Subclass 103 — Parent visa

Eligibility snapshot

General information only — not immigration assistance or legal advice. The subclass 103 Parent visa is, in broad terms, a non-contributory permanent visa for a parent of a settled child in Australia. It is the lower-cost counterpart to the contributory Parent visa (subclass 143), and in return it sits in a separate, far longer queue that is typically measured in decades. In general terms, applications usually turn on a few core ideas: - Sponsorship by a child. The applicant is typically sponsored by a child (or, in some situations, another eligible sponsor) who is settled in Australia as an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen. - The balance-of-family test. As a rule of thumb, this test looks at where an applicant's children live, comparing how many are settled in Australia against how many live elsewhere. The precise way the test is calculated is defined in the migration rules and can be intricate; the official page sets out the current method, and a registered practitioner can advise on how it applies to a particular family. - Health and character. Permanent visas of this kind generally involve health examinations and character checks (such as police certificates) for applicants, and an assurance of support is commonly part of the process. - Most applicants apply and are assessed from outside Australia. These are the kinds of factors that typically matter, described at a high level only. Exact thresholds, definitions, and current conditions are set by the Department of Home Affairs and change over time — always check the official subclass 103 page for current requirements, and a registered migration practitioner can advise on individual circumstances.

Costs

General information only — not immigration assistance or legal advice. Government charges shown here are separate from any platform or practitioner fees, and the Visa Application Charge is a charge set and collected by the Australian Government, not by this platform. The subclass 103 has its own Visa Application Charge, and its defining cost feature is the queue: the wait for this visa is typically measured in decades. The exact dollar amounts are published on the official subclass 103 page and change over time with indexation, so we do not list a figure here — please check the official page and the government's fee estimator for current amounts. In general terms, the things that usually drive the total cost are: - A two-instalment Visa Application Charge. Non-contributory parent visas of this kind are typically charged in two parts: a first instalment paid when the application is lodged, and a second instalment that generally falls due much later, only once the application reaches assessment near the front of the queue and the Department is ready to decide it. Because of the long queue, that second instalment can be many years away. - Additional applicants. Including additional family members in an application usually attracts further charges per person — check the official estimator for how this is calculated. - Ancillary costs. Applicants commonly also pay for things like health examinations, police certificates, document translations, and any professional advice they choose to obtain. These are separate from the government charge. Because amounts and rules change, treat any figure you see elsewhere as indicative only and confirm current charges on the official page. A registered migration practitioner can advise on the likely total for a particular set of circumstances.

Frequently asked questions