Legislation & Regulations

Parent Visa Changes

1 July 2003 - Legislation change

Client summary

From 27 June 2003 (for applicants residing outside Australia) and 1 July 2003 (for applicants residing in Australia), immigration law has been amended to give effect to changes to the Parent Visa Program. The changes are detailed below.

Technical details

Additional information: The changes provide for 4 new visa classes, each comprising one subclass and known generally as contributory parent visas. There is a permanent visa and a corresponding 2-year temporary visa for applicants who usually reside outside Australia and for applicants who usually reside in Australia. These new classes are in addition to the existing classes in the Parent Visa Program: Parent (Class AX) and Aged Parent (Class BP).

The contributory parent visa classes and subclasses for those applicants who usually reside outside Australia are:

The start date for these two classes is 27 June 2003.

The contributory parent visa classes and subclasses for those applicants who usually reside in Australia are:

The start date for these two classes is 1 July 2003.

Temporary contributory parent visa holders must make a separate application for a permanent contributory parent visa. However, there are concessions available for a temporary contributory parent visa holder who applies for the corresponding permanent contributory parent visa before the 2-year temporary contributory visa expires. If a person's temporary contributory parent visa expires, under regulation 2.07AG, that person can only apply for a limited number of specified visas.

The same basic criteria that apply to the existing parent visa subclasses apply to the contributory parent visas, both temporary and permanent. These are that applicants:

Applicants for the contributory parent visas must lodge their application at the same processing locations as for existing parent visas. These locations are the Perth Offshore Parents Centre (POPC) for the subclasses to be applied for by a person usually resident outside Australia (100 series) or at a relevant State/Territory office of the Department for the subclasses to be applied for by a person usually resident in Australia (800 series).

The only exception to this is when a Contributory Parent (Temporary) (Class UT) visa holder applies from within Australia for a Contributory Parent (Class CA) visa. Such an application can be lodged either with POPC or at any State/Territory office.

Contributory parent visa applicants can elect to:

The income requirements for assurers who give an Assurance of Support for a permanent contributory parent visa applicant are the same as for the existing parent visas. However, the period that the Assurance of Support bond is held by the Commonwealth Bank is 10 years (not the 2 years for the existing parent visa classes). After 10 years, the bond (less any social security payments during that period) is refunded with interest.

The advantage of applying for a contributory parent visa will be that annually there will be more visa places available: 3,500 visa places for contributory parent visas as opposed to 1,000 visa places for existing parent visas. (For 2003-2004 Program Year only, there will be a total of 5,500 contributory parent visa places and 1,500 existing parent visa places.) Similar to the arrangements for the existing parent visas, applicants for the contributory parent visas will be placed in a queue for the class of visa for which they applied.

The introduction of the contributory parent visas means that parent visa applicants will have a choice in terms of processing times and costs when they apply for any type of parent visa. Furthermore, an applicant for any type of parent visa can apply for another type of parent visa. However, to make a valid application, that person must withdraw their current parent visa application lodged with the Department. (If a person has an existing parent visa application at merits or judicial review, that application must be withdrawn or finalised before the other parent visa can be granted.). Those persons who are applicants for an existing parent visa at time of the start date of the contributory parent visa for which they are applying are exempt from paying the first visa application charge at time of lodgement.

Further information is available from a "Frequently Asked Questions" document on the department's website
See: Contributory Parents

Transitional arrangements: Not applicable

Forms: Applicants for all parent visa classes, except for temporary contributory parent visa holders applying for the corresponding permanent contributory parent visa, must use forms 47PA and 40. If the main applicant has a dependent family member 18 years or older to be included in their application, a form 47A needs to be completed for each such family member.

Applicants for a permanent contributory parent visa who are holders of the corresponding temporary contributory parent visa must use forms 47PT and 40. Dependants who are not a temporary contributory parent visa holder cannot be added to this application.

For all permanent parent visas applicants, a form 28 will also need to be completed for assessment of the Assurance of Support. Applicants will be advised when this is required.

Instructions: The following instructions will be updated as soon as possible:

Effect on delegations: Nil.

Effect on systems: : ICSE and IRIS have been updated to reflect the legislative amendments with effect from 1 July 2003.