What Are All the Requirements for the Australia Parent Visa 103 in 2026?

Plain-language guide · general information, not immigration advice

To apply for the Parent visa (subclass 103) in 2026, you must meet every one of these unless you qualify to apply as a retiree, which removes three of them: you have not applied for or do not hold a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) (subclass 870) visa, you have an eligible child who is a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen, you have an approved eligible sponsor, you pass the balance of family test, you can obtain an Assurance of Support, you and the family members applying with you meet the health and character requirements, any debt to the Australian Government has been repaid or is covered by an approved arrangement, your immigration history does not rule you out, and — if you are 18 or over — you have signed the Australian Values Statement. These are the criteria listed on the Australian Department of Home Affairs Parent visa (Subclass 103) page, except that applicants who qualify under the retiree pathway do not need a sponsor, an Assurance of Support or the balance of family test.

Who has to be your child for this visa to be an option?

The visa is built around one relationship: you are the parent of an eligible child. On the official page, an eligible child is a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen. If your link to Australia runs through some other relative — a sibling, a niece, a grandchild — this is not the visa that carries them, and no amount of documentation changes that.

The common sticking point is the word "settled". Parents often assume that a child holding permanent residence automatically qualifies, without checking whether the child has actually settled in Australia. It is worth confirming your child's status before you plan anything else, because every later requirement — sponsorship, the balance of family test, the Assurance of Support — sits on top of this one.

How does the balance of family test actually count your children?

You pass the test in one of two ways, and you only need one.

Route	What you count	What it means in practice
Half rule	All of your children and step-children	At least half of them must be eligible children
Majority-in-Australia rule	Where your eligible children live	More eligible children live in Australia than in any other single country

Two details catch people out. First, step-children are counted, so a blended family can change the arithmetic in either direction. Second, the second route is about the country where eligible children live, not their citizenship — a child who holds Australian citizenship but lives elsewhere counts toward that other country for this test.

If your eligible children are thinly spread across several countries, the first route is usually the one to work through first.

Who can sponsor you, and when is no sponsor needed?

You must have an eligible sponsor, and the Department of Home Affairs must approve the sponsorship. Usually the sponsor is your eligible child. If that child is under 18, an eligible relative or a community organisation can sponsor instead.

Sponsorship is a separate approval from the visa itself, which is the part families underestimate: the sponsorship has to be approved on its own terms, and problems there sit upstream of everything the visa assessment looks at.

What is an Assurance of Support promising?

An Assurance of Support is a guarantee to the Australian Government that you will not need to rely on government assistance after you enter Australia on this visa, for the Assurance of Support period. It covers you and any family members who come to Australia with you on this visa.

Three things make it less intimidating than it sounds. The Department tells you when you need to provide it — it is not a document you must assemble before applying. Your sponsor does not have to be the one who provides it; it can be an individual, more than one person, or an organisation. And a family member is not required to provide it either.

Do health and character checks reach family members who are not migrating?

Yes, potentially. You and any family members applying with you must meet the health requirement and the character requirement, and the Department may also ask non-migrating family members to meet them.

Separately, your application form must list details of all your family members, even those who are not coming to Australia. Omitting someone is not a neutral act — it is one of the things that makes an application take longer to process, or fail.

Which problems can end an application before it is assessed?

Several criteria operate as hard stops rather than as boxes to tick:

You have applied for or hold a subclass 870 visa. You cannot apply for subclass 103 in that situation.
A debt to the Australian Government. If you or any family member owes the Australian Government money, it must be repaid, or there must be an approved arrangement to repay it.
A cancelled visa or refused application. Your immigration history is considered, and you might not be eligible. Some circumstances still allow a permanent visa application, and applicants outside Australia also need to consider whether a re-entry ban period applies.
Best interests of the child. The visa will not be granted if granting it would not be in the best interests of an applicant under 18.
The Australian Values Statement. If you are 18 or older, you must have read, or had explained to you, the Life in Australia booklet, and sign the statement confirming you will respect the Australian way of life and obey Australian laws.

This is general information about published criteria rather than advice on any individual's circumstances; where a cancellation, a refusal or an outstanding debt is involved, the official pages and a professional assessment of your own record are what should shape your next step.

Does the retiree pathway remove some of these requirements?

It removes three of the biggest ones. If you apply as a retiree, you do not need to meet the balance of family test, you do not need an Assurance of Support, and you do not need a sponsor.

To qualify for that pathway you must have held, or previously held, an Investor Retirement (subclass 405) or Retirement (subclass 410) visa on 8 May 2018, have held no other substantive visa between 8 May 2018 and the date you apply, and be in Australia when you apply.

What replaces those exemptions is a healthcare condition: as a retiree applicant you are personally liable for all your healthcare costs in Australia while the visa is processed, and you must maintain adequate health insurance — covering medically necessary treatment including transport — until the visa is granted. Reciprocal healthcare agreements between Australia and some countries may be relevant to how you arrange that cover. Retiree applicants can include a partner who also holds a Retirement or Investor Retirement visa, but cannot include children.

Where must you be when you apply, and what does it cost?

You and any family members applying with you can be in or outside Australia when you apply, but not in immigration clearance. Retiree applicants must be in Australia (and not in immigration clearance) when applying, though the decision can be made while they are in or outside Australia.

The visa costs from AUD 8,665 for a single applicant, with additional charges for each family member who applies with you. It is paid in two instalments — the first when you apply, the second when the Department asks for it. Budget separately for related costs such as health checks, police certificates and biometrics.

From 1 July 2026, a lower visa cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application, recognised through a valid passport from a specified country. Family members are also eligible for the lower cost, based on the primary applicant's passport.

What happens after you lodge, and what if waiting is the problem?

Demand for Parent visas exceeds the places available each year, so subclass 103 applications are subject to capping and queueing and are processed in the order they are received. Assessment runs in two stages: an initial assessment that either adds the application to the queue or refuses it, then a final assessment as places become available.

Applications take longer when they are incomplete, missing documents, or slow to verify — and the Department can only process an application if the correct visa application charge has been paid. Do not arrange to stay permanently in Australia until the visa is granted, and note that once granted you must enter Australia before the date in your grant letter.

If the wait matters more than the cost, the official page points to the contributory options: the Contributory Parent visa (subclass 143), which may be processed faster but costs more; the two-stage Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 173) followed by subclass 143, which is faster and spreads the cost across both visas but costs more overall than applying directly for the 143; and the temporary subclass 870, which allows stays of up to 3 or 5 years at a time for a maximum total of 10 years.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I apply for subclass 103 if I have already applied for a subclass 870 visa?

No. You cannot apply for this visa if you have already applied for or hold a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) (subclass 870) visa. The two are treated as alternative routes rather than as something you can hold in parallel.

Does my sponsor have to be my child?

Usually yes — an eligible child sponsors a parent. But if that child is under 18, an eligible relative or a community organisation can sponsor you instead, and the sponsorship must be approved by the Department of Home Affairs.

Can someone other than my sponsor provide the Assurance of Support?

Yes. An Assurance of Support can be given by an individual, by more than one person, or by an organisation, and neither the sponsor nor a family member is required to provide it. The Department will tell you when it needs to be provided.

Do family members who are staying behind still need checks?

They might. You and the family members applying with you must meet the health and character requirements, and the Department may also ask non-migrating family members to meet them. Details of all family members must appear in the application even if they are not migrating.

Is an old visa cancellation an automatic refusal?

Not automatic, but it is decisive in many cases: the Department considers your immigration history and you might not be eligible. Some circumstances still allow a permanent visa application, so the specifics of what was cancelled or refused matter.

How much does the Parent visa (subclass 103) cost?

From AUD 8,665 for a single applicant, paid in two instalments, with additional charges for each family member who applies with you. Health checks, police certificates and biometrics are separate related costs.

How long does a subclass 103 application take?

The official page does not give a fixed timeframe. It states that demand exceeds the annual places available, that applications are capped and queued and processed in order of receipt, and that incomplete applications or slow verification make the wait longer.