provide an important cultural link for children of Australian migrants, while recognising the social benefits afforded through parent reunification, such as assistance with minding of grandchildren. Additionally, this visa seeks to address long-standing community concerns about wait times under existing parent visa arrangements. This new visa arrangement is for parents (biological or adoptive) and step-parents of Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents and eligible New Zealand Citizens. A step-parent can only apply if they are still in a married/de facto relationship with a biological parent of the sponsoring Australian child.

Unlike existing parent visas, the Balance of Family test does not apply to this new visa.  In order for the visa be granted, a person must satisfy a number of requirements, including:

• having their Australian child approved as a sponsor
• meet identity, health and character requirements
• not having an outstanding public health debt in Australia.

They will also be required to hold, and maintain, health insurance, from an Australian provider, valid for their intended period of stay in Australia

A sponsor for a temporary sponsored parent visa must meet requirements specified in Migration Regulations in order for their sponsorship to be approved. These will include that the sponsor must:

• 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
• accept legal liability for any outstanding public health debt their sponsored parent accrues.

The cost of becoming a sponsor is set at $420.

The aim of the new temporary visa is to allow parents to remain in Australia for a longer period, up to five years at a time without departing. It provides an alternative option to Visitor visas which only allow shorter periods of stay. Parents are still eligible to apply for Visitor visas and/or permanent Parent visas should they wish to do so in order to continue to reside in Australia.

While the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa allows for a significantly longer stay period than a visitor visa, it is still only a temporary visa and does not allow for permanent residence in Australia like a permanent Parent visa.

The program will be capped at 15, 000 places per year.  This means that no further visas can be issued once the cap for the relevant migration year has been reached.  The migration program year re-sets on 1 July each year.

The cost of the visa will be $5000 for a 3 year duration and $10,000 for a five year duration.

The government confirmed that parent and other visa options that may be available to parents will not be impacted by these changes.

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