The Parent 103 visa allows those parents to live in Australia permanently whose child is already settled in Australia as an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen.

However, the visa requires the parents to have the sponsorship of child or another eligible sponsor in Australia.

If the child is younger than 18 years of age, parents can be sponsored by either:

• the spouse of child, (who is 18 years of age or more and settled in Australia as an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen)
• a relative or guardian of the child (who is 18 years of age or more and settled in Australia as an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen)
• a relative or guardian of your child’s spouse (who is 18 years of age or more and settled in Australia as an Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen) or
• a community organisation

married to your Australian partner and sponsor. To apply from outside Australia, you must be legally married to your partner at the time of application or intend to legally marry your partner before a decision is made on the temporary Partner Visa.

The Contributory Parent visa (subclass 173 and 143) visa allows parents to live in Australia if their child is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. The contributory parent 173 visa is a temporary visa which allows the applicant to live in Australia for two years. This visa cannot be extended or renewed, however applicants can apply for Contributory Parent (subclass 143) (within 2 years of living in Australia on 173 visa) if they wish to live permanently in Australia.

The applicants of both the visas must be sponsored by their child living in Australia. If the child is less than 18 years of age, applicants can be sponsored by:

• A child’s spouse (who must be at least 18 years of age or more and a settled Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen)
• A relative or guardian of child
• A relative or guardian of child’s spouse if the spouse has not turned 18 but is settled Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen
• A community organisation