Australian government has announced a new visa for migrants' parents.
Here are the seven must know facts about the new long stay visa for parents.
- 3-year-visa will cost $5000, a 5-year-visa will cost $10,000 and a 10-year-visa will cost $20,000, with the opportunity of a single renewal for another five years at the same price.
- 15,000 people each year will be granted this long stay parent visa.
- Children/Sponsors will be required to pay for their parents' private health insurance. The children will also need to act as financial guarantor on any extra healthcare costs their parents rack up in Australia.
- Those on the new visa will not be allowed to work, however, the government hopes they will take on family roles which would see “reduced pressure on childcare facilities.”
- Those sponsoring their parents for the new visa need to be Australian citizens or permanent residents, or “eligible New Zealand citizens”.
- The visa-holders would not be allowed to reapply beyond the 10 years and would have no pathway to permanent residency.
- The government plans to roll out the new visa from November if it passes parliament.
The government plans to officially announce the visa along with the Budget next week, making good on an election promise from the 2016 campaign.
The change follows months of community consultation and is a response to calls from migrant communities who have been pressuring the government for reform to parent visas, arguing that the current system is complex and prone to long delay.
Parent visas are currently split across several visa streams, including the Aged Parent visa, the Contributory Parent (Temporary) and the permanent Contributory Parent visa.
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