When Do I Need to Provide an Assurance of Support for Subclass 103 in 2026?

Plain-language guide · general information, not immigration advice

You do not lodge an Assurance of Support (AoS) with your Parent visa (subclass 103) application. You provide it later, after the Department of Home Affairs asks for it. As of July 2026, the Australian Department of Home Affairs Parent visa (Subclass 103) official page states plainly: "We will let you know when you need to provide the Assurance of Support." What the visa demands at the eligibility stage is narrower — that you are able to obtain one.

That distinction catches a lot of applicants out. The ability to obtain an AoS is a criterion you must satisfy to be eligible. Handing over the actual assurance is a later, department-triggered step. Two different obligations, separated by years in most cases.

What an Assurance of Support actually promises

The AoS guarantees 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.

Read that carefully, because it is narrower than most people assume. The assurance is a promise made to the government about public support — not a promise by the assurer to pay your rent, your groceries, or your daily living costs. Your child can sponsor you, give you a place to live, and still not be the person who signs the assurance.

So when does the request arrive?

The subclass 103 process runs in a peculiar order compared with most permanent visas. Parent visa applications are subject to capping and queueing, and they are processed in the order they are received. Demand for Parent visas exceeds the number of places available each year, which is why processing times are long.

The Department describes assessment in two stages:

An initial assessment to check eligibility, which either adds the application to the queue or refuses it.
As places become available, applications are released from the queue for final assessment.

The AoS request belongs to the second half of that sequence. The document checklist itself uses conditional wording — "When we ask for it, provide us with an Assurance of Support." Compare that with the documents that genuinely must accompany the application: identity documents, the sponsor's completed Form 40 Sponsorship for migration to Australia, balance of family evidence, and passport-sized photographs. The AoS is not in that group.

There is also no point trying to chase the timing. The Department states it cannot provide updates on an application's progress within normal processing times, and that it will let applicants know if anything more is needed. For queue position, the Department publishes Parent visa queue release dates.

What else waits for the Department's request?

The AoS is not the only item on the "later" track. The same official pages put several steps on a request basis:

Health examinations — the Department will tell you when these need to be completed.
Biometrics — the Department may ask for fingerprints and photos.
The second visa instalment — this must be paid before the visa can be granted. The Department sends an invoice when it is due, and states it will refuse the application if the invoice is not paid.

For context, this visa costs from AUD 8,665 for a single applicant, paid in two instalments: the first when you apply, the second when asked. Grouping these together is useful because they all cluster near the end of the process rather than at lodgement — the published pages do not set out a fixed order among them, and each arrives on the Department's request.

Who can provide the assurance?

The official page is explicit and slightly counterintuitive here: "The sponsor or a family member does not need to provide An Assurance of Support. An individual, more than one person, or an organisation can provide it."

So sponsorship and the assurance are separate roles:

Role	What it involves	Who
Sponsor	Completes Form 40; the sponsorship must be approved	Usually an eligible child, or if the child is under 18, an eligible relative or community organisation
Assurer	Gives the Assurance of Support	One person, several people together, or an organisation

One person can occupy both roles, but they do not have to. Keeping them distinct matters when the obvious sponsor — say, a child who has just started a family or bought a house — is not in a position to give the assurance.

The visa page does not set out the assurer's own eligibility test or financial threshold. That detail sits with the Services Australia material on Assurances of Support, which the Department links to from the visa page.

Who is exempt from the Assurance of Support?

Applicants who apply under the Retirement visa pathway do not need an AoS at all. They also do not need a sponsor or the balance of family test.

That pathway applies if, on 8 May 2018, you held or had previously held an Investor Retirement (subclass 405) or Retirement (subclass 410) visa, you have not held any other substantive visa between 8 May 2018 and the date you applied for the Parent visa, and you are in Australia.

Retiree applicants take on a different obligation instead: they are personally liable for all their healthcare costs in Australia while the visa is processed, and must maintain adequate health insurance until the Parent visa is granted.

What can usefully be done before the request arrives

Not much needs to be lodged early, and nothing is gained by guessing. A few things are still worth having straight:

Keep your contact details current. Phone number, email, address, passport, relationship status and family composition all have to be reported if they change, and the Department may contact you directly even if you have nominated a sponsor's email or appointed an authorised recipient.
Think about who could realistically act as assurer. Since one person, several people, or an organisation can provide it, the options are usually wider than families expect.
Do not arrange to move to Australia permanently until the visa is granted in writing, and note that the second instalment invoice follows the grant-side of the process rather than the lodgement side.

Visa rules, charges and processing arrangements change, and how they land depends on your own family and financial circumstances. Treat the above as general information about how the published process is structured, not as advice on your individual case — check the official pages, or speak to a registered migration agent or legal practitioner, before acting on it.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to submit the Assurance of Support with my subclass 103 application?

No. The Department of Home Affairs states it will let you know when you need to provide the Assurance of Support. What the eligibility criteria require is that you are able to obtain one, not that you lodge it at the same time as your application.

Who can give the Assurance of Support?

An individual, more than one person, or an organisation can provide it. The sponsor or a family member is not required to be the assurer, so the person sponsoring your visa and the person giving the assurance can be different.

Does the Assurance of Support cover my family members?

Yes. The assurance is for you and any family members who come to Australia with you on this visa. It guarantees you will not need to rely on government assistance during the Assurance of Support period.

Do retiree applicants need an Assurance of Support?

No. If you apply under the Retirement visa pathway, you do not need an Assurance of Support, a sponsor, or the balance of family test. You do need to maintain adequate health insurance until the visa is granted, and you are personally liable for your healthcare costs while it is processed.

Is the Assurance of Support the same thing as the second instalment?

No. The second instalment is part of the visa application charge, paid after the Department sends an invoice and before the visa is granted. The Assurance of Support is a separate guarantee to the government about reliance on government assistance. Both, however, sit on the later, request-driven side of the process.

Can providing the Assurance of Support early move me up the queue?

No. Parent visa applications are subject to capping and queueing and are processed in the order they are received. The AoS is a criterion that must be satisfied, not a way to bring a decision forward.

What happens if I cannot obtain an Assurance of Support?

Being able to obtain one is a published eligibility criterion for this visa, so an application cannot be granted while that criterion is unmet. The Department determines when the assurance is needed and will tell you at that point.