Parent Visa Changes reversed reducing financial pressure on sponsors
The Government has decided to reverse legislative changes introduced on 1 April that effectively doubled the income requirements for sponsors wishing to migrate their mother or father on a Parent Visa.
The changes were introduced as a legislative instrument change which took effect immediately and didn’t require a bill to pass through parliament to become law. However, they were only implemented for a number of weeks before the Government decided to reverse the changes following pressure from the opposition and crossbench.
Migrant communities also heavily petitioned to reverse the changes – not only because of the steep change in income requirements, but because the new requirements were introduced as a legislative instrument change, meaning there was no requirement to notify affected applicants before coming into effect. According to SBS News, the changes would have impacted tens of thousands of migrants on Australia’s waiting list for a Parent Visa.
Sheila Woods, Registered Migration Agent at Immigracious, believes sponsors who were unable to meet the new income requirements would have been ineligible to proceed with the parent visa application. She explains, “Parent visa sponsors need to notify Centrelink of their income by completing an Assurance of Support to show they are earning a sufficient level of income to support themselves and the visa applicant without depending on welfare.”
Sheila added, “Usually one of the last steps of the parent visa process is for the sponsor to send through their Assurance of Support paperwork, so the change would have made some people ineligible to sponsor their parents due to their income, despite being on the waitlist for years in some cases. It’s great to hear the decision was revisited.”
Find out if you are eligible to sponsor your parent(s) to migrate to Australia
Australia has a number of parent visa options which may be available to you. If you are interested in sponsoring your parents to migrate to Australia we encourage you to seek professional advice on your options.
At Immigracious we offer a free assessment to permanent residents wishing to sponsor their parents – contact hello@immigracious.com.au or call +61 (8) 6185 2770 to speak to a migration agent.
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