The new parent visa is designed to provide an alternative to the existing permanent visa options for parents of migrants. The applications opened on Wednesday 17 April, but many are critical of the terms and conditions.
A long-term campaigner for extended parent visas, Arvind Duggal, says migrant communities deserve fairer terms.
"Under the current visitor visa, the parents are already allowed to live with us for 2 years and they are coming and visiting this country many years, getting a three-year visas in which that visa they can stay 2 years and they are only paying $140 as a visa fee. Under the new visa, they have to pay $5,000 for staying one year extra, so they are only getting one year extra compared to the previous visa. This visa is not going to be a burden on Australian tax-payers so the government doesn't need to put this hard terms and conditions. The government is trying to make money from grandparents visiting their kids, which is un-Australian and unethical."
We asked our audience what they thought of the new visa and its conditions. Click on the audio player to listen to the talkback.
