The Australian Government has announced that a new Temporary Sponsored Parent visa will be available from November 2017, with 15,000 visas available annually. This visa will allow the parents of Australians (Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents and eligible New Zealand citizens) to spend more time with their families without impacting the Australian community. Current permanent parent visa options are high in demand resulting in long visa waiting times as well as high costs. This temporary sponsored visa serves as an alternative, allowing parents of children to spend longer periods of time in Australia.
Introducing the temporary visa should alleviate the problem of long waiting periods for permanent parent visas (due to the small amount of these visas available in the Migration Program), whilst at the same time allowing Australians to benefit from having their parents with them. However the Government must make sure that the Australian community and budget is not negatively affected, and therefore have set fundamental requirements for this visa set out as follows.
Time Period
The new temporary parent visa may be granted for a period of up to five years. Once a visa has been granted, the visa holder may apply for a renewal of up to a further five years, but this must be done from outside Australia.
Sponsorship
A vital requirement for a temporary parent visa is that the applicant will have to be sponsored by their Australian child. It is the responsibility of the sponsor that their parent does not become a burden to the community in any way. As well as showing that the sponsor can support their parent/s financially, they will also have to indicate that they have been living and contributing to the Australian community for a number of years.
Health Care
All applicants will have to undergo medical examinations to meet the health requirements and must have health insurance from an Australian provider as not to burden the Australian Health Care System.
Australian citizens contribute to the health care system, Medicare, throughout their working life and so have access to this subsidised medical system. People who enter Australia without making these contributions need to make sure that they have their own private medical insurance, so that any health implications are not covered by the Australian community.
Parents provide a variety of benefits to their families including looking after their grandchildren so that parents can and go back into the work force, without having to make use of other childcare options. Parents can also offer cultural knowledge to their grandchildren if they originate from parents who have migrated from other countries. Different visa options for parents may also encourage skilled migrants to come to Australia; however all of these benefits are mainly for the family members and not for the community.
The cost of the new visa is AUD $10,000 per applicant. Contact us today to discuss your circumstances and prepare for the launch of this new visa.