There are 4 subclasses of current visas that can be applied for by parents outside Australia namely subclass 103(Parent), subclass 118(Designated Parent), subclass 143(Contributory Parent) and subclass 173(Contributory Parent (Temporary)).

There are also 4 subclasses of visas that can be applied for in Australia namely subclass 804(Aged Parent), subclass 859(Designed Parent) and subclass 864(Contributory Aged Parent) and subclass 884(Contributory Aged Parent(Temporary)).

Subclasses 173 and 884 are temporary visas and the visa applicant when he or she arrives in Australia is required to lodge another application for a permanent resident visa within 2 years.

Visa Application Charges

The current visa application charges for parent visas comprise of a first instalment and a second instalment. For onshore applications, the first instalment is currently $1,935.00. For offshore applicants the first instalment is currently $1,305.00. The second instalment of the visa application charges is $1,135.00 for each applicant for a non-contributory visa and for contributory visas is $16,710.00 for temporary visa applicants and $27,850.00 for permanent visa applicants and $1,205.00 for applicants under 18 years. These charges generally are adjusted every 6 months and need to be checked before any planning or commitment is made.

Assurances of Support

The assurance of support for contributory parent visas is $10,000.00 for the main applicant and $4,000.00 for secondary applicants whereas in the non-contributory parent visa applications, the assurance of support is $3,500.00 for the main applicant and $1,500.00 for every adult secondary applicant.

Other Conditions

Other conditions that the applicants have to satisfy are set out in Schedules 1 and 2 of the Migration Regulations and advice needs to be obtained in relation to the circumstances of each separate parent.

In the non-contributory category parent visas, in 2003/2004, the quota was 1,500 places and in subsequent years the quota is 1,000 places per year.

In the contributory parent visa category the quota for 2003/2004 was 5,500 places and in subsequent years quota is 3,500.

The Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs informs all applicants for parent visas in writing when they have been placed in a queue. Further the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs provides a link on its website -

www.immi.gov.aumigrationfamilyparentsparents.htm

so that queued parents can calculate their approximate position in the queue.

Place of Processing of Parent Visa Applications

All parent visa applications are to be lodged with the Perth Offshore Parent Centre of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs by mail at Locked Bag 7, Northbridge, WA 6865 Australia or by courier at 411 Wellington Street, Perth WA 6000, Australia.

Priority of Processing of Visas

Generally applications for visas for parents of Australian citizens have a processing priority over applications for visas for parents of Australian permanent residents and eligible New Zealand citizens. Further parents who have a majority of their children living permanently in Australia have a processing priority over parents who do not. However, each case is treated on its own set of facts and the case officers can exercise a great deal of discretion.

Visa Processing Times

For the non contributory parent visas there is a queue of over 10,000 people and therefore any visa applications lodged now may take an extended period of time to process depending on your particular case. For contributory parent visas, the processing time if all documents are in order is about 11 months.

Conclusion

Thus there exists a dilemma for parents wishing to migrate to Australia do they wish to pay the higher second instalment visa application charges and assurances of support for contributory parent visas as opposed to the non-contributory parent visas. Another complicating factor is that the quality of an application can depend on how much effort applicants are willing to put into preparing or having prepared a valid application for parent visas bearing in mind the lengthy, complicated and multi-documented visa application process.