The long awaited Temporary Sponsored Parent visa now due in 2019

The long awaited Temporary Sponsored Parent visa will allow visits of up to 5 years, even for parents who do not meet the Balance of Family test.

The new visa is expected to be available to both parents and grandparents of Australian residents and Australian citizens.

This week the Australian Government passed the Family Violence and Other Measures Bill. It is the first step towards the new visa. While it doesn’t create the new visa option yet, it creates a legal framework within which the new visa will exist. It creates laws allowing the Australian Government to recover various expenses from sponsors, for example medical costs incurred by a sponsored person in Australia. It also enables the Australian Government to sanction sponsors who do not comply with the rules.

The new Temporary Sponsored Parent visa was originally going to be implemented in 2018, now it is expected to be available in early to mid 2019.

A recent press release is here:

https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/davidcoleman/Pages/government-delivers-new-temporary-sponsored-parent-visa-despite-labor-opposition.aspx