A new Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 870)has been created.

Applications for the new visa will open on 1 July 2019.

This visa allows biological parents, adoptive parents, step-parents or parents-in-law of an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen to visit Australia for periods of 3 or 5 years at a time, but with a maximum combined period of 10 years.

Applications for the new visa can only be made outside Australia and online through ImmiAccount.

An applicant must be sponsored by an ‘approved parent sponsor’.

The application must be lodged within 6 months of approval of the applicant’s sponsor as an approved parent sponsor. The criteria for an approved parent sponsor is set out in Division 2.13A – Criteria for approval of family sponsor, of the Migration Regulations 1994.

The sponsored parent visa will only be granted to maximum of 15,000 applicants each year.

Because of the advance warning regarding the commencement date for the new visa, practitioners might expect to commence receiving enquiries about it now, so the commentary in the By Lawyers Immigration guide has been updated accordingly. The expected average processing times for the new sponsored parent visa are currently unknown.