Subclass 870 Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa.

A temporary visa for the parents of Australian citizens, Australian permanent residents and eligible New Zealand citizens. It lets a parent travel to, enter and stay in Australia as many times as they like while the visa is in effect.

Two applications are involved. The child (or the child’s partner) first applies to be approved as a parent sponsor, which is a class of family sponsor under the Migration Act. After approval, each parent named in the sponsorship lodges their own visa application, which is a Family (Temporary) (Class GH) application for subclass 870.

cl 870.221, 870.511(1) · reg 2.58(2); Sch 1 item 1239 · s.140E(1A)

Each 870 is granted for a period the Minister specifies, which cannot end later than 5 years after the grant date. The total time across every 870 a person holds cannot exceed 10 years. In practice the choice is usually 3 years or 5 years, because the second instalment of the visa charge has one rate for a visa of 3 years or less and a higher rate for anything longer.

The parent must leave by the end of the visa (condition 8531). A further 870 can be applied for from outside Australia; see the question on a second 870 below.

cl 870.511(1), (2); condition 8531 · Sch 1 item 1239(2)(b), (3)(f)

Yes. One sponsorship approval can name no more than two parents, so a sponsor can cover both parents, or a parent and a step-parent, in the same application.

Each parent then lodges a separate visa application in their own name. The 870 has no secondary applicants, so a parent cannot include anyone else, such as a brother or sister of the sponsor, in their application.

reg 2.60U(1)(c), (d); reg 2.57(1) (permitted sponsored person) · Part 870.3 (secondary criteria: nil)

Not work. Condition 8103 says the holder must not work in Australia without the Minister’s written permission, and the Department’s policy is that the 870 carries no work rights.

None of the conditions on the 870 deals with study. The six conditions are 8103 (no work), 8303 (no disruptive activities), 8501 (keep health insurance), 8531 (leave by the end of the stay), 8564 (no criminal conduct) and 8609 (tell the Department of a new address, email, phone number, name or passport within 14 days).

cl 870.611; conditions 8103, 8303, 8501, 8531, 8564, 8609

No. The 870 is temporary, and the Department describes it as giving no pathway to permanent residence, including through the permanent parent visas.

The Regulations go further. While a parent holds an 870, and after it ends until they have left Australia, they cannot make a valid application for any other parent visa: Parent (103), Aged Parent (804), Contributory Parent (143), Contributory Aged Parent (864), Contributory Parent (Temporary) (173) or Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) (884). Once the 870 has ended and they have left Australia, this bar no longer applies.

Sch 1 items 1124(3)(ac), 1124A(3)(bb), 1130(3)(bb), 1130A(3)(ca), 1221(3)(aa), 1221A(3)(ca)

Yes, if they meet the 870 criteria. The bar works one way only: an 870 holder cannot lodge a permanent parent visa, but a parent already waiting in the queue for a permanent parent visa can apply for an 870 and visit while that application waits.

The genuine temporary stay test still applies to them. The Department’s policy is that a pending permanent parent visa application does not, by itself, decide that test.

cl 870.226; Sch 1 item 1239(3)

No. The criteria for the 870 do not include a balance of family test, which is one of the main differences from the permanent parent visas. A parent with most of their children overseas can still be sponsored for an 870, as long as the sponsor is eligible and the other criteria are met.

Part 870.2 (primary criteria)

A person who meets the general sponsor requirements:

• is at least 18;
• satisfies the Department of their identity;
• is an Australian citizen, or is an Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen who has usually been resident in Australia for at least the 4 years immediately before applying, and was not an unlawful non-citizen or the holder of a bridging visa (other than a Bridging A, B or C) at any time in those 4 years; and
• agrees that information about them in the application may be disclosed to the parents it names.

The sponsor must also pass the income test, meet the conduct and outstanding debt requirements, and, if they have a partner, the partner must meet the partner requirements. Only an individual can be a parent sponsor: the age, citizenship and parent requirements can only be met by a person, and the Department’s policy says so expressly.

regs 2.60U(1), 2.60V

No. The 4-year residence requirement applies to permanent residents and eligible New Zealand citizens. An Australian citizen meets the residence part of the general sponsor requirements by being a citizen, however recently citizenship was acquired.

reg 2.60V(c)

Yes, if your partner is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. The parent of a partner who holds a temporary or provisional visa (for example, an 820 partner visa) cannot be sponsored.

“Parent” includes a step-parent. There is also a narrow rule for a widowed sponsor: within 90 days of a partner’s death, the surviving partner can apply to take over the sponsorship of a parent-in-law who already holds an 870 that the deceased partner sponsored.

reg 2.57(1) (permitted sponsored person) · reg 1.14A · s.5G

Not at the same time. A sponsor’s partner must not already be a parent sponsor, and a person cannot apply while their partner’s own sponsorship application has not been finally determined. As one approval names no more than two parents, a couple can usually sponsor two parents at a time between them, for example one parent from each side.

regs 2.60U(1)(c), (i), 2.60Z(a), 2.61A(2)(a), (b)

The sponsor provides an Australian Federal Police check if they have spent more than 12 months in total in Australia, and a police check from each foreign country where they have spent more than 12 months in total. Both are counted over the last 10 years, or since the sponsor turned 16 if that is later.

The Department also looks for any adverse information about the sponsor or a person associated with them. A failure to provide a required police check, or adverse information, can be disregarded where that is reasonable.

reg 2.60X

The rules stop a sponsor from building up parents who stay on in Australia after their 870s end. A sponsor is ineligible if 3 or more parents they (or their partner) sponsored before have not left Australia since their 870 ended and do not hold permanent visas. If one such parent is still in Australia, a new application can name only one parent, unless the second parent named is the one still here. If two are still here, it can name only one or both of them.

The sponsor, their partner, the parents named and any previously sponsored parent must also have no outstanding public health debt, or arrangements must be in place to pay it, and the sponsor must have no unpaid debt to the Commonwealth without a payment arrangement.

regs 2.60U(2)–(4), 2.60Y

Taxable income of at least $83,454.80 for the most recent income year completed before the sponsorship application is lodged. The amount is set by legislative instrument (LIN 19/146) and has been $83,454.80 since the instrument started on 17 April 2019. The Minister can change it by a new instrument.

It is taxable income, as defined in the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997, not gross salary, household income or assets. Deductions lower it.

reg 2.60W(1), (4), (5) · LIN 19/146 ss 5, 6

Yes, with up to two other people:

• the sponsor’s spouse or de facto partner; and
• one child of a parent named in the application (usually the sponsor’s brother or sister, or the partner’s brother or sister when sponsoring the partner’s parents) who is an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.

The combined taxable income must reach $83,454.80, and the sponsor’s own taxable income must be at least half of that, which is $41,727.40. The rest can be split between the other two in any way.

reg 2.60W(2), (3) · LIN 19/146 s 5

The most recent completed income year before the sponsorship application is lodged. The Department’s policy is that the only evidence it accepts is the ATO Notice of Assessment, one for each person whose income is used. If the application is made early in a new income year, before that year’s Notice of Assessment has issued, the policy accepts the Notice for the previous year. The instrument itself names the most recent completed income year, so relying on an earlier Notice carries risk; where possible, lodge after the latest Notice has issued.

Income from several jobs or sources counts, as long as it is all in the one Notice of Assessment. Incomes from different years cannot be averaged or added together.

LIN 19/146 s 6 · reg 2.60W(5)

The application will be refused. The income test has no discretion and no waiver, and the Department’s policy is that even a very small shortfall cannot be approved. A different sponsor cannot be swapped in after lodging; a new application by a different person would be needed.

The practical answers are to combine incomes, to wait for an income year that meets the threshold, or for another eligible child to be the sponsor.

regs 2.60U(1)(f), 2.60W

Yes. Separately from the sponsor’s income test, each parent must have access to enough money to meet the costs of their stay. The Department’s policy points to the parent’s own bank statements and evidence of regular income, such as a pension.

The sponsor also takes on a legal obligation to support the parent financially and with accommodation where needed; see the sponsor obligations below.

cl 870.222; reg 2.87CF

The parent must genuinely intend to stay in Australia temporarily. It is a criterion for every 870, and it is the parent’s version of what people often call the GTE test. If the decision-maker is not satisfied of it, the visa is refused.

The criterion is there because the 870 is not meant to be a way to remain permanently. A parent who genuinely intends to visit, even for long periods, and then return home can meet it.

cl 870.226

The Department’s policy lists factors its officers may weigh. The list is not exhaustive:

• immigration history, including any previous refusals and the reasons for them;
• the parent’s financial circumstances;
• economic conditions and any unrest or conflict in the home country;
• the parent’s ability to return to and live in their home country, and what draws them back;
• travel history, especially travel to other developed countries where visa conditions were complied with;
• ties to Australia and any reason to stay on; and
• whether the information given is credible and consistent.

cl 870.226

With documents that speak to the factors above, set out in a short statement from the parent. Depending on the family, that can include:

• a home owned or rented in the home country, and other property or a business;
• a pension, rental income or savings held there;
• a spouse, other children or grandchildren who live there;
• previous trips to Australia or elsewhere, each with a departure on time; and
• the purpose and rough plan of the stay, and the date of return.

A consistent account matters. What the parent says should match the sponsorship, earlier visa applications and the travel record.

cl 870.226

Yes, in two ways. The parent must have complied substantially with the conditions of their last substantive visa and of any bridging visa held after it, such as leaving on time after a visitor visa. Immigration history is also one of the factors in the genuine temporary stay test.

Special return criteria 5001, 5002 and 5010 can also stop a grant. They cover, for example, a person who left Australia under a deportation order or had a visa cancelled or refused on character grounds, a person removed from Australia in the last 12 months, and some former government-sponsored students.

cl 870.225, 870.226, 870.229

Online, on Form 1501, with a fee of AUD420. The application names the parent or parents to be sponsored. A sponsor cannot apply while they are already an approved family sponsor.

Expect to attach the sponsor’s identity documents, proof of citizenship or residence, the Notice of Assessment for each income used, police checks, and the documents that prove each parent is the sponsor’s parent (or their partner’s), usually a full birth certificate and any marriage or death certificates.

reg 2.61A · LIN 19/188 s 6

Six months from the day the sponsorship is approved (or from the day a variation adds a second parent to it). If a parent has not applied by then, the sponsorship stops having effect for that parent. The visa application must name the approved parent sponsor or it is invalid.

reg 2.64B(2)(d), (3) · LIN 19/185 s 6 · Sch 1 item 1239(3)(d)

Only if the Minister has permitted it. Otherwise the parent must be outside Australia when they apply, or the application is invalid. With permission, the application must be made within 60 days of the permission.

The Department’s policy is that permission is given only in exceptional circumstances where the parent is physically unable to leave, such as a natural disaster or war preventing travel, or a serious injury or illness shown by medical evidence, preferably from a specialist. It says permission will generally not be given because of cost or inconvenience, a coming birth, caring for a relative or grandchildren, a wedding or other event, a lack of family overseas, or the death of the parent’s spouse.

The request is made with the sponsorship application, or later if circumstances change, before the visa application is lodged.

Sch 1 item 1239(3)(e) · LIN 19/185 s 6

Adequate arrangements for health insurance for the whole intended stay, in place before grant, then kept up for as long as the parent is in Australia (condition 8501).

The Department’s policy accepts a policy from an Australian health insurer for the length of the stay, shown by the policy or a letter from the insurer confirming Overseas Visitor cover, or enrolment in Medicare under a reciprocal health care agreement. Without evidence of insurance, the visa is refused.

cl 870.224; condition 8501

Yes. Each parent must meet the health requirement (public interest criterion 4005 if they applied outside Australia, 4007 if they applied in Australia) and the character and security criteria. They must also have no outstanding public health debt from an earlier stay, or must have paid it or made arrangements to pay it.

cl 870.227, 870.228

There are three charges: the AUD420 sponsorship fee, the first instalment of the visa application charge paid by each parent when they apply, and a second instalment paid by each parent before grant. The second instalment is lower for a visa of up to 3 years than for one of up to 5 years.

For today’s figures, use our Sponsored Parent 870 visa fee calculator. Health insurance, health examinations and police certificates are extra.

Sch 1 item 1239(2) · LIN 19/188 s 6

Yes, as long as the total time on 870s stays under 10 years. Two rules apply. A parent cannot apply for a new 870 while still holding one. And a parent who applies from outside Australia after holding an 870 must, by the time of the decision, have been outside Australia for at least 90 days in a row since leaving after the last 870, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

Each new 870 needs a sponsorship that is in effect for that parent. The earlier approval stops having effect for a parent when their 870 ends, so the sponsor makes a new sponsorship application, or applies to vary an existing approval if they are still an approved sponsor for the other parent.

cl 870.223; Sch 1 item 1239(3)(b), (f) · regs 2.61A(2)(a), 2.64B(2)(e), (3), 2.66 · LIN 19/188 s 7

The obligations start at approval and some continue after the sponsorship ends:

• Support: help the parent, to the extent necessary, financially and with accommodation, from the 870 grant until the parent has left Australia after the visa ends, or is granted another substantive visa;
• Public health debts: pay in full, as soon as practicable, any public hospital, health or public aged care debt the parent runs up while sponsored, or afterwards until they next leave Australia or are granted a permanent visa;
• Records: keep the records specified by the Minister, and hand them over on request, until 2 years after ceasing to be a sponsor.

regs 2.87CA–2.87CC, 2.87CE, 2.87CF

Within 28 days, the sponsor must tell the Department if:

• any information given to it changes;
• the sponsor is charged with or convicted of an offence;
• a debt the sponsor owes to the Commonwealth becomes overdue;
• the sponsor becomes subject to an apprehended violence order or similar order; or
• a person the sponsor sponsored dies.

reg 2.87CD

The Minister can cancel the sponsor’s approval, or bar them for a period from sponsoring further parents or applying again. A past failure to meet an obligation also counts against a later sponsorship application, unless it is reasonable to disregard it.

s.140M · regs 2.60X(1)(c), 2.60Z(b)

The visa does not end straight away. If the sponsor withdraws in writing, the 870 ends 35 days after the Department receives the notice, unless someone else applies to sponsor the parent within those 35 days. If the sponsor dies, it ends 90 days after the death, unless a new sponsorship application is made within the 90 days. If the new application is refused, the visa ends 35 days after the refusal (or after a review that affirms it).

If the sponsor’s approval is cancelled, the 870 ends 35 days after the cancellation.

In each case the visa ends at its normal end date if that comes first. A new sponsorship application, or an application to vary an existing approval, made within the period keeps the visa in effect while it is decided.

cl 870.511(3), (4)

A refused sponsorship application can be taken to the Administrative Review Tribunal.

A refused 870 that the parent applied for outside Australia can be reviewed if the parent was still sponsored by a parent sponsor when it was refused. The sponsor, not the parent, applies for the review. A refused 870 applied for in Australia can be reviewed if, when it was refused, the parent was still sponsored (or a review of the sponsorship refusal was pending). The parent applies, and must be in Australia when they do.

Review deadlines are short and cannot be extended. Act as soon as the decision arrives.

reg 4.02(1A)(m), (4)(a), (4)(r), (5)(q) · s.338(2), (9) · ss.347, 347A