Subclass 103 — Parent Visa — Australia — immi.wiki

The Subclass 103 Parent visa is a permanent visa for parents who want to live in Australia to be near their child (a settled Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen). It is the non-contributory parent visa — the application charge is substantially lower than the contributory alternative, but the queue is significantly longer. The onshore equivalent for parents already in Australia is the Subclass 804 Parent visa.

The Parent visa is part of the Family Migration Program and is subject to an annual cap. The number of places allocated each year is limited, and demand far exceeds supply. Applications that meet the eligibility criteria are assigned a queue date and placed in a queue — as at 31 March 2026, applications with a queue date up to July 2013 have been released for final processing. This means applicants lodging today should expect a wait measured in decades before their application is processed.

Parents who want a faster (but still lengthy) pathway may consider the Subclass 143 Contributory Parent visa, which has a significantly higher application charge but a much shorter queue. For current parent visa queue release dates and application charges, refer to the DHA fee schedule.

The applicant must:

• Be outside Australia when the application is lodged and when the visa is decided
• Be the parent of a settled Australian citizen, settled Australian permanent resident, or settled eligible New Zealand citizen (the "sponsoring child")
• Pass the balance of family test
• Meet health and character requirements

The balance of family test: The applicant passes if at least half of their children (counting all children who are alive, including step-children and adopted children) are settled in Australia. Alternatively, the applicant passes if more of their children are settled in Australia than in any other single country. The test counts all of the applicant's children and all of the applicant's partner's children together.

The sponsoring child must:

• Be settled — an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen who has been residing in Australia for a reasonable period
• Be aged 18 or over
• Lodge a sponsorship application (Form 47PA)

Applications are lodged online through ImmiAccount from outside Australia. Key documents include:

• Birth certificates (applicant's and all children's) to establish the family relationships needed for the balance of family test
• Evidence that each child counted as "settled in Australia" is an Australian citizen, PR, or eligible NZ citizen and is residing in Australia
• Form 47PA sponsorship lodged by the sponsoring child
• Health examinations and police clearances

For current application charges, refer to the DHA fee schedule. For current queue positions, refer to the parent visa queue release dates page.

The Subclass 103 is a permanent visa. Holders are permanent residents of Australia and may work and study without restriction. They may apply for Australian citizenship after meeting the residence requirements under the Australian Citizenship Act 2007.

An assurance of support is required. The sponsoring child must arrange an assurance of support through Services Australia. The assurance involves a financial security bond and a commitment to support the parent financially for a specified period, during which the parent may not access certain Australian Government income support payments.

A parent's partner may be included as a secondary applicant, provided the partner also meets the eligibility criteria, including the balance of family test applied to the partner's own children.