New regional visas announced as immigration levels slashed
The Australian Government has slashed the number of permanent visas it grants every year while announcing two new ‘geographically restricted’ skilled visas for regional areas of the country. But some fear that the road to permanent residency for those on temporary visas will become much tougher with these latest measures.
In order to ease congestion in Australia’s major cities such as Sydney and Melbourne, and to distribute the population to regional areas, the Government will introduce regional visas that will require a minimum three years of residence in regional Australia as a necessary condition for their permanent residency. However, there are concerns these measures will make the road to permanent residency more difficult for those already in Australia on temporary visas.
23,000 visa places will be reserved for new skilled regional visas within the 160,000 permanent visas to be issued under Australia’s scaled back migration planning level, announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Wednesday.
The Government will also encourage international students to take up courses outside Sydney, Melbourne and Southeast Queensland in regional universities. 1000 scholarships of $15,000 each for local and overseas students have been announced as a measure to attract overseas students to the regions. Another incentive being offered to them is an additional year in Australia on a post-study work visa.
The Federal Minister for Cities, Urban Infrastructure and Population, Alan Tudge, said a combination of reducing the immigration intake, new regional visas and encouraging students to study at regional universities will take some pressure off Sydney and Melbourne.
“Not only are we easing off the migration rate overall, but we are also providing 23,000 geographically restricted visas, basically anywhere outside the big capitals,” Mr Tudge told Sky News.
“What you do after three years you’ll check to make sure, through the ATO, that you’ve been employed there, you’ve got electricity bills for example, which say that you have been living in the area,” Mr Tudge said.
“If you breach that condition, you put in jeopardy your permanent residency in the country.”
Currently available regional pathways to permanent residency require visa holders to live in particular regions for at least two years. The new measures announced on Wednesday add another year to that requirement.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Immigration Minister David Coleman in Melbourne on Thursday.
The Skilled Employers Sponsored Regional visa, currently known as the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme, will have places increased from 6,000 to 9,000, and state and territory sponsored visa places will increase from 8,500 to 14,000.
These visa holders will be given priority processing and will have access to a larger pool of eligible occupations for permanent residency.
Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, David Coleman said visa holders will be able to move within the regional areas.
“They will be able to work anywhere outside Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Perth. If they do, they will lose their visa and they will not be able to settle in Australia,” he said.
“For people who migrate to Australia, permanent residency is on top of their list. By linking permanent residency to their stay in regional Australia will help improve compliance.”
Mr Coleman said during the last financial year, there was a compliance rate of 99 per cent as the requirement of working in regional areas was linked to permanent residency. He said an additional $7million will be allocated to ensure compliance with this condition.
“For people who migrate to Australia, permanent residency is on top of their list. By linking permanent residency to their stay in regional Australia will help improve compliance.”
Squeeze on skilled independent visas
However, there are fears that the cut in the annual migration cap will put further squeeze on skilled independent visas.
“It’s evident that the additional regional visas places are going to be created by slashing the number of independent skilled visa that allowed visa holders to live and work anywhere. That category is already experiencing a significant squeeze in some occupations and with these changes, my understanding is that it will be far more difficult now for people to get permanent residency,” migration agent Chamanpreet told SBS Punjabi.
Mr Coleman said there’s no change to the family visas under the new migration program.
The Government says the new cap of 160,000 permanent visas will be maintained for the next four years.
Last year, Mr Morrison who was the Federal Treasurer at the time, opposed a cut to the migration intake saying it would adversely affect the economy.
He said the enhanced integrity measured introduced since he was the Immigration Minister meant that fewer applicants were making the cut.
“Over the years we have been far more successful in bringing greater integrity in the assessment of applications. And if that has resulted in a lower intake, then that only speaks to the rigour of the processes and we don’t propose to change the rigour of the processes,” the Prime Minister said last week responding to a question by SBS Punjabi.
Australia’s annual permanent migration planning level remained consistent at 190,000 since 2011. The actual intake was almost in line with the planning levels until the last financial year when the intake fell to just over 162,000 for the first time since 2007-08.
The decline last year was primarily driven by a cut in skilled and family stream visas with the skilled visa approvals slashed by 12,000 and a 15 per cent cut in family visas. In 2016-17, the immigration intake was 183,000 people.
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Refugee footballer Hakeem Al-Araibi, who was detained in Thailand while on his honeymoon, has become an Australian citizen in a ceremony at Melbourne.
Footy-loving Hakeem Al-Araibi has become a dinky-di Aussie during a citizenship ceremony in Melbourne.
The Bahrain-born 25-year-old has travelled a rocky road, including a stint in a Bangkok jail, to realise his dream of a life in Australia, which was confirmed on Tuesday.
After passing his citizenship test with flying colours, the star soccer defender was formally recognised as an Australian during a ceremony at Federation Square.
“I’m an Aussie now,” he told reporters.
“I’m very happy to get citizen, I’m very happy to be safe.”
He was among more than 200 people from 44 countries who took the citizenship oath.
Mr Al-Araibi hoped to get back to playing for Pascoe Vale Football Club in a semi-professional league, but was aiming for the A-League and even the national team.
“I want to focus on soccer for this country,” he said.
He was also humbled by support from Australians for his return and thanked them and Prime Minister Scott Morrison, former Socceroo Craig Foster and Foreign Affairs Minister Marise Payne.
They had made him strong and helped him return home, he said.
Mr Morrison welcomed the footballer as an Australian and gave him a small memento to celebrate.
“I had a little badge I was going to give you today, but I’m going to give you mine,” Mr Morrison said.
The prime minister took off his Australia flag badge and pinned it onto Mr Al-Araibi’s jacket.
“You can wear very proudly as our newest Australian,” Mr Morrison said.
Senator Payne and Mr Foster attended the ceremony, noting Mr Al-Araibi’s detention in Thailand at the request of Bahrain over allegations he damaged a police station.
“It’s surreal in some ways to think that not too long ago, he was in prison fatigues sitting behind a perspex window,” Mr Foster said.
He said Mr Al-Araibi got a 100 per cent mark on his citizenship test several weeks ago and was looking forward to contributing to his new country.
“We want to see you pulling on the green and gold,” Mr Foster said.
Mr Al-Araibi sat in the front row as the foreign minister addressed the ceremony.
“Across the Australian community, we were concerned for his welfare,” Ms Payne said of his detention.
“I was very proud to witness that campaign. It embodied some of the best elements of Australia: looking after one another, mateship, a fair go,” she said.
She said all new citizens would be granted the same rights and responsibilities, and it was a “thrill” they had chosen to make Australia home.
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Farmers say change ‘a good first step’ but separate agricultural visa still needed
Paul Karp
Beef workers are included by the Coalition in the regional occupation list, which allows employers to sponsor overseas workers to live and work in Australia for up to four years in a specified region.
Australia’s visa rules have been relaxed to make it easier for farmers to hire skilled workers.
Farmers have described the changes as a good first step but warned they are unlikely to dampen calls from the sector for a separate agricultural visa because labour shortages are mainly in lower skilled harvesting roles.
On Monday the immigration minister, David Coleman, announced that 18 occupations would be added to the regional occupation list, which allows employers to sponsor overseas workers to live and work in Australia for up to four years in a specified region.
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The occupations added to the list include livestock, beef, dairy, sheep, aquaculture and crop farmers, as well as non-agricultural roles such as dentists and anaesthetists.
“This update responds to calls from regional Australia for better access to skilled workers in key areas of need and will boost access to services required by our local communities,” Coleman said. “We want Australians filling Australian jobs but when this isn’t possible action is needed to ensure farmers can continue to operate.”
Eight occupations – including footballer and tennis coach – were added to the medium and long-term strategic skills list, which grants people a path to residency and a four-year stay, rather than two years.
Paul Shoker, a board member of New South Wales Farmers who grows bananas and avocados in Coffs Harbour, said it was “increasingly difficult to source harvest labour for jobs like picking and packing”.
“Generally, for the higher-skilled jobs where a tertiary education is required there are avenues to seek labour there, whether it’s local or foreign workers,” he said. “The semi-skilled to lower-skilled roles are where most of the stress is and that’s been the case for some time.”
Shoker said labour shortages caused fruit to rot on the vine or be downgraded, increasing prices for consumers.
Asked about Monday’s changes, Shoker said they were “a good first step” but reiterated calls for an agricultural visa to ensure “reliable labour”.
The National Farmers Federation chief executive, Tony Mahar, has said an agricultural visa will ensure workers are legally in Australia and “protect against exploitation”.
A study commissioned by VegetablesWA led by University of South Australia law professor Dr Joanna Howe found that 40% of vegetable growers surveyed have not been able to recruit sufficient pickers, packers and graders at some point in the past five years. Sixty-three per cent reported leaving vegetables unpicked.
In October Scott Morrison insisted the government had not ditched plans for an agriculture visa in the medium to long term after a failed push from the Nationals to get the proposal in place before harvest time.
The agricultural visa proposal faced trenchant resistance from senior Liberals worried that the proposal would cause friction in the Pacific at a time when China was intent on flexing its muscle in the region.
Last week the assistant agriculture minister, Richard Colbeck, poured cold water on the idea of a separate agricultural visa, telling reporters in Canberra he did not think it “in itself actually works”.
“Quite frankly you’re doing a disservice by narrowing it down to just an ag visa,” he said.
Colbeck suggested the visa may not be necessary, citing changes made in November extending the Pacific labour scheme and relaxing rules to allow backpackers longer stays in the country if they worked on farms.
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About Labour Day In Australia
Labour Day in Australia is a public holiday on dates which vary between states and territories. It is the first Monday in October in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales and South Australia. In Victoria and Tasmania, it is the second Monday in March (though the latter calls it Eight Hours Day). In Western Australia, Labour Day is the first Monday in March. In the Northern Territory and Queensland it is called May Day and occurs on the first Monday in May.[1] It is on the fourth Monday of March in the territory of Christmas Island.
The first march for an eight-hour day by the labour movement occurred in Melbourne on 21 April 1856.[2] On this day stonemasons and building workers on building sites around Melbourne stopped work and marched from the University of Melbourne to Parliament House to achieve an eight-hour day. Their direct action protest was a success, and they are noted as being among the first organised workers in the world to achieve an 8-hour day, with no loss of pay.[3]
Plans for a $77.6m makeover of North Sydney Olympic Pool
A $77.6 MILLION proposal has been put forward to redevelop North Sydney Olympic Pool.
Six options were originally on the table – costing from $16 million to $72 million – to upgrade the ageing facility.
But now a seventh option has been revealed by North Sydney Council after community consultation.
There would be family friendly facilities, including a splash pad and a water play area, as well as a 51.5m outdoor pool with two booms and a 25m eight-lane indoor pool.
An underground carpark, a landscaped roof, a grandstand, an events space, a hydrotherapy pool, a gym and a new Ripples cafe are also proposed.
But the latest proposal does not include a water slide or international diving facility, unlike some of the other options.
The plan to upgrade the pool has been the subject of debate at the council.
The 50m pool in the complex needs to be upgraded because it has concrete cancer and has reached the end of its life. It is the original shell, dating back to 1936.
At the last council meeting, councillor MaryAnn Beregi successfully moved a motion that the council defer the decision on the next step of the pool’s redevelopment.
The motion received widespread support from other councillors. Mayor Jilly Gibson was the only councillor to vote against it.
A workshop will be held for councillors to ensure that all “relevant information” will be provided.
This includes the history of the pool and projections for up to 75 years.
If necessary, further options for the development of the pool may be commissioned.
The original recommendation put forward by the council would have moved the council closer to the development application stage.
It had compelled the council to decide which of the seven options to put on public exhibition for community feedback.
Cr Beregi told the Mosman Daily she was “unhappy” and “less than impressed” with the whole process of redeveloping the pool.
“I am very concerned that much of the discussion and consultation has been centred around what the current pool users want,” she said.
She pointed out that while current users were part of the consideration, the council was planning a pool for people over the next 100 years.
“It is our role as councillors to make decisions in the best interests of not just the current community but also the future community,” she said.
“The last thing we want to do is close the pool for two years and spend the money, only for the pool to be obsolete before it reopens and not achieve any of the desired outcomes.”
A North Sydney Council spokeswoman would not comment on the opinion of any individual councillor.
“Councillors hold different opinions on many issues,” she said.
Cr Beregi is closely connected to the pool and it was one of the reasons she stood for council.
She was devastated when the diving boards were removed from the pool. She is undecided on the issue and wants further information.
Cr Beregi also pointed out that the pool had changed over the years.
“When I was younger and swimming at the pool, less than half the pool was dedicated to lap swimming – maybe one or two lanes,” she said.
“The rest was recreational swimming and kids jumping off the diving boards.
“It now seems that lap swimming has pushed the fun part out. This is all part of the balancing act that is before the council.”
Pool History
- Opened in 1936
- It cost £47,000, akin to about $10 million now
- It was the first pool in Australia to purify sea water and used technology advanced for its time
- Hosted the Empire Games in 1938 and 1958
- 86 world records in swimming and diving have been set in the pool
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Happy International Woman’s Day 2019
If you’re a skilled trade worker and would like to move to Australia we have some good news, you’re in high demand.
Whether you’re a builder, carpenter, electrician, or specialise in any of the other key trade sectors – your skills are highly sought-after. Right now, Australia is experiencing a severe shortage of glaziers. If you’re under 45 and have relevant work experience, you could be eligible for an Australian visa.
Australia’s high quality of life, prosperous economy and diverse population makes it a popular choice for immigration. Job opportunities in Australia can be plentiful if you’re skilled in a specific trade.
Glaziers have been identified as being in short supply and therefore added to the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skilled List (MLTSSL). The occupations on this list are ones considered in high demand in Australia. If you qualify, this is a relatively easy way to move Down Under.
What’s driving the demand for glaziers?
The construction industry is one of the largest growing sectors in Australia. From 2016 to 2017, construction in the non-residential building industry rose by 4%. The current supply of trade workers is not enough to meet the demand, which is why the need for glaziers has increased significantly. According to recent research, 45% of positions remain unfilled after 60 days due to a lack of skills and qualifications in Australia.
How do you move to Australia as a glazier?
Australia has a variety of visas for skilled migrants wanting to make a permanent move Down Under. The first thing you need to do is to figure out which visas you may qualify for. If you want to move to Australia to work as a glazier, you could be eligible for the following visas:
- Employer Nomination Scheme (subclass 186)
- Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189)
- Skilled Nominated visa (subclass 190)
- Skilled Regional (Provisional) visa (subclass 489)
- Temporary Skilled Shortage visa (subclass 482)
To see if you qualify for a visa you must determine if you have the required points. Points are awarded to applicants based on age, qualification, experience and English language skills. Your occupation is the basis for your eligibility. This means that if your job is in demand, you will have more visa options.
How to qualify for a Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189 visa)
The Skilled Independent visa is a permanent residency visa and one of the most desired visas too. If you qualify for one, you can stay in Australia indefinitely. One of the greatest benefits of this visa is that you can bring your family with you and they too will be able to live, work and study in Australia, as well as enrol in Medicare, Australia’s national healthcare scheme.
To qualify for this visa, you’ll need to get 70 points. A typical points assessment for a skilled glazier might look like this:
- Age: 25 points (if you’re between the ages of 32 and 40 years)
- Qualification: 10 points (trade diploma required)
- Experience: 15 points (at least eight years’ experience is required)
- English language: 20 points (IELTS, eight in each band required)
To achieve 70 points is very difficult and the English language test is quite often a what prevents skilled tradespeople from qualifying for the skilled independent visa.
The Temporary Skilled Shortage visa (subclass 482 visa)
This is a temporary work visa and is not points-based. It allows you to live and work in Australia for four years. After you’ve worked for your employer for three years, you could be eligible for permanent residency.
Before you can apply for this visa, you’ll need an employer in Australia who is willing to sponsor you. You will also need to have:
- A relevant trade qualification and two years’ experience, or at least three years’ experience (no qualification required)
- Competent English language skills (equivalent to IELTS 5 in each band)
Since the criteria for the Temporary Skilled Shortage visa is far less than the Skilled Independent visa, with the fact that you have a job immediately upon arrival, makes it an attractive option for those that can find a suitable employer to sponsor.
Making a successful move to Australia
Making an international move is exciting but can also involve a lot of red tape. It’s best to get in touch with a MARA-registered Australian migration agent who can assess your situation and advise you on which visa would suit you best. A registered migration agent can also assist you throughout the application process, ensuring that your visa application is 100% correct and you don’t waste unnecessary time and money only for your application to be denied.
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15th October 2018 By Sam Hopwood*
One of the most sought-after Australian visas is the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189). This visa allows you and any dependants to live and work in Australia permanently with virtually no restrictions. If your skills are currently in demand in Australia, you might just be able to get your hands on one.
Is your job on the list?
The Australian skilled occupations list is a list of all of the jobs that are currently in demand in Australia. If your occupation is on the list and you meet the relevant criteria, you could be eligible for one of the most coveted permanent residency visas, the Skilled Independent visa (subclass 189).
These are five of the most in-demand jobs in Australia right now, so if you have these skills, now is the perfect time to apply for this visa.
- Engineers
- Secondary School Teachers
- ICT Security Specialists
- Actuaries
- Construction Project Managers
- Depending on your level of expertise in your specific field, you could start earning a tidy sum in Australian Dollars from the moment you get to Australia.
The benefits of the Skilled Independent visa
The Skilled Independent visa is a permanent residence visa, so you can stay in Australia indefinitely once you have been granted this visa. What’s more, you can bring your family with you on this visa and they too will be able to live, work and study in Australia, as well as enrol in Medicare, Australia’s national healthcare scheme.
The Skilled Independent visa route is one of the best ways to get your new life started in Australia. If you have the relevant skills, it’s advisable to apply sooner rather than later, as the DIBP updates the list of eligible skilled occupations on a regular basis.
How to get a Skilled Independent visa
The first thing you will need to do is submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) to the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP). The EOI will need to detail your nominated occupation, skills and qualifications. If your EOI is accepted, you will be invited to apply for the visa. You will have 60 calendar days to apply for the visa after you have been invited.
In the second stage of the application, you will need to:
- Obtain a skills assessment for your occupation
- Meet the immigration points test pass mark of 65 points
- Take the English language test
- Be under 45 years old
- Meet the health requirement
- Be of good character
Most Australian visa applications fail not because applicants are ineligible, but rather due to a lack of documentary evidence. An experienced MARA-registered Australian migration agent can ensure your application is presented correctly, so that you don’t waste time and money on an unsuccessful application.
Moving to Australia and settling there isn’t a straightforward process by just putting in a visa application. The process is complex and is best only handled by Australian Registered Migration Agents or Australian Immigration Lawyers.
Best Migration Services, through its associate offices handholds their migration clients especially from Dubai Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates and India, throughout its Permanent Residency Visa programs and process. Migrants from Dubai Abu Dhabi – United Arab Emirates and India that apply their Migration to Australia through BMS and its business associates and partners – FBP International, also provide end to end Australian Settlement services like but not limited to, home stay, long-term and short term accommodations, orientation of Australia and its lifestyles, job search, acquiring or takeover qualifying businesses either self-managed and/or co-managed businesses with lucrative returns and providing and helping them get an Australian Citizenship.
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On 1 March 2019, Minister Coleman announced that applications to sponsor a parent for a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa will be open from 17 April 2019.
Once a sponsorship application has been approved, a sponsored parent will be able to apply for a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa. Applications for the visa are intended to open from 1 July 2019
The visa provides parents with a new pathway to temporarily reunite with their children and grandchildren in Australia, while ensuring that taxpayers are not required to cover additional costs. The visa responds to community concerns about the limited number of Parent places in the migration program and associated lengthy waiting periods.
To be eligible for the visa, a parent must be the biological, adoptive, or step-parent of the sponsor, who must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen.
The following information is subject to introduction of supporting regulations.
General information
The visa provides parents with a new pathway to temporarily reunite with their children and grandchildren in Australia, while ensuring that taxpayers are not required to cover additional costs. The visa responds to community concerns about the limited number of Parent places in the migration program and associated lengthy waiting periods.
To be eligible for the visa, a parent must be the biological, adoptive, or step-parent of the sponsor, who must be an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen.
Sponsorship applications can be lodged from 17 April 2019. When a sponsor has been approved, the visa applicant will then be able to lodge their visa application. Visa applications must be lodged within six months of sponsorship approval and cannot be lodged until a sponsor has been approved.
Sponsorship and visa applications must be lodged online through ImmiAccount.
Benefits of the new pathway
The visa allows parents to remain in Australia for a longer period of time, up to five years at a time without departing. It provides an alternative option to Visitor visas which only allow shorter periods of stay. Parents are still eligible to apply for Visitor visas and/or permanent Parent visas.
While the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa allows for a significantly longer stay period than a visitor visa, it is still only a temporary visa and does not allow for permanent residence in Australia like a permanent Parent visa.
Number of places available
Up to 15,000 Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visas may be granted each program year (from 1 July to 30 June).
The 15,000 cap has been set by the Government in recognition of the challenges of an ageing population, as well as the overall budget impact of older migrants. The limit also reflects the Government’s priority of providing visa pathways for children and partners of Australians, as well as the need to target young skilled migrants to maximise the economic benefits of migration.
If the cap is reached in a program year, no further visas will be granted until the next program year commences on 1 July.
The visa and existing pathways
The Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa provides an additional option for parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents who wish to visit family in Australia for longer periods.
No existing visas are affected by the introduction of the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa. Standard Visitor visa arrangements remain unchanged. Parents will continue to be able to apply for a longer stay and longer validity Visitor visa.
While the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa allows for a significantly longer stay period than a visitor visa, it is still only a temporary visa and does not allow for permanent residence in Australia like a permanent Parent visa. The new visa provides a pathway for existing Parent visa applicants to travel to Australia temporarily to spend time with their children and grandchildren while their permanent Parent visa application is being processed.
Potential applicants are in the best position to determine which visa is most appropriate for their own circumstances, noting that each visa has different requirements, visa application charges, conditions and stay periods.
Learn more about Visitor visa requirements.
Sponsorship
The information below applies to sponsors of Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visas, not other kinds of sponsors, such as work visa sponsors.
Only two parents per household can be sponsored for this visa at a time. The limit allows more households to sponsor a parent and reflects the potential costs a sponsor will be required to meet.
Eligibility
Sponsors must meet the following criteria:
- the sponsor/parent relationship requirements (ie: a parent must be the biological, adoptive, or step-parent of the sponsor and a step-parent can only apply if they are still in a married/de facto relationship with a biological parent of the sponsor)
- be aged at least 18 years of age
- be an Australian citizen/permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen who has been usually resident in Australia for four years
- have met any prior sponsorship obligations
- have no adverse information unless it is reasonable to disregard the information
- have no debts to the Commonwealth or public health debts unless appropriate arrangements have been made for payment
- a minimum household income threshold (based on the income of the sponsor, or the combined income of the sponsor and their spouse/partner and/or another child of the parent)
- provide police clearances for any country they have spent more than 12 months cumulatively in during the past 10 years
- authorise information to be shared with the visa applicant.
Sponsors must also agree to comply with sponsorship obligations in relation to the parent(s) they are sponsoring.
Sponsorship obligations
A parent sponsor will be required to meet obligations including:
- providing financial support and accommodation for their parent in Australia
- keeping records and providing them to the Department if asked. For example evidence of income. This obligation ends two years after the day the person ceases to be a sponsor
- advising the Department when certain events occur. For example if they are charged with a crime. This obligation ends the day after the person ceases to be a sponsor
- paying outstanding public health debts incurred by their parent in Australia. The obligation ceases if the relevant health authority advises the debt has been repaid, or acceptable repayment arrangements have been made. However, this obligation will continue if there are outstanding health debts, even after the parent who incurred them has departed Australia.
If an obligation is breached, the Department can consider:
- cancelling the sponsorship. This means any existing sponsored visa holders must either find another sponsor or depart Australia
- barring a sponsor. A bar prevents a sponsor from sponsoring further parents for a period of time.
If the parent incurs public health debts in Australia and these are not paid, the party owed the debt will be able to pursue the sponsor, through the Courts if necessary, to have the debt repaid.
Sponsorship validity
A parent sponsorship will cease:
- if the sponsor’s permanent visa is cancelled
- if the sponsor dies
- if the sponsor withdraws their sponsorship
- if the sponsored parent does not apply for a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa within six months of the sponsorship being approved
- the day that the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa ceases.
However, some sponsor obligations will continue after the sponsorship ceases, including the obligation to pay any outstanding health debts incurred by the visa holder in Australia, even after their visa has ceased.
Sponsorship cost
The sponsorship application fee is $420.
Sponsoring other kinds of visas
Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa sponsors will also be able to sponsor other types of visa holders if they meet the requirements of that sponsorship (for example a work visa sponsor for a Temporary Skill Shortage visa, or sponsor for a Sponsored Family Visitor visa).
A sponsor can lodge an application to vary their sponsorship which will allow them to sponsor a different (new) parent. The new parent must also be a parent or step-parent of the sponsor or their spouse/partner. If the sponsor already has two sponsored parents, they will need to withdraw their sponsorship for one parent and that parent must either leave Australia or apply for and be granted a different visa before an application for sponsorship variation can be lodged.
Sponsors who wish to sponsor two new parents must lodge a new sponsorship application.
Visa
Visa eligibility
Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa applicants must:
- be sponsored by a person who is an approved parent sponsor
- be at least 18 years of age
- be outside Australia (unless invited in writing to apply by the Department), for at least 90 days if the applicant holds or has previously held a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa
- not have engaged in payment for visas conduct
- provide evidence of access to funds
- provide evidence of health insurance
- not have an outstanding public health debt (unless appropriate arrangements have been made to repay the debt)
- satisfy health, character, and national security requirements.
Unlike permanent Parent visas, there is no Balance of Family Test requirement for this visa, meaning a visa applicant is not required to have more than half of their children residing in Australia.
How long you can stay
The visa allows parents to stay in Australia temporarily for a period of up to five years at a time. A parent must be outside Australia for at least 90 days before being eligible to apply for a further Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa. A parent will be able to hold visas up to a total stay in Australia of 10 years, reflecting that the visa is a temporary visa and does not lead to permanent residence.
Parents who have held Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visas for the cumulative maximum 10 year period must either depart Australia or apply for another visa that will allow them to remain in Australia. They will not be eligible for grant of a further Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa.
Visa cost
The visa application charge is:
- $5,000 for a visa of up to three years’ duration; or
- $10,000 for a visa of up to five years’ duration.
The visa application charge is payable in two instalments, with one payment at time of application and the remainder paid prior to visa grant.
The visa application charge represents a contribution to the cost of the services parents will use in Australia for extended periods. Most visa holders will have never paid tax in Australia but will benefit from using existing infrastructure.
The charges also reflect that there are benefits for both parents and their Australian families. The visa holder can stay in Australia for up to five years continuously (up to a cumulative maximum of 10 years), thereby saving on the cost of airfares that would be incurred over this period if they were required to depart and re-enter Australia on a regular basis.
Processing times
Processing times will be dependent on a number of factors, including the number of applications lodged and whether an applicant provides all required information with their application.
Processing times will be on the Department’s website when available.
Work rights
Visa holders will generally be subject to a “no work” condition.
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