Hello
My name is Ashani Yapa and I'm a Registered Migration Agent for Sirus Migration.
Today, I'm going to be talking about the Sponsored Temporary Parent Visa (subclass 870)
I frequently get inquiries about this Visa from Sri Lankans who have already settled down in Australia as an option for their parents.
Today, I will explain this Visa process to you
In order to apply under this Visa
An applicant must be accompanied by a sponsor
I will speak about what you require to be a Sponsor,
what is required from the applicant,
and I will also compare this Visa with other Visa options available to parents, such as,
Visitor Visas,
Contributory Parent Visas,
Normal Parent Visas and
Aged Parents Visas.
Let's compare and look at the differences between these options
and see why the subclass 870 Visa is important for your parents.
Under this Temporary Parent Visa, you can initially apply for a period of either three years or five years
When applying for a five year Visa, the applicant must pay AUD 10,000 as the Visa fee
And if the applicant is applying for a three year Visa, it will be AUD 5,000
Once the five year Visa is granted, it can be extended for another period of 5 years,
allowing your parents to remain in Australia for a maximum period of ten years
If you get a three year Visa, it can be extended twice more
allowing your parents to remain in Australia for a maximum period of nine years
Therefore, the maximum duration for which parents can remain in Australia under this subclss is ten years.
A parent holding a Parent Visa can travel between Australia and Sri Lanka or any other country
without any travel restrictions allowing a parent to travel between countries however many times necessary.
However, a parent holding a subclass 870 Visa will not legally be allowed to engage in any job or occupation.
In other words, this Visa does not entail any work rights.
This is one drawback in the subclass 870 Visa
This is just like a three year or a five year or even a ten year long Visitor Visa
Next, I will talk about the eligibility criteria for a Sponsor under a 870 Visa
What's most attractive about this Visa is the applicability of
the Balance of Family test, commonly done under normal Parent Visas or even Contributory Parent Visas
This test requires atleast 50% of your eligible children to hold Citizenship or Permanent Residency in Australia
for a parent to be eligible for a parent visa
However, there is no applicability of the Balance of Family test for the 870 Visa
For example, if there there are five siblings in a family,
even if there is only one sibling in Australia who is either a Citizen or a Permanent Resident
the parents in that family can apply for the 870 Visa.
The sponsor must be at least 18 years of age and must have passed the income test.
Here, the applicant must show that in the last financial year
he had an income of AUD 83,454.80
If the applicant does not draw an individual income to meet this requirement,
he can combine his income with his partner, if he is married
in order to come up with the income requirement.
Alternatively, if there is another sibling residing in Australia who is also eligible to sponsor,
such siblings can come together to satisfy the income requirement.
However, each person should have an income of atleast 50% of the required income level.
In addition to that, a sponsor cannot have any debts to the Australian government and
any prior Sponsor obligations held under a subclass 600 Family Sponsored Visa or a Parent Visa
must have been successfully carried out.
If you satisfy those requirements, you can go on to apply for a Sponsorship for your parents
for a subclass 870 Parent Visa
To be eligible to apply for a Parent Visa, a parent must
pass the health test,
hold a health insurance,
be either the biological or adoptive parents of the sponsor
and ideally be outside of Australia at the time of lodging the Visa application.
but with the prevailing Covid-19 situation, if your parents are in Australia on a subclass 600 Visitor Visa,
it may be possible to lodge the subclass 870 Visa application in Australia itself with a waiver request.
Now let's look at the differences between the subclass 870 Temporary Parent Visa and
a subclass 600 Visitor Visa and a Permanent Contributory Parent Visa
The processing time of a Permanent Contributory Parent Visa is around three and a half to four years
but,
the time it takes to process a subclass 870 Visa is about three to four months.
However, like I mentioned before, under the subclass 870 Visa a parent will not enjoy work rights,
nor will they get medicare benefits.
In contrast, under the Permanent Contributory Parent Visa, the parent becomes a Permanent Resident
from the date of the grant of the Visa,
becomes entitled to medicare benefits,
has work rights,
and other similar benefits.
Being on a subclass 870 Visa does not give you an opportunity at becoming a Citizen
or getting a subsequent Permanent Visa
Also, in renewing your subclass 870 Visa, you must go through the exact same application process,
make the Visa payments again and pass the health test.
So when a parent is applying for a second 870 Visa
he must go back to Sri Lanka or any other country and lodge the Visa.
If the parent fails the health test here, he will not be able to get his subclass 870 Visa the second time.
Let's compare the subclass 870 Visa with a Visitor Visa.
A very frequent concern is that under the subclass 600 Visitor Visa, although it may be granted for three years
the stay is limited to a maximum of twelve months per visit.
So one must leave Australia for six months before returning to Australia for a second visit.
There is no such requirement under the subclass 870 Visa.
During the validity of your Visa, you can either travel frequently or even
remain in Australia for the whole of the Visa period.
Get in touch with a migration agent to know which of the Visas out of Contributory Parent Visa or
Temporary Parent Visa or a Visitor Visa best suits your family depending on your situation to have your parents
with you in Australia.
If you require any further information, feel free to contact me on the given phone numbers or email addresses
and I will advice you at any time.
Thank You.