-Paul W. Laufenberg

Parents may be able to migrate to Australia if they have a child in Australia who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.

There are two categories in which parents may apply for a visa.

Parent category
To apply for migration to Australia as a parent, you must be sponsored. Generally you will be sponsored by your child, who must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. The number of places available in the parent category in the 2003-2004 Migration Program Year is 1,500. There will be 1,000 places in the parent category in subsequent migration program years.

Generally, the following are requirements for visas in the Parent category:

The applicant must be a parent of a child who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen.

The applicant’s child must be settled in Australia (in most cases, lawfully and permanently resident for at least 2 years) and generally must sponsor the applicant.

The applicant must meet health and character requirements.

The applicant must pass the balance of family test.

An Assurance of Support must be provided

Under Australia's Family Stream migration program, a high priority is given to children and partner applications. Parent category applications are given a low priority.

Once all the legal requirements for the grant of a visa in the Parent category are met, applications are placed in a queue for visa grant. As at 31 December 2005, there were around 16,900 parents in the queue. All applicants for a visa in the Parent category can expect a very substantial wait before their applications are finalised.

Contributory Parent category
5,500 places are available for migration to Australia under the contributory parent category in the 2003-04 Migration Program Year. There will be 3,500 places in the contributory parent category in subsequent migration program years. Applicants for visas in the contributory parent category pay a significantly higher second visa application charge as a contribution to their ongoing health costs.

To apply for migration to Australia as a contributory parent, you must be sponsored. Generally you will be sponsored by your child, who must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.

The Contributory Parent category was introduced in mid-2003 to allow the expansion of the Parent migration program on the basis that applicants pay a substantially higher second visa application charge and a larger Assurance of Support (AoS) bond (with a longer Assurance of Support period.) There are considerably more places available in the Contributory Parent category each year than are available in the Parent category.

Generally, the following are requirements for visas in the Contributory Parent category:

The applicant must be a parent of a child who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or an eligible New Zealand citizen.

The applicant’s child must be settled in Australia (in most cases, resident for at least 2 years) and must sponsor the applicant.

The applicant must meet health and character requirements

The applicant must pass the balance of family test.

An Assurance of Support and an Assurance of Support bond (held for 10 years) must be provided for people applying for a permanent visa in the Contributory Parent category. Lodgement of the bond is not required until just before grant of a visa.

Parent migration can be extremely complex with a range of different visas available. We can assist you with identifying which visa is the most suitable to your situation. There are different types of visas and we can only feature some of them.

Paul W Laufenberg
Migration Agent MARA Reg No 9790430
Former Attorney from Berlin
Suffolk Park, Byron Bay NSW 2481
AUSTRALIA
Ph: + 61 - (0)2 6685 9643
Fax: + 61 - (0)2 6685 9653
E-mail: info@howtomigrate.com
http://www.howtomigrate.com