CONTRIBUTORY PARENT (TEMPORARY) VISA173

Applying for this temporary 173 visa before the permanent subclass 143 visa lets you spread the costs.

Subclass 173 Contributory Parent Temporary Visa

The visa 173 allows parents of an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen who is settled in Australia, to live in Australia temporarily.

  • live in Australia for up to 2 years
  • work and study in Australia
  • apply for a permanent 143  visa

How long does a 173 visa take?

Processing times

Queue release dates as at June 2020,

  • Contributory Parent visa 143/173 applications with a queue date up to May 2016.

Given the processing time for non-contributory parent visa 103 for 30 years, the parent visa is approximately 3 years to be granted. In most instances, a contributory parent visa 143/173 is the only practical option to bring a parent to Australia to live permanently.

Parent visa 173 eligibility

  • be sponsored by an eligible child who is a settled Australian citizen, Australian Permanent resident or Eligible New Zealand citizen
  • meet the balance-of-family test
  • meet all visa conditions and follow Australian law

Applicants for the subclass 173 Contributor Parent visa should have at least one child to be a sponsor

  • who is settled in Australia, meaning they must have lived permanently in Australia for at least two years

Parent visa 173 cost

This is a temporary visa for 2 years

  • an initial Australian government fee of $2,800 and $1,400 for any additional applicant
  • the second installment of $29,130 is required to be paid before granting the visa.

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 143.

The second installment of monies paid is only called for after each applicant has passed health and character tests and the AoS (Assurance of Support), before the visa grant.

Contributory Parent Visa 173 Application

You can be inside or outside Australia when you apply for the visa.

If you apply for this visa in Australia while on a temporary visa 600 with a no further stay condition, your application will be invalid, you should apply for a waiver of this condition.

As apply for visa 173, it is to spread the significant cost of the visa over a longer period of time. The subclass 173 Contributory Parent Temporary visa provides an avenue for potential applicants for subclass 143 Contributory Parent Permanent visas.

Once visa granted 173, the visa holders arrive in Australia and they have two years to apply for a subclass 143 visa, which is a permanent visa that will allow them to remain in Australia permanently.

Meet the balance-of-family test

You must meet the balance-of-family test for visa 173,

  • at least half of your children and step-children are eligible children, or
  • there are more eligible children living in Australia than in any other single country

Applicants for subclass 173 visas must meet the “balance of family” test, meaning 50% or more of their children must live permanently in Australia as permanent residents or more of their children live permanently in Australia as permanent residents than in any other country.

See examples of how the balance-of-family test is applied

Table 1: Examples of calculating when a parent would pass the balance-of-family test
Total number of children Children living permanently in Australia Children in country A Children in country B Children in country C Children in country D Passes test?
1 1 0 0 0 0 Yes
2 1 1 0 0 0 Yes
3 1 2 0 0 0 No
3 1 1 1 0 0 No
4 2 2 0 0 0 Yes
4 1 1 1 1 0 No
4 1 2 1 0 0 No
5 1 1 1 1 1 No
5 2 1 1 1 0 Yes
5 3 2 0 0 0 Yes
6 2 2 2 0 0 No

Assessment of parent visa 173

Assessing applications for this visa in 2 stages

  1. Check eligibility and either add the application to the queue or refuse it.
  2. Continue assessing the application when a place becomes available and make a decision.

Your application might take longer to process if:

  • you do not fill it incorrectly
  • you do not include all the documents we need or we need more information from you
  • it takes us time to verify your information

Have AOS – assurance of support

You must be able to obtain an assurance of support.

An assurance of support assures us that you will not have to rely on government assistance after you enter Australia on this visa.

  • the assurance of support is for 2 years, 4 years, or 10 years.

For 2 and 4 years

  • $5,000 for 1 adult
  • $7,000 for 2 adults

For 10 years

  • $10,000 for 1 adult
  • $14,000 for 2 adults.
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