Welcome. You have bought this kit because someone you love, almost certainly a parent, wants to live in Australia, and you have worked out that the parent visa system is slow, expensive and confusing. All three of those things are true. This chapter tells you honestly what this kit is, what it is not, who should not attempt a parent visa without a registered migration agent, and how to get the most out of what you have paid for.

Read this page in full before you open anything else.

What this kit is

This kit is an information product. It is a set of plain-English manual chapters, editable document templates and a document tracker, written for the adult children in Australia who usually end up organising a parent's visa. It exists to help you understand the parent visa landscape, choose a pathway to research further, and get organised long before you spend a cent on a government charge.

The manual chapters live on the web so they stay current. When a fee changes or a rule moves, the page you are reading is updated at the source. Every number in this kit (every charge, bond, threshold and indicative wait) is drawn from a single page, the Current Fees and Figures page, so that nothing in these chapters ever goes quietly out of date. When you see a reference like "see the Current Fees and Figures page", follow it. That page is the only place a live figure is ever stated.

What this kit is not

This kit is not immigration advice. It is general information only. It does not, and cannot, tell you what to do about your family's particular situation, because it does not know your family. Nothing here is tailored to you.

Buying this kit does not make you a client of MigrationBuro or of Andy Heathcote, the registered migration agent behind it. No agent and client relationship is created by your purchase, and no one here is acting for you or lodging anything on your behalf. If your parent lodges an application, they lodge it themselves, and they carry the responsibility for what is in it.

Who should not do this alone

Doing a parent visa yourself is realistic for a straightforward case where the facts are clean and nobody is in a hurry. It is a poor idea, and sometimes a dangerous one, in the following situations. If any of these describe your family, treat this kit as background reading and get a registered migration agent involved before you lodge anything.

• Your parent has any criminal history, anywhere, or anything that might raise a character concern.
• Your parent has a significant health condition, or is likely to develop one, that could fail the health requirement (this is a common cause of parent visa refusals, and health is assessed at the end of the wait, not the start).
• The balance of family test is close, contested or complicated by step-children, estranged children, adopted children or children who move between countries. See 02 The Balance of Family Test.
• Your parent is onshore and their current visa is close to expiring. Timing here is unforgiving, and a missed date can leave a person unlawful. This is not a place to learn on the job.
• There has been a prior visa refusal or visa cancellation for anyone involved.
• The family structure is unusual: blended families, guardianship arrangements, unregistered relationships, or documents that do not agree with each other.

None of that means your case is hopeless. It means the stakes and the complexity are high enough that professional representation is worth it, and the kit alone is not the right tool.

The honest reality, up front

We would rather lose the sale than have you misunderstand this, so here it is plainly.

Parent visas are slow and they are expensive. There is no fast, cheap parent visa. The choice, broadly, is between paying a large contribution to wait years, or paying very little to wait decades. Both waits are long. See the Current Fees and Figures page for the current indicative processing times and charges, and read 01 The Parent Visa Landscape before you form any view about which pathway suits your family.

Three facts shape everything:

• The contributory pathways cost a great deal per parent, and couples pay per person. See the Current Fees and Figures page.
• The non-contributory pathways cost little to lodge but the wait is measured in decades. See the Current Fees and Figures page.
• A sponsor and an assurer take on real, long-lasting financial obligations, including an assurance of support. Understand those before anyone pays anything.

If, having read that, you still want to proceed, good. Knowing the shape of the thing is exactly what makes a do-it-yourself application safe to attempt.

How to use this kit

1. Read 01 The Parent Visa Landscape to see the six permanent subclasses and the temporary steps, and to find the pathways that might fit your family.
2. Read 02 The Balance of Family Test early. It is the gate every parent visa must pass, and if your family does not meet it, no other chapter matters yet.
3. Read the chapter for the specific subclass you are considering. Each one covers eligibility, the process, the risks, the common mistakes, and what to have ready.
4. Use the document tracker and templates to start gathering evidence now. Parent visa applications involve dozens of documents across several people, sometimes over years, and the families who cope best are the ones who started early and stayed organised.
5. Check the Current Fees and Figures page whenever you need a number, and confirm it against the Home Affairs and Services Australia websites before anyone relies on it.

Take your time. Nothing about a parent visa rewards rushing, except lodging an onshore application before a current visa expires. Everywhere else, careful beats fast.

Related

• 01 The Parent Visa Landscape
• 02 The Balance of Family Test
• Current Fees and Figures