Parent Visa for Sponsors
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Overview
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About this visa
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Eligibility
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Step by step
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When you are a sponsor
Stay
Permanently
Cost
Processing times
For an indication of processing times for this visa, use the visa processing time guide tool. This will show the processing times for recently decided applications. It is a guide only and not specific to your application.
With this visa the applicant can
- move to or stay in Australia as a permanent resident
- sponsor eligible family members to come to Australia
- apply for Australian citizenship if eligible
See all conditions
Check your eligibility
Things to note
- You can apply to be a sponsor using Form 40 Sponsorship for migration to Australia (442KB PDF)
- You must be a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen
- You must agree to support the applicant and their family for their first 2 years in Australia
Scope of sponsorship
Your sponsorship covers the main visa applicant and any family members who apply for the visa with them.
You can sponsor more than one parent for this visa.
Cost for the sponsor
There is no cost to apply to sponsor a visa applicant but you must agree to financially support the main visa applicant and their dependants for their first 2 years in Australia.
Sponsor obligations
You must agree that, for the first 2 years the visa applicant is in Australia on this visa, you will provide them and and family members who come with them with:
- support
- accommodation
- financial assistance
Assurance of support
You might be asked to provide an assurance of support for the visa applicant.
An assurance of support is a legal commitment to repay the Australian Government any welfare payments made to a visa holder or their family members who come to Australia with them.
Learn more about assurances of support.
Withdraw sponsorship
You can withdraw your sponsorship at any time before we decide on the visa application.
You must make your request in writing and include:
- your full name
- your date of birth
- the file reference number we gave you when you applied or Client ID
You can't withdraw as a sponsor after we grant the visa. But if you don't comply with your sponsorship obligations, we might cancel the visa.
Send your request to the Parent Visa Centre in Perth at the address on the form.
Be suitable to sponsor
To sponsor your parent for this visa, you or your partner must be settled in Australia, 18 years of age or older, and either:
- an Australian citizen
- an Australian permanent resident
- an eligible New Zealand citizen
You must agree to provide support, housing and financial help for the first 2 years the applicant lives in Australia. You must also support any members of the applicant's family who apply with them.
You can sponsor more than one parent.
Alternative sponsorship arrangements
You can sponsor a visa applicant on behalf of a child under 18 if you are:
- an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen
- settled in Australia
- 18 years of age or older
You must be:
- the child’s spouse or de facto partner, or
- the child's relative or guardian, or
- a relative or guardian of the child's spouse or de facto partner
Or a community organisation can sponsor an applicant where:
- there is a relationship between the organisation and the applicant's child
- a senior representative of the organisation agrees to sponsor the applicant
- the organisation is lawfully established in Australia
- the organisation has been actively operating in Australia for at least one year
- the organisation can meet its financial commitments
We must approve the sponsorship.
Step 1
Before you apply
Before you apply, check both you and the applicant are eligible.
Step 2
Gather your documents
Provide accurate information.
You need to show us proof you are:
- a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen
- related to the main applicant
We use the information in the application to make our decision. It will benefit the applicant if you provide as much information as possible.
Sponsor documents
Prove your relationship to the applicant
Give us evidence that you are related to the applicant, such as:
- birth certificate
- marriage certificates
- death certificates
- adoption certificates
- family status certificates or family books if officially issued and maintained
Prove you are a citizen or permanent resident
To prove that you are an eligible citizen or permanent resident, give us:
- citizenship certificate
- passport
- valid visa (for eligible New Zealand citizens)
- evidence you are settled in Australia
Prove you are an eligible community organisation
If your community organisation is sponsoring the applicant, give us:
- your certificate of registration
- proof your representative can act for the organisation, such as authorisation from the board or management committee
- proof you can financially support the applicant after they arrive in Australia
- proof the organisation is lawfully established in Australia and has been actively operating in Australia for a period of at least a year
- proof of your organisation's relationship with the applicant's child
Translate
Have all non-English documents translated into English.
Provide original copies and translated documents in your application.
Translators in Australia must be accredited by the National Accreditation Authority for Translators and Interpreters.
Translators outside Australia do not have to be accredited. But on each translation, they must include their:
- full name
- address and telephone number
- qualifications and experience in the language they are translating.
These details must be in English.
Step 3
Apply
Complete Form 40 Sponsorship for migration to Australia (442KB PDF). Give the completed form and all other documents to the applicant to lodge with their visa application.
Step 4
After you apply
We will let the applicant know when we have received their application and documents.
You can withdraw your sponsorship before we grant the visa. Write to us at the office where the application was lodged if you want to withdraw your sponsorship.
You can't withdraw as a sponsor after we grant the visa
Step 5
Visa outcome
We will let the applicant know our decision in writing.
If we grant the visa, we will advise the applicant:
- their visa grant number
- the date their visa starts
- their visa conditions
If we don't grant the visa will advise the applicant:
- why we refused the visa
- their review rights, if any
- the time limit for requesting a review of the decision, if applicable
We will not refund the application fee if we refuse the application.
How long your sponsorship obligations last
Your sponsorship obligations last 2 years.
Your obligations
You agree to provide accommodation and financial help to sponsored applicants for their first 2 years in Australia. You need to make your committment in writing.
Withdraw sponsorship
We might not release you from your sponsorship obligations if you try to withdraw sponsorship after we grant the visa.
If we do release you from your obligations we are likely to cancel the visa.
Tell us if things change
Things you need to let us know about include:
- changes to your phone number, email, address or passport
- changes to your relationship status
See how to tell us if your situation has changed.
