Note that there are sponsorship obligations with this visa subclass and all sponsors should review these obligations in detail prior to making an application. For the sponsor a minimum household income will also apply.Further information regarding this visa may be found on the Department’s website.
Implementation time frame:
Sponsorship applications will be available from 17 April 2019 and the visa applications with approved sponsors will be available from 1 July 2019.
Visas/permits affected:
This is a new category of visa and is a temporary visa for entry of up to five years.
Costs:
This is a new category of visa and the sponsor nomination government charge is $420 and the visa applicant charge is $5000 for 3 years duration and $10,000 for five-year duration.
Who is affected?:
Australian citizens/permanent residents and eligible New Zealand citizens who wish to apply for sponsorship of a biological, adoptive or step-parent.
Impact on processing times:
Processing times are unknown as this is a new visa class. The initial sponsor and visa applications may go through relatively quickly. However, as has been the case in other parent visa categories, the queue may increase quickly, and this may extend processing times.
Action required:
If you are considering lodging a parent visa sponsorship or visa application then it would be prudent to discuss the changes with your immigration consultant to understand how the new measures could potentially affect your prospective application.
We anticipate that this will be a popular option for many and also is open to more sponsors than the other visa subclasses which apply for parents. Therefore, the number of applications may be high and the queue for sponsors and applications may grow quickly.
Reference: Many thanks to Dan Engles from Visa Solutions Australia
