Parents Visa Australia: Costs, Wait Times and Which Option Suits Your Family

You started by looking up one visa for your mum and dad. Now you have seven subclass numbers open in different tabs, and none of the prices seems to match.

One site says AUD 48,000. Another says AUD 33,000. A family group says the cheap visa costs under AUD 9,000. They can all be right, because each one is pricing a different visa.

The good news is that most families can rule out four or five options in a few minutes. Your parents’ age, where they live now and how you want to pay settle most of it.

This guide compares every parent visa Australia offers side by side, including the cost, expected wait, and the family each one suits. The fees are the ones in force from 1 July 2026.

If you’d like someone to check your family’s route with you, you can book a consultation with our registered migration agents.

What parent visa options does Australia offer?

Australia offers seven parent visas, and they split into three groups: contributory, non-contributory and temporary. Contributory visas cost more but move faster, while non-contributory visas cost less and wait much longer.

The table below puts the whole choice on one screen. Charges are for one parent from the Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 1, as at 1 July 2026. Waits are the Home Affairs estimates as at 31 August 2026.

Our parent visa Australia page explains the sponsor rules and the Balance of Family test that apply to all six queue visas. The next question is which of these seven fits your family.

Which questions narrow down the right parent visa?

Four questions rule out most options before you compare a single fee. Answer them in this order, and you will usually be left with one or two routes.

The four questions to answer first

• Do your parents pass the Balance of Family test? At least half of their children must live lawfully and permanently in Australia, or more children must live here than in any other country. If they don’t pass, only the visa 870 and visitor visas remain open.
• Are your parents at Age Pension age and already in Australia? That is 67 for anyone born on or after 1 January 1957. If both are true, the onshore visas 864, 884 and 804 become options.
• Do they want to live here permanently, or visit for long stretches? Long visits point to the visa 870. A permanent move points to the queue visas.
• Can you budget for the full charge now, or only part of it? This decides between a direct permanent visa and the two-step route.

Our Balance of Family test guide works through the count with real family examples. Once you know your answers, the next section matches them to a visa.

Which parent visa suits your family’s situation?

Each visa was built for a particular kind of family. Find the description closest to yours, and you’ll see which route usually fits and what to watch for.

You can afford the full charge and want your parents here permanently

• The visa 143 is the usual choice. It costs AUD 49,900 for one parent, in two instalments.
• You pay AUD 6,300 when you apply. The AUD 43,600 second instalment is only requested near the end of the queue.
• If your parents are 67 or older and already in Australia, the visa 864 is the onshore version at the same price.

You can find around AUD 4,000 now, but not AUD 50,000

• The visa 173 lets you start with a first instalment of AUD 4,245 and split the rest across two visas.
• Your parents get a 2-year temporary visa first, with work and study rights. They then apply for the visa 143.
• This route is not cheaper. It costs AUD 53,350 per parent in total, which is AUD 3,450 more than a direct visa 143.
• What you buy with the extra money is time. Your parents can live here sooner, and the visa 143 stage that follows has been moving closer to the present.

Your parents are 67 or older and already here on a visitor visa

• The onshore visa 884 and visa 864 let them apply from inside Australia. They usually get a bridging visa while they wait.
• Check their current visa first. A “No Further Stay” condition such as 8503, or a section 48 bar after a refusal, can stop an onshore application.
• Our guide to choosing between the visa 884 and visa 864 compares the two onshore routes in detail.

You looked at the visa 103 because it costs less

• The visa 103 costs AUD 8,665 for one parent, which is the lowest charge of any permanent parent visa.
• The trade-off is the queue. Home Affairs estimates about 42 years for a new application.
• For parents in their 50s or 60s, that wait is longer than most families can plan around. A contributory visa usually serves them better.

Your parents want long visits, or they don’t pass the Balance of Family test

• The visa 870 allows stays of 3 or 5 years per visa, up to 10 years in total. There is no Balance of Family test.
• It does not lead to permanent residence, and parents can’t work on it.
• A parent who holds, or has applied for, a visa 870 can’t apply for any other parent visa. If permanent residence is the long-term goal, plan the order before you lodge.
• For shorter trips, a visitor visa for parents may be enough.

Most families compare a single parent’s price first. When both parents are applying, though, the totals change in ways that matter.

How much does a parent visa cost for two parents?

For a couple, a direct visa 143 costs AUD 95,625 in visa charges. The second parent pays a smaller first instalment but the same second instalment, so the total is not simply double.

These are the government charges for two parents applying together, as at 1 July 2026. You can check your own family’s figure with the Home Affairs Visa Pricing Estimator.

That gap of AUD 8,680 between the two contributory routes surprises a lot of families. At our Harris Park office, we’re often asked whether the visa 173 is the “cheaper” option. It isn’t, but for many families it is the more affordable one, because the money is spread out.

The second instalment for a visa 143 is a single payment and can’t be split. Our visa 143 second instalment guide explains when Home Affairs asks for it. There are also some costs that sit outside these charges.

What costs sit outside the visa charge?

The highest extra cost is the Assurance of Support bond, a refundable amount held for your parents’ first years in Australia. Health checks, police certificates and translations add smaller amounts.

Costs to budget for on top of the visa charge

• Assurance of Support (AoS) bond: An Assurance of Support is a promise to repay certain welfare payments your parents receive. For a visa 143 or 864, it comes with a bond of AUD 10,000 for one parent and AUD 4,000 for each other adult, held for 10 years. For a visa 103 or 804, the bond is AUD 5,000 plus AUD 2,000, held for 4 years.
• No AoS for temporary visas: The visa 173 and visa 884 don’t need one. It is requested later, at the visa 143 or visa 864 stage.
• Who can give it: It doesn’t have to be the sponsor. One person, several people or an organisation can give an AoS.
• Health examinations: Each parent completes health examinations with an approved clinic. Wait until Home Affairs asks, because results expire.
• Police certificates and translations: Your parents need police certificates for each country they have lived in. Documents not in English need certified translations.

The bond is returned if your parents don’t claim the covered payments during the AoS period. Most of these costs arrive late in the process, which leads to the question every family asks next: how long is the wait?

How long will your parents wait for a parent visa?

Home Affairs estimates that a new contributory application will take about 18 years. A new non-contributory application is estimated at 42 years.

We know that is hard to read when your parents are already in their 60s. The wait comes from a yearly cap on places, and applications are released in the order they were lodged.

As at 31 August 2026, Home Affairs was releasing visa 143 and 173 applications lodged up to November 2018, and visa 864 and 884 applications up to November 2020. The second stage of the two-step route (visa 173 to 143, or 884 to 864) was released up to May 2026.

Our contributory parent visa processing time guide tracks the queue each month. Because the wait is so long, a small mistake at the start can cost years, so it helps to know where families most often go wrong.

Which mistakes cost families the most?

The costliest mistakes happen before lodgement. They usually come from a miscounted family, a visa chosen in the wrong order or a budget built on old prices.

Four mistakes we see often

• Counting a sibling on a temporary visa as “in Australia”. A brother on a student visa or a sister on a visa 485 doesn’t count towards the Balance of Family test. Exactly half of the children in Australia is enough to pass, so count carefully rather than assuming.
• Lodging a visa 870 before deciding on permanent residence. A parent who holds or has applied for a visa 870 can’t apply for another parent visa, so this needs planning first.
• Choosing the visa 173 to save money. It spreads the cost, but the total is higher. Choose it for timing and cash flow, not price.
• Budgeting from an old article. Charges are reviewed each 1 July, and many pages online still show 2024 or 2025 figures.

If any of these sounds like your family, a short check now can save a lot of trouble later. You can speak with a MARA-registered agent (MARN 2619480) about your family’s route before you spend anything.

How The Migration helps families choose a parent visa

We help you choose the right route, check that your parents qualify and plan the cost across the wait. Our team works from Harris Park in Sydney, and parent visas are some of the cases we handle most often.

What you get when you work with us

• A route check: We compare all seven visas against your family and explain why the others don’t fit.
• A Balance of Family count: We list every child by country and visa status before anything is lodged.
• A staged cost plan: We show what is due at lodgement, at the second instalment and for the AoS bond.
• Lodgement and follow-up: We prepare the sponsorship and visa applications and respond to Home Affairs requests during the wait.
• A registered agent: Your case is handled by a MARA-registered migration agent (MARN 2619480). You can check the number on the MARA public register.

We can’t shorten the queue or promise an outcome, and we’ll tell you plainly if a route doesn’t suit your family. What we can do is help you start on the right route with the right budget.

So which parents visa Australia option is right for you?

For most families who want their parents here permanently, the choice comes down to the visa 143 or the visa 173. The direct visa 143 costs less overall, while the visa 173 spreads the cost and brings your parents here sooner.

If your parents are 67 or older and already in Australia, look at the visa 864 and 884 first. If they want long visits rather than a permanent move, the visa 870 may suit them better.

Whichever route you’re leaning towards, check the Balance of Family count and the full cost before you lodge. Book a consultation with a MARA-registered migration agent (MARN 2619480) to confirm the right parents visa for your family.

Frequently asked questions