Every year, thousands of Australian citizens and permanent residents look into the possibility of bringing their parents to live with them in Australia. Unfortunately, many of them become disappointed and disillusioned with the Australian system when they realise the cost, hassle and especially the waiting time that can be involved with an application for a parent visa.

At first glance, there are a number of different Australian parent visa options to be explored, such as the Contributory Parent Visa (subclass 143), Parent Visa (subclass 103) and Aged Parent Visa (subclass 804). However, once you begin to examine the application process more closely, it quickly becomes apparent that getting Australian permanent residence for a parent is not a straightforward matter.

Excessive waiting times for parent visas

The biggest issue with Australia’s system of parent visas at present is the amount of time it takes for an application to be processed. The latest indicative timeframes provided by the Department of Home Affairs are disheartening, to say the least:

• a Contributory Parent visa application submitted today would be expected to be processed by 2038 (a 14 year wait)
• a Parent or Aged Parent visa application submitted today would be expected to be processed by 2055 (a 31 year wait)

To put those numbers into perspective, if an Australian resident’s 70-year-old mother submitted an application today for a Contributory Parent Visa, she would not expect to receive a decision on her application (whether positive or negative) until she was 84. If she applied for a non-contributory Aged Parent Visa, she wouldn’t receive a decision until she was 101.

Capped approvals, huge backlogs

One of the reasons behind the long waiting time for processing of a parent visa application is the Australian government’s annual cap on the number of parent visas that can be issued. In the 2022-2023 recording period, 8,500 parent visas were issued – the maximum number permitted by the cap. This was a significant increase over the even smaller figure of 4,500 parent visas awarded in the 2021-22 financial year.

Despite the increase in 2022-23, the cap of 8,500 parent visas remains in place for both 2023-24 and 2024-25. Of this 8,500 total, 6,800 are allocated to Contributory Parent and Aged Parent Visas, while only 1,700 non-contributory Parent and Aged Parent Visas will be issued.

These restrictive caps on the maximum number of parent visas that can be issued in a given financial year will do nothing to reduce the massive number of pending parent visa applications already awaiting consideration. The current backlog stands at over 151,000 parent visa applications, up almost 11,000 from 140,615 in 2023.

Parent visa costs can be prohibitive

While the process and waiting times for Australian parent visas are a significant obstacle to many hoping to join family in Australia, the cost of an application for a permanent resident visa for parents is also a barrier to many prospective applicants.

Applications for a Parent Visa (subclass 143) or Aged Parent Visa (subclass 804) are subject to a fee of AUD $5,125, making them already one of the more expensive Australian visa options. Those seeking to take advantage of the comparatively shorter processing time of a contributory visa will however need the bank balance to support it, as the cost of an application for a Contributory Parent Visa (subclass 143) or Contributory Aged Parent (subclass 864) is an eye-watering AUD $48,495.

A system under strain

The issues with the Australian parent visa system outlined above are interconnected, and the obstacles placed in front of families seeking reunification in Australia challenging. The more affordable non-contributory parent visas have a waiting time so long that, sadly, most applicants are unlikely to live long enough for the process to complete and for them to benefit from a visa being awarded. As a consequence, applications for these visas are just not practical for most people, leading to them considering a contributory visa instead.

However, the almost ten times higher cost of contributory visas will rule out many potential applicants. Even those who can afford it find themselves looking at around a 14-year waiting list of over 150,000 applications. With the 8,500 annual cap seemingly locked in for the foreseeable future, this backlog does not look like being cleared any time soon.

These failings of the current system have been highlighted not just by applicants and their families or the media, but also by an independent review commissioned by Australia’s own Minister for Home Affairs. The Review of the Migration System, published in 2023, called for “a new and fairer approach” to handling the high demand for parent visas, highlighting the multi-decade backlog of applications as a key reason for Australian families waiting for “parent visas that never come”.

What can be done to fix the parent visa system?

Until 1988, grandparents of Australian residents were almost guaranteed right of entry to live in Australia with their family. Unfortunately, in its current state, it is hard to argue against the view that the system today is set up to discourage family reunification, rather than to facilitate it.

Policymakers will argue, not without some merit, that there are added costs to Australian society of welcoming an increased number of older, typically non-working age migrants. It therefore seems unlikely that the government will make any moves towards significantly reducing parent visa application fees for the foreseeable future. However, there are options available which would allow for family reunification while removing some of the inequities and dishonesty of a system which often fails to deliver what it promises.

The government could reexamine the scope of the temporary Sponsored Parent Visa, perhaps even lifting the restriction currently in place which prevents holders from applying for a permanent residence visa. Certainly, it seems slightly absurd to have an extendable, ‘temporary’ visa aimed at older individuals with family connections to Australia, but which specifically prohibits them from seeking permanent resident status. Such an approach would however increase the backlog of applications for permanent parent visas and therefore would not be enough on its own to solve the problem of long waiting times. An alternative approach would be to remove access to permanent parent visas altogether, and focus on making temporary parent visas more affordable, accessible and dependent on enhanced financial support from sponsors.

If there is no appetite to introduce new parent visas or make significant changes to existing ones, there is a case to be made for reforming the process by which parent visa applications are considered. The simplest, most effective change would be to increase the number of parent visas that can be granted each year. Canada, for example, offers 28,500 visas a year to parents and grandparents of Canadian citizens and permanent residents, managing the added economic impact by placing greater financial expectations on sponsoring children and grandchildren.  New Zealand has similar requirements for its own parent visas. Increasing the number of parent visas granted annually would be the remedy with the single greatest impact on the application backlog and excessive waiting times.

There are also options available to the government for reforming the application process without increasing the number of visas granted. One suggestion put forward by the 2023 Review is the introduction of a lottery for parent visa applications, either for new applications or retrospectively applied to the existing backlog. While there is a legitimate debate to be had as to whether a lottery system is fairer than the current queue-based system, it could reasonably be argued that a chance-based system of visa grants is a fairer way of dealing with demand than asking applicants to run the risk that they may die before their application reaches the front of the queue.