The Assurance of Support (AoS) is a formal legal commitment required for certain Australian visa applications in which an assurer (typically the person sponsoring the visa applicant) commits to providing financial support to the visa holder for a specified period after grant. The AoS is designed to protect the Australian government from welfare costs — if the visa holder claims certain social security payments (called recoverable payments) during the AoS period, the government can recover those costs from the assurer's bond. For visa subclasses that require an AoS bond, the assurer must lodge a refundable cash bond with Services Australia before the visa can be granted. The bond is refundable at the end of the AoS period provided no recoverable payments have been claimed.

For current bond amounts, the list of AoS-required visa subclasses, and the application process, refer to the DHA Assurance of Support page and Services Australia AoS page.

• Migration Act 1958, s 76 — the Minister's power to require an AoS as a condition of visa grant
• Migration Regulations 1994 — individual visa subclass criteria specifying when an AoS is required
• Social Security Act 1991 — the recoverable payments framework; determines which payments the government can seek to recover from an assurer during the AoS period
• DHA: Assurance of Support — immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/aos
• Services Australia: Assurance of Support — servicesaustralia.gov.au/assurance-of-support
• Form 47PT — the AoS application form lodged by the assurer (Form 47PT, current version April 2025)

Which visas require an AoS

An AoS is required for certain visa subclasses — particularly family-sponsored visas where the visa holder may not have immediate income or work rights sufficient to avoid welfare dependency. The most common AoS-required visas are:

• Contributory Parent visa (subclass 143) — permanent parent visa; 10-year AoS period
• Contributory Aged Parent visa (subclass 884) — onshore permanent parent visa; 10-year AoS period
• Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 173) — temporary stage of the contributory parent pathway; 4-year AoS period
• Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 884) — 4-year AoS period for the temporary stage
• Certain other family-stream visas including some aged relative and remaining relative visas — 4-year AoS period

Not all family visas require an AoS — for example, partner visas, child visas, and the non-contributory parent visas in the queue do not have an AoS bond requirement. The visa subclass-specific criteria determine whether an AoS is mandatory or discretionary for that visa. For the full current list of visa subclasses that require an AoS, refer to the DHA AoS page.

Who can be an assurer

The assurer must be:

• An Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen (subclass 444 SCV holder)
• Aged 18 or older
• Have sufficient financial capacity to support the assuree and lodge the bond — assessed by Services Australia based on income, assets, and existing financial obligations
• Not subject to any AoS debt (i.e., not owing money to the government from a prior AoS in which recoverable payments were claimed)

In most parent visa cases, the assurer is the child in Australia who is sponsoring the parent(s). Multiple assurers can share an AoS for a single visa applicant.

The two-stage AoS process

The AoS process involves two stages:

1. AoS application (Form 47PT): The assurer lodges Form 47PT with Services Australia before or at the time of the visa application (or as directed by DHA). Services Australia assesses the assurer's financial capacity and approves or refuses the AoS application
2. Bond lodgement: If the AoS application is approved and the visa is about to be granted, the assurer must pay the AoS bond to Services Australia (held through the Commonwealth Bank of Australia). The bond must be paid before the visa can be granted. The bond is set at the level determined by Services Australia based on the visa subclass and family composition

For current bond amounts, refer to the Services Australia AoS page — amounts vary by visa subclass and are updated periodically.

The AoS period and obligations

Once the visa is granted, the AoS period begins:

• For offshore applicants (applied from outside Australia): the AoS period starts from the date the visa holder first arrives in Australia
• For onshore applicants (applied from within Australia): the AoS period starts from the date the permanent visa is granted

During the AoS period, the assurer is legally responsible for ensuring the visa holder (the assuree) has adequate financial support and does not need to claim recoverable social security payments. If the assuree does claim recoverable payments (a defined list of certain Centrelink income support and other payments) during the AoS period, Services Australia will seek to recover those amounts from the assurer's bond.

Bond refund

At the end of the AoS period, the bond is fully refundable if the assuree has not claimed any recoverable payments. If recoverable payments were claimed during the AoS period, the bond is reduced by the amount recovered. The assurer may receive a partial refund if only some of the bond was used to cover recoveries, or no refund at all if the bond was exhausted by recoveries.

AoS vs sponsorship undertaking

The AoS is distinct from the general sponsorship undertaking (Form 40) that sponsors submit when sponsoring a family visa applicant. The sponsorship undertaking is a general obligation to support the visa holder — it does not involve a bond. The AoS is a more specific, financially secured obligation requiring an actual cash bond, and it creates a mechanism for the government to directly recover costs. For some visa subclasses, both a sponsorship undertaking and an AoS may be required. The AoS obligation is primarily about preventing welfare costs; the sponsorship undertaking is about supporting the person generally.

The AoS bond for contributory parent visas represents a significant financial commitment for assurers — amounts have historically been in the range of several thousand to tens of thousands of dollars depending on family composition and visa subclass, held for a 10-year period. Assurers should understand that the bond is not a tax or fee — it is a refundable deposit that will be returned in full if the parent does not access Australian welfare during the AoS period. Parents who qualify for Australian citizenship can access welfare after naturalisation (citizenship removes the recoverable payment restriction), but this changes their welfare status, not the AoS. For current bond amounts, the application process, and what happens if recoverable payments are claimed, refer to the Services Australia AoS page and the DHA AoS page.