Australia's parent visas allow Australian citizens, permanent residents, and eligible New Zealand citizens to sponsor a parent for a visa. Because demand for parent visas substantially exceeds the number of places available each year, all parent visas are subject to a capping and queuing system — applications are lodged and placed in a queue, and are only released for final processing when a place becomes available.

There are two main parent visa streams: the contributory parent visa (subclasses 143, 173, and 884), which involves a higher visa application charge but significantly shorter wait times than the non-contributory stream; and the non-contributory parent visa (subclasses 103 and 804), which has a lower visa application charge but extremely long queue times. As at 31 March 2026, new applicants for the non-contributory parent visa face a wait measured in decades.

• Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 2 — Subclasses 103, 143, 173, 804, and 884
• DHA: Parent visas — queue release dates — immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/parent-visa-queue
• DHA: About parent visas — immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/about-parent-visas
• DHA: Visa processing times — immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visa-processing-times

The capping and queuing system

The Australian Government allocates a limited number of places to the parent visa category each year as part of the Family stream of the Migration Programme. Because applications received in any year vastly outnumber the available places, parent visa applications are queued — an application is assessed initially to determine whether it meets the basic criteria, and if so it is assigned a queue date and placed in the queue. It is then held until places become available for its queue cohort to be released for final processing.

DHA publishes the current queue release date — the queue date up to which applications have been released for final processing — on a regular basis. New applicants should check the current release dates on the DHA parent visa queue page.

Current queue release dates (as at 31 March 2026)

As at 31 March 2026, DHA has released for final processing:

• Subclass 143 (Contributory Parent): Applications with a queue date up to November 2018
• Subclass 103 (Parent, non-contributory): Applications with a queue date up to July 2013

These dates are updated periodically. Refer to the DHA parent visa queue release page for the current dates. An application lodged today will join the back of the queue — the time to reach final processing depends on annual allocation decisions and how many applications are ahead in the queue.

Contributory parent visa — the two-stage pathway

The contributory parent stream involves two stages and two visa subclasses:

1. Stage 1 — Temporary visa: Applicants outside Australia apply for subclass 173 (Contributory Parent Temporary); applicants in Australia apply for subclass 884 (Contributory Parent Temporary, onshore). These temporary visas allow the parent to live in Australia while they wait for the permanent stage.
2. Stage 2 — Permanent visa: After the provisional period, the applicant (now in Australia) applies for subclass 143 (Contributory Parent permanent). A second, larger instalment of the visa application charge is payable at this stage.

The queue date for subclass 143 is assigned when the combined application is first lodged. The higher visa application charge associated with the contributory pathway is the trade-off for significantly shorter queue times compared to the non-contributory stream. For the current visa application charges, refer to the DHA subclass 143 page.

Non-contributory parent visa

The non-contributory parent visa (subclass 103 for offshore applicants; subclass 804 for applicants already in Australia) has a substantially lower visa application charge, but the queue time is extremely long. As the queue release date of July 2013 illustrates, applicants who lodged in 2013 are only now receiving their permanent visa — applicants lodging today may face a wait of similar or greater duration.

The non-contributory pathway is available to parents who meet the balance of family test — generally, more than half of the parent's children must be Australian citizens, permanent residents, or eligible New Zealand citizens, or the majority of children must reside permanently in Australia.

Balance of family test

Both the contributory and non-contributory parent pathways require the sponsoring parent to pass the balance of family test. This test requires that:

• At least half of the parent's children are settled in Australia as citizens or permanent residents; or
• More of the parent's children are settled in Australia than in any other single country

Children who are deceased or who are Australian citizens or permanent residents themselves can be counted on the Australian side of the balance.

For processing time and visa application charge information, refer directly to the DHA pages: parent visa queue release dates and the individual visa subclass pages (subclass 143, subclass 103). Visa application charges are substantial and are updated periodically — never rely on figures from unofficial sources.

The parent visa program is subject to ongoing policy debate in Australia. Allocation numbers, eligibility criteria, and the structure of the contributory and non-contributory pathways may change. Practitioners advising clients on parent visa options should check the current DHA guidance before providing advice.

Some state and territory governments have explored alternative pathways (such as sponsored parent visa proposals) that have not been implemented federally. Any new parent visa pathway would require legislative or regulatory change.