For Indians settled in Australia

Bringing your parents to Australia from India

Australia gives you three different ways to bring parents over, and they are not steps on one ladder — they are separate visas with very different prices, lengths of stay and obligations on you. Choosing the wrong one costs either months of their visit or thousands of dollars.

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The short answer

For a visit of a few months, your parents apply for a Visitor visa (subclass 600) — in the Tourist stream with your invitation letter, or in the Sponsored Family stream with you as formal sponsor (AUD 250, usually 3 months). To have them with you for years, the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 870) allows 3 or 5 years at a time, costs AUD 6,370 or AUD 12,440, and requires you to be approved as a Parent Sponsor first.

Visitor 600 — Sponsored Family stream

A visit of a few months, with you standing behind it as formal sponsor.

Government fee: AUD 250 per applicant; Health checks, police certificates and biometrics are extra where asked for.
Usual stay: 3 months; Home Affairs may grant up to 12 months in limited circumstances, decided case by case. You might not get the length you ask for.
Entries: Generally single entry; Normally valid for 6 months from grant to make that one entry. Leaving Australia ends it.
Security bond: May be asked of the sponsor
Work: Not permitted; Study or training of up to 3 months is allowed.
Staying on: Condition 8503 — No Further Stay; They cannot apply for another visa from inside Australia; it is waived only in limited circumstances.

Family members cannot be included in one Sponsored Family application. Your mother and your father each lodge their own and each pay the fee. You can tell Home Affairs they are travelling as a group.

The 870 starts with you, not with them

Nobody can lodge a subclass 870 application until an approved Parent Sponsor exists. It is for the parent of an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, the application is made online, and it must be lodged within 6 months of your sponsorship being approved.

Requirements common to both

Health and character requirements, enough money (or access to it) for the stay, no unpaid debt to the Australian Government, and a genuine intention to stay only temporarily. For the 870, health insurance and a clean record of complying with previous visas are also required.

Two countries, one file

What you send, and what your parents prepare

You, in Australia

For the Tourist stream: a specific, dated invitation letter
For Sponsored Family: the sponsorship form and proof of your relationship
For the 870: your Parent Sponsor application — before anything else
Proof of your status in Australia and, if you are paying, your funds

Your parents, in India

A separate application each, lodged online
Passports, photographs and evidence of their relationship to you
Proof of their own funds, home and family ties in India
Health examinations, police certificates and biometrics where requested

A typical file, not an official checklist — what is needed depends on your parents’ circumstances.

How we prepare the file

Our method — not a government requirement

We start by asking how long, honestly

Three months for a birth or a wedding is a visitor visa. Parents who intend to spend most of the next five years with you are an 870 case. A chain of long visitor stays is not what the visitor visa is for — every application is assessed on whether the person is a genuine visitor — and we would rather tell you that on the first call.

Tourist stream or Sponsored Family? Usually the simpler one

Formal sponsorship puts obligations on you and can bring a security bond. Where your parents have their own home, pension, land and travel history in India, the Tourist stream with a precise invitation letter is often the cleaner file. Sponsorship earns its place where their own paperwork is thin and your undertaking genuinely strengthens the application.

Two parents means two complete files

Because each parent applies separately, each application has to stand up alone — their own identity documents, their own relationship evidence to you, their own declared funds. We build them as a matched pair so nothing in one contradicts the other.

On the 870, sequence is everything

Your Parent Sponsor approval comes first and starts a 6-month clock for their visa application. We line up your parents’ health examinations, insurance and documents while your sponsorship is being assessed, so the visa application is ready to lodge the week the approval arrives rather than in month five.

No consultancy can promise a visa — the decision belongs to the visa officer. What we control is whether the file is complete, consistent and honest.

Questions sponsors ask us

Which visa do my parents need to visit me in Australia?

For a visit, a Visitor visa (subclass 600) — either the Tourist stream with your letter of invitation, or the Sponsored Family stream with you as formal sponsor. For a stay of years, the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 870).

How long can my parents stay on a Sponsored Family visitor visa?

Home Affairs says the standard length of stay is 3 months. Up to 12 months may be granted in limited circumstances, decided case by case, and you might not be granted the length you ask for. It is generally single entry, to be used within 6 months of grant.

What does it cost to bring my parents to Australia?

The Sponsored Family visitor visa is AUD 250 per applicant. The Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa is AUD 6,370 for up to 3 years or AUD 12,440 for up to 5 years. These are Home Affairs’ published charges on the date shown on this page; health checks, police certificates, biometrics, insurance and our consultancy fee are separate.

Can my parents extend their stay or apply for another visa while in Australia?

Not on a Sponsored Family visa. It carries condition 8503, No Further Stay, which means they cannot apply for a new visa in Australia; it is waived only in limited circumstances. The visa itself cannot be extended.

Will I have to pay a security bond?

Possibly. Home Affairs says it might ask the sponsor of a Sponsored Family visa to pay a security bond. It is not requested in every case.

Can my parents work in Australia?

No — neither visa allows work. On the visitor visa they may study or train for up to 3 months.

How does the 5-year parent visa work?

You first apply to be approved as a Parent Sponsor. Once approved, your parent lodges the subclass 870 application online within 6 months. It can be granted for up to 3 or 5 years, further visas can take the total to a maximum of 10 years in Australia, and health insurance is required throughout.

I am in Melbourne and my parents are in Punjab — how do we work together?

You handle the sponsor side from Australia and send your documents over WhatsApp or email. Your parents come to our Patiala office in person, in Punjabi or Hindi, and we prepare their two applications and book their medicals. Messages are answered during our working hours and are waiting when you wake up.

Official sources

Last verified 21 September 2026 by the Lifeset Overseas team.

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