Sponsored Parent (Temporary) Visa
A fundamentally different option to the permanent pathways above — the 870 doesn’t lead to permanent residence, but it’s the only parent visa that doesn’t require the Balance of Family Test. It allows a parent to stay in Australia for an extended period, and is often used as a practical bridge while a permanent application sits in a contributory or non-contributory queue.
Who can apply
- Your parent is sponsored by their child, who must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen who has lived lawfully in Australia for at least four years
- Your sponsoring child is approved as a sponsor and meets the relevant income threshold
- Your parent meets health and character requirements
- Your parent holds private health insurance for the duration of their stay
- Your parent isn’t required to pass the Balance of Family Test for this visa
No Balance of Family Test — but no path to PR either
This is the visa’s key trade-off: if more than half your parent’s children live outside Australia — which would otherwise block the permanent pathways — the 870 is unaffected, since it skips the Balance of Family Test entirely. In exchange, it never converts to permanent residence on its own, and carries no work rights.
Worth knowing if Condition 8503 affects your parent’s visitor visa: the 870 is generally lodged by the parent from outside Australia, so a parent already in Australia can’t usually switch to it onshore. Where 8503 stops an onshore application for the Aged Parent (804) or Contributory Aged Parent (864), the realistic alternatives are visas lodged from overseas, such as the 870 or the Contributory Parent (143/173) — we check your parent’s specific visa conditions and options with you before anything is lodged.
What’s involved
- Sponsorship application lodged by your child through ImmiAccount before the parent applies
- Choice of a 3-year or 5-year stay period, up to a 10-year cumulative maximum
- Evidence of private health insurance arranged for the full stay
- Health and character checks for your parent
A parent can hold this while waiting on a 143
A parent can generally apply for an 870 while a Contributory Parent (143) application is pending — meaning they can spend extended time in Australia with your family while the permanent application works its way through the queue. The rules about holding more than one parent visa application are specific, and the order of lodgement can matter, so we confirm the sequence with you before anything is lodged. For many families it’s a practical combination that avoids years of separation.