Immigration Law

#ffffff;" />2004, the quota was 1,500 places and in subsequent
Classes of Parent Visasyears the quota is 1,000 places per year.
There are 4 subclasses of current visas that can beIn the contributory parent visa category the quota for
applied for by parents outside Australia namely2003/2004 was 5,500 places and in subsequent years
subclass 103(Parent), subclass 118(Designated Parent),quota is 3,500.
subclass 143(Contributory Parent) and subclassThe Department of Immigration and Multicultural and
173(Contributory Parent (Temporary)).Indigenous Affairs informs all applicants for parent
There are also 4 subclasses of visas that can bevisas in writing when they have been placed in a
applied for in Australia namely subclass 804(Agedqueue. Further the Department of Immigration and
Parent), subclass 859(Designed Parent) and subclassMulticultural and Indigenous Affairs provides a link on its
864(Contributory Aged Parent) and subclasswebsite - that queued parents can calculate their
884(Contributory Aged Parent(Temporary)).approximate position in the queue.
Subclasses 173 and 884 are temporary visas and thePlace of Processing of Parent Visa Applications
visa applicant when he or she arrives in Australia isAll parent visa applications are to be lodged with the
required to lodge another application for a permanentPerth Offshore Parent Centre of the Department of
resident visa within 2 years.Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs by
Visa Application Chargesmail at Locked Bag 7, Northbridge, WA 6865 Australia
The current visa application charges for parent visasor by courier at 411 Wellington Street, Perth WA 6000,
comprise of a first instalment and a second instalment.Australia.
For onshore applications, the first instalment is currentlyPriority of Processing of Visas
$1,935.00. For offshore applicants the first instalment isGenerally applications for visas for parents of
currently $1,305.00. The second instalment of the visaAustralian citizens have a processing priority over
application charges is $1,135.00 for each applicant for aapplications for visas for parents of Australian
non-contributory visa and for contributory visas ispermanent residents and eligible New Zealand citizens.
$16,710.00 for temporary visa applicants andFurther parents who have a majority of their children
$27,850.00 for permanent visa applicants and $1,205.00living permanently in Australia have a processing
for applicants under 18 years. These charges generallypriority over parents who do not. However, each case
are adjusted every 6 months and need to be checkedis treated on its own set of facts and the case
before any planning or commitment is made.officers can exercise a great deal of discretion.
Assurances of SupportVisa Processing Times
The assurance of support for contributory parentFor the non contributory parent visas there is a queue
visas is $10,000.00 for the main applicant and $4,000.00of over 10,000 people and therefore any visa
for secondary applicants whereas in theapplications lodged now may take an extended period
non-contributory parent visa applications, the assuranceof time to process depending on your particular case.
of support is $3,500.00 for the main applicant andFor contributory parent visas, the processing time if all
$1,500.00 for every adult secondary applicant.documents are in order is about 11 months.
Other ConditionsConclusion
Other conditions that the applicants have to satisfy areThus there exists a dilemma for parents wishing to
set out in Schedules 1 and 2 of the Migrationmigrate to Australia do they wish to pay the higher
Regulations and advice needs to be obtained in relationsecond instalment visa application charges and
to the circumstances of each separate parent.assurances of support for contributory parent visas as
Quotasopposed to the non-contributory parent visas.
In the non-contributory category parent visas, in 2003