Once your parents reach a certain age, the conversation changes. A three week holiday in December stops feeling like enough, and families start asking a harder question: what is the right way to have them here for years rather than weeks?
Australia offers several answers, and they suit very different situations. Here is an honest comparison of the three routes most families end up choosing between.
Option one: the long stay visitor visa
The Visitor visa is the simplest place to start. Parents of Australian citizens and permanent residents can often obtain a multiple entry visa valid for several years, allowing stays of up to three, six or twelve months at a time depending on what is granted.
It suits families who want flexibility, whose parents still have a life and a home overseas, and who are not ready to commit thousands of dollars to a longer term solution.
The limits are real. Stay periods are capped per visit, condition 8503 (no further stay) may be imposed, and repeated long stays can attract scrutiny. Health cover is strongly recommended and health requirements may apply for longer stays. Grants are discretionary, and a parent who spends most of the year in Australia may find their genuine visitor status questioned.
Cost is modest by comparison with the other options, but repeated applications and repeated flights add up.
Option two: the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa, subclass 870
This visa was designed for exactly the gap the visitor visa leaves. It allows a parent to stay continuously for up to three or five years at a time, with a maximum of ten years across successive grants.
It suits families where the parent wants extended, uninterrupted time in Australia, where the Australian child can meet an income test and take on financial obligations, and where permanent residence is either unrealistic or too far away to wait for.
The requirements involve two stages. The Australian child must first be approved as a sponsor, which carries its own application and its own income test based on taxable income for the last completed income year. Only once that approval issues can the parent lodge, and they must generally do so within six months.
The advantages are significant. There is no balance of family test, so it does not matter how many siblings live overseas. There is no requirement to leave and re-enter. And the visa can be held while a permanent parent visa application waits in the queue.
The trade offs are just as clear. The 870 does not permit work and does not lead to permanent residence. Parents cannot access Medicare in the normal way and must hold adequate health insurance for the entire stay under condition 8501. The visa application charge is substantial, at roughly AUD 6,370 for a three year visa and about AUD 12,440 for a five year visa as at July 2026, paid in two instalments and typically indexed each July. The sponsor is also liable for outstanding public health costs.
Families weighing whether this fits their circumstances often start by getting advice on the sponsorship stage, since firms handling visa 870 applications will look at income timing and health cover costs before recommending a three or five year option.
Option three: permanent parent visas
The permanent options split into two broad groups.
Non contributory parent visas, such as the subclass 103 (offshore) and 804 (aged parent, onshore), have relatively modest application charges but extremely long queues. Waiting times of many years are the norm, and for many applicants the practical reality is that a decision may not arrive within a useful timeframe.
Contributory parent visas, such as the subclass 143 and 173 offshore and 864 and 884 onshore, move faster but cost far more. The second instalment is the largest component and reflects the expected cost to the health and welfare system. Families frequently need to plan for a payment well into five figures per applicant.
All permanent parent visas require the balance of family test. In simple terms, at least half of the parent’s children must live permanently in Australia, or more of their children must live in Australia than in any other single country. This single requirement rules out a large number of families, particularly where siblings are spread across several countries.
What you get is the payoff. Permanent residence brings Medicare access, work rights, the ability to sponsor other family members over time and eventually a pathway to citizenship. For a parent who will spend the rest of their life in Australia, nothing else compares.
Comparing the three at a glance
Length of stay. Visitor visa: months at a time. 870: three or five years at a time, ten years maximum. Permanent: indefinite.
Balance of family test. Visitor: no. 870: no. Permanent: yes.
Medicare. Visitor: no. 870: no, private health cover required. Permanent: yes.
Work rights. Visitor: no. 870: no. Permanent: yes.
Upfront cost. Visitor: low. 870: moderate to high. Contributory permanent: high.
Waiting time. Visitor: short. 870: sponsorship plus visa processing. Non contributory permanent: very long.
Questions that usually decide it
Where is home for your parent? Someone who still has a spouse, a house, medical continuity and a social life overseas may be much happier with long visits than with a five year stay.
Can you meet the income test? If not, the 870 is unavailable regardless of how well it would otherwise fit, and the choice narrows to visitor visas or permanent options.
Does the balance of family test work for you? If it does, and the family can afford a contributory visa, the permanent route may be worth the cost. If it does not, permanent parent visas are effectively closed and the 870 becomes the main long stay option.
What is your parent’s health picture? Health insurance for an older applicant across five years is a serious cost, and health requirements apply to permanent applications in a much stricter way. This deserves early attention, not a look at the end.
What happens in ten years? The 870 is capped. Families who use it as a bridge should be clear about what the bridge leads to.
A common combined strategy
Many families do not pick one option. A frequent pattern is to lodge a permanent parent visa application to secure a place in the queue, then use visitor visas or an 870 to keep the parent in Australia while that application progresses. This works, but it means running two processes with different rules, different costs and different obligations at the same time.
The practical takeaway
There is no single best parent visa, only the one that fits your family’s finances, your parent’s health and the shape of your extended family. The most common mistake is choosing based on cost alone and discovering the health insurance, the balance of family test or the income requirement later.
Map out the whole ten year picture before you spend anything. The right answer usually becomes obvious once you do.
