Family Visas face long queue

The Australian Government announced the number of non-Contributory Parent visas available for the year 1st July 2016 to 30th June 2017 under subclasses 103 (Parent) and 804 (Aged Parent) will be 1550. This is an increase of 50 places in the quota compared to the previous year.

In comparison, quota for Contributory Parent visas under subclasses 173 and 143 and subclasses 884 and 864 remains at 7175.

The Australian Government has also allocated 520 places for “Other Family” visa applicants. “Other Family” visas, they include:

Subclass 114 – Aged Dependent Relative visa This is a permanent visa for parents who meet age requirements to migrate to Australia if they rely on an eligible relative in Australia to provide financial support. The application must be lodged outside Australia and the applicant must be outside of Australia when the visa is granted.

Subclass 115 – Remaining Relative visa This is a permanent visa for parents who want to live in Australia to be with their only near relatives. The application must be lodged outside Australia and the applicant must be outside of Australia when the visa is granted.

Subclass 116 – Carer visa This is a permanent visa for persons who want to live in Australia to provide substantial and continuing care for a relative who has a long-term medical condition, or help a relative who needs permanent or long-term support to help them care for a member of their family with long-term medical condition.

Given the places available and queuing arrangements for non-contributory parent visas and other family visa categories, applicants face extremely long processing times under these categories.

Based on current planning levels, applicants for a Parent (non-contributory) visa can expect an approximate 30 year wait before visa grant consideration after being allocated a queue date.

Based on current planning levels and the allocation of the majority of the Other Family places to the Carer visa category, it is currently estimated that Remaining Relative and Aged Dependent Relative visa applications that were lodged in 2014 and meet the criteria to be queued are likely to take approximately 50 years to be released for final processing