Contributory Aged Parent visa 864

Contributory Aged Parent visa 864 lets the aged parent of a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen stay in Australia on a permanent basis.

With this visa you can:

• Stay in Australia as a permanent resident
• Work and study in Australia
• Enrol in Medicare
• Apply for Australian citizenship (once residence requirements have been meet)

Eligibility criteria:

• Must be sponsored by an eligible sponsor
• Must be old enough to receive the age pension in Australia
• Meet the balance-of-family test
• Have assurance of support
• Meet health and character requirements
• Have no debt to the Australian government
• Not have had a visa cancelled or a previous application refused

Subclass 864 (Permanent) – This is a permanent visa referred to as a “Contributory” visa. This is because the initial application fee is $3,945 for the first applicant and $1,975 for additional applicant over 18 and $990 for additional applicant under 18. However the second instalment for each applicant is $43,600. This visa takes approximately 1.5 to 2 years to process and is a permanent visa from approval.

The large “Contribution” of money that is called for upon the second instalment is in order to offset the rights that are awarded to the visa holder under permanent residency such as health care that they have not contributed towards throughout their lives as ordinary Australians have throughout their life by way of tax.

Subclass 884 (Temporary) – This is a temporary visa with an initial Australian government fee of $3,945 and $1,975 for any additional applicant. Before the visa is granted the second instalment of $29,130 is required to be paid. This visa takes approximately 1.5 to 2 years to process. The applicants are granted a 2 year temporary visa. Before this visa expires they must pay an additional $19,420 and apply for the permanent visa subclass 864.

In all cases the second instalment of monies paid is only called for after each applicant has passed health and character tests and the Assurance of Support has been lodged with the Australian government. In no case will a second instalment be paid and a visa not granted.  Second instalments are non-refundable in all cases.