The Australian government has recently backed down from its earlier plan of doubling the income threshold of parent visa sponsors.
Yet, as of this July some other changes have been introduced, affecting applicants of the parent visa category.
And in addition to the increased processing time, migration agents are expecting to see further changes.
From now on, all parent visa applications must be submitted directly to the Perth Visa Centre.
Whilst this may sound straight forward, immigration lawyer and migration agent Kris Ahn from says this does make things slightly more complicated.
Application fees also increase by roughly two per cent.
Parents applying for the subclass 173 temporary contributory parent visa pay $2,595 instead of $2,540.
Subclass 143 permanent contributory parent visa, subclass 884 temporary aged parent contributory visa and subclass 864 permanent aged parent contributory visa applicants now pay $3,855 – that’s an extra $85 dollars.
Kris Ahn says parents are waiting longer to get their visas even if they opt for the more expensive contributory visa pathway.
Ahn’s migration agency has been getting a spike in enquiries about parent visas.
His clients have gotten over the panic from the government’s now repealed plan to double the earning threshold of parent visa sponsors.
Many are hurrying to get their applications in before the policy changes again.
Natalya Khodan, a senior migration agent at is also noticing more interests in parent visa applications.
She is expecting to see further changes to the parent visa category.
Waiting in a 30 to 50-year-long-queue isn’t an option for older parents who simply can't afford the time.
With higher costs involved in the much faster contributory visa pathway, Khodan’s clients are starting to bring in only one parent instead of both to Australia for good.
To speed things up, younger parents may have previously applied for skilled migration under the Employer Nomination Scheme 186 visa or the Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme 187 visa, but that’s not an option anymore with the age limit now lowered to 45 instead of 50.
Many are entering Australia on visitor visas, but parents living in unstable parts of the world face a harder time getting permission to visit their families.
Iran-born permanent resident Maryam wasn’t initially planning to bring her parents to Australia permanently.
But since their tourist visa application was rejected twice in just two years, Maryam had to apply for the contributory parent visa for her mother.
In the 2017-18 migration program the Australian government has allocated 1,500 non-contributory and 7,715 contributory parent visas.
Ahn recommends that applicants provide as much information as possible to reduce their waiting time.
