This is a permanent residency visa, allowing parents or step-parents of settled Australian citizens, permanent residents, and settled New Zealand citizens, to move to Australia. Once they have arrived, parents can sponsor further eligible family members to come to Australia, and can also apply for Australian citizenship.

You must be outside Australia at the time this visa is granted. Additionally, you must not have a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) Visa Subclass 870 (see No.4 below), and you must meet all the eligibility requirements.

Eligibility requirements for Visa Subclass 103

• Retiree or sponsored. Apply either as a retiree (if you hold, or previously held, a specified type of Retirement Visa) or via a sponsor (usually your eligible child, but there are other options if your child is under 18)
• Balance-of-family test. Examines what proportion of your children are already living in Australia. Retiree applicants don’t need to pass this test.
  
• Assurance of support. An agreement from your eligible child to provide accommodation and financial support, so that you will not need to rely on government assistance in Australia. Retiree applicants don’t need this agreement.
  
• Health insurance. Visa holders must have adequate private health insurance unless a citizen of a country with a reciprocal healthcare agreement.
  
• Child’s best interests. If you have an eligible child in Australia under 18, the visa will only be granted if it is considered to be in the best interests of the child. 
  
• Health and character. You must pass the required tests. 
• Australian values. The Life in Australia booklet is required reading, and you must sign an Australian Values Statement.
• No government debt. Neither you nor any member of your family can owe money to the Australian Government.
• No visa cancellation or denial. A previous visa that was cancelled, or a visa application that was denied, may make you ineligible.  
  

The Contributory Parent Visa Subclass 143 is essentially the same, as regards its permanent residency permission and eligibility requirements, as the Parent Visa Subclass 103. But there are differences in cost and processing times. The Department of Home Affairs fee for the  Subclass 143 Visa currently starts at around AUD48,000, whereas the Subclass 103 Visa is much cheaper, starting at around AUD7,000. But the processing time is much shorter for the Subclass 143 Visa.

Once you hold this visa you can, however, apply for a permanent residency visa, the Contributory Parent Visa Subclass 143 (above). Applying for the Subclass 173 Visa first means that you can spread the high cost of the Subclass 143 Visa over several years. 

You must be sponsored by your eligible child (i.e. the retiree pathway is not available). All other eligibility conditions are identical to the requirements for Parent Visa Subclass 103 (No. 1 above), except that the following are not required:

• Assurance of support

• Health insurance

Once again, this is a temporary rather than a permanent residency visa, but the permitted temporary stay is longer than for the Subclass 173 Visa (above). However, a Subclass 870 Visa does not permit the visa holder to work in Australia.

Visa holders can visit Australia for up to three years or five years per visa. (A higher cost applies for the longer visa.) Further visa applications may be made once the initial visa has expired, but the maximum allowed period in Australia is 10 years.

Before applying for this visa, you must have an approved Parent Sponsor (i.e. your eligible child). Once the Parent Sponsor has been approved, you must lodge your visa application within six months (or within 60 days if you receive permission to apply while you are in Australia).

Eligibility requirements for Visa Subclass 870

• Previous visa obligations. You must have complied with the requirements of any Australian visas you held formerly.
  
• Health and character. You must pass the required tests.
• Financial viability. You must be able to support yourself financially while in Australia (without being able to work).
• Temporary stay intention. You cannot apply for a permanent residency visa while you have this visa, but if you have already applied for a permanent residency visa (which may have a long processing time) and are awaiting the result, you can apply for this visa (faster processing time) to allow you to visit Australia temporarily.
• Health insurance. Visa holders must have adequate private health insurance unless a citizen of a country with a reciprocal healthcare agreement.
• No government debt. Neither you nor any member of your family can owe money to the Australian Government.

This is a permanent residency visa designed for aged parents and step-parents of settled Australian citizens, permanent residents, and settled New Zealand citizens. Visa holders can sponsor other eligible family members for a visa and also apply for Australian citizenship.

Applicants must be old enough to receive the age pension in Australia (currently 66 years old, but gradually increasing to 67 years by 1st July 2023) and can only apply for this visa while they are already in Australia on a temporary visa. However, there is a long processing time of many years as a result of a long queue, and you might be better served by a Contributory Aged Parent Visa Subclass 864 (see below), which has a much shorter processing time but a much higher application fee.

Eligibility requirements for this visa are similar to those for the Parent Visa Subclass 103 (No. 1 above), except that:

• No retiree pathway. You must be sponsored, usually by your eligible child.
• Health insurance. Not required.

The major differences to the Subclass 173 Visa are:

• Age. You must be old enough to receive the Australian age pension (currently 66 years old, but gradually increasing to 67 years by 1st July 2023).
• In Australia when you apply. You must be already in Australia on another temporary visa when you apply for this one. 
• No ’no further stay’ condition’. The visa on which you are currently in Australia must not have a ‘no further stay’ condition.

All other eligibility conditions are similar to the Subclass 173 Visa.

Once you hold this visa you can, however, apply for a permanent residency visa, the Contributory Aged Parent Visa Subclass 864 (above). Applying for the Subclass 884 Visa first means that you can spread the high cost of the Subclass 864 Visa over several years.