What is the Parent (subclass 804) Visa?
The Aged Parent 804 Visa allows parents onshore on temporary visas to apply for permanent residency, the applicants must be older parents of settled Australian citizens, permanent residents and eligible New Zealand citizens. If granted this visa allows applicants to live/work/study in Australia permanently with their child/children and if eligible apply for Australian citizenship, however this visa has an estimated processing time of up to 13 years.
Am I Eligible?
- You must have an eligible child who is a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen and is approved and willing to sponsor your migration to Australia
- Meet the balance of family test
- Meet a 2-year assurance of support
- Meet required health and character checks
- Be of Australian “aged” requirements
Aged parent means
For men the minimum age is 65
Due to Australia’s pensioner age for women changing see below what age female applicants must be:
Born before 30/06/1944 – minimum age 63 years old
Born between 01/07/1944- 31/12/1945 – minimum age 63.5 years old
Born between 01/01/1946 – 30/06/1947 – minimum age 64 years old
Born between 01/07/1947 – 31/12/1948 – minimum age 64.5 years old
Born on or after the 1st of January 1949 – minimum age 65
What is the Balance of Family test?
In order to apply for this visa, the applicant must meet the requirements of the “balance of family test (BFT)” this assesses that the applicant/s must have at least half of their children living in Australia, settled as an Australian citizen or permanent resident, or that majority of your children live in Australia than any other country. This includes stepchildren and adopted children of both parents.
What is Assurance of support?
An Assurance of Support is essentially a bond with the department of human services. It is an additional cost paid by the sponsor at the time of decision, for two applicants the bond is an estimated cost of $14,000, however, the assurer’s taxable income needs to be assessed. This is amount is an agreement that financial support will be provided to the applicant/s to settle down in Australia and in circumstances of financial hardship so that there isn’t a dependency on government income (Centrelink).
This amount is paid to the department of human services and is an agreement to re-pay the department for any income support provided. The amount is repaid (minus debt to the Australian government) two years after the parent (subclass 103) visa is granted.
The assurer must:
- Give sufficient support so that the primary applicant or any accompanying family do not have to rely on any government support
- Pay a security bond before the visa is granted
For more information or to calculate the amount you will have to pay go to the Australian Government Services Australia via: assurances of support.
Am I eligible for MEDICARE?
Under the Department of Home Affairs public health policy, if you are granted the Aged Parent (subclass 804) Visa, you can enrol under Medicare (Australia’s public health care scheme). If you choose not to enrol under Medicare, you will need to have another type of Australian health insurance, otherwise you are personally liable for any health care costs.
Australia has reciprocal healthcare agreement with some countries, which would entitle you to Australian public health services. Find out if you are from an eligible country and more details via: when you visit australia
Until the Parent (subclass 804) Visa is granted, while in Australia, you are liable for any healthcare costs.
How much does a subclass 804 application cost?
According to the Department of Home Affairs the first instalment upon application for the Aged Parent (subclass 804) Visa is from, AUD5125. （Update date：2025.01）
There is an additional charge for each family member who applies with you. You might also have to pay other costs for each applicant for health checks, police certificates and biometrics.
To work out what your visa will cost use the Visa Pricing Estimator. The estimator does not consider the second instalment or other costs.
What is the processing time?
As at 28 February 2025, DHA has released the following applications for final processing:
- Contributory Parent visa applications with a queue date up to February 2018
- Parent visa applications with a queue date up to December 2012
- Aged Parent visa applications with a queue date up to January 2013.
