Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 884)

Primary criteria

The Contributory Aged Parent Visa is intended for individuals whose children live in Australia, either as settled (resident for at least two years) citizens or permanent residents.

Applicants will be expected to successfully meet something called the balance of family test to be eligible for this visa. The balance of family test requires that half or more of the applicant’s children should be resident in Australia, or that more of their children are resident in Australia than in another country. The test includes all children, biological or adopted, as well as any step-children.

Applicants must be sponsored by their child living in Australia, and both the applicant and their sponsor will be expected to meet the Australian government’s health and good character requirements.

Types of Visa

Subclass 864 (Permanent) – This visa is permanent and is sometimes also called a ‘Contributory visa’. The fee for the first application is AUD 4,765, with further fees of AUD 2,380 for additional adults and AUD 1,195 for children under 18. There is then a second, larger fee that is required to be paid per applicant of AUD 43,600. The second fee is intended to be a contribution by the visa applicant towards the benefits afforded by permanent residency (such as access to public healthcare), and for which they have not contributed earlier in life through working and paying taxes in Australia.

Subclass 884 (Temporary) – This visa is temporary and, like the permanent Subclass 864 visa, comes with an initial up-front fee of AUD 4,765 for the first application and AUD 2,380 for additional adults.  There is also a second fee payable of AUD 29,130 that must be paid before this two-year visa will be granted. Furthermore, before the expiry of the visa applicants must pay a further AUD 19,420 fee and also register an application for the permanent Subclass 864 visa.

Waiting times for new applications for both permanent and temporary Contributory Aged Parent visas are extremely long. At present, we estimate that it could take as long as 12 years for eligible applications to be granted even once they have been assessed by Australian authorities.

Fees

Permanent Contributory Parent Visa fees and charges are summarised below.

Please note that those fees charged by Australian government authorities are subject to change. All VELawyers fees must be paid in full before your visa application is submitted.

*1.4% credit card surcharge applies.

If you wish to spread out the process of obtaining a permanent contributory parent visa, it is possible to apply first for the temporary subclass 884 visa, which lasts for two years, and then apply for the permanent subclass 864 visa. The main advantage of this is the lower second Visa Application Charge of AUD 29,130, though please bear in mind the further payment of AUD 19,420 that is required when converting to the permanent visa.

The full schedule of fees for individuals seeking to take the subclass 884 > subclass 864 pathway is below:

*1.4% Credit card surcharge applies.

Assurance of Support (AoS)

In addition to the above fees, applicants will have to arrange for payment of an Assurance of Support (AoS) bond, which must be paid after a decision to grant the visa has been made. The cost of an AoS for two concurrent applicants is currently around AUD 14,000.

The full amount of this bond will be refunded after the applicant has been in Australia for ten years after entering the country on a contributory parent visa, unless any outstanding debts to the Australian government need to be deducted from the total.

Bridging Visas

Individuals already in possession of a valid Australian visa who wish to apply for either the subclass 864 or subclass 884 visa can be granted a Bridging Visa A (BVA). The BVA gives the holder the ability to remain in Australia while their application for the Contributory Aged Parent Visa is being considered.

Holders of Bridging Visa A should take note that this visa does not provide for right of re-entry into Australia if they leave the country. They may therefore need to obtain a Bridging Visa B (BVB) if they intend to undertake limited overseas travel while they are waiting for their visa application to be processed. Bridging Visas do not limit any right to work in Australia that the holder may already have.

Health Insurance

If granted, both the Subclass 864 (Permanent) and Subclass 884 (Temporary) visas allow for access to the Australian public healthcare system, Medicare. However, individuals who have applied for a Permanent Contributory Aged Parent Visa without first holding a visa that provides access to Medicare will not be eligible until their application has been accepted and their permanent visa granted.

Length of stay

Cost

Please refer to the fee structure for both subclass 864 and subclass 884 visas.