Parent Visa Cost in Australia 2026: Every Subclass, Instalment and Bond

A parent visa in Australia costs $8,665 in visa application charges for one applicant on the Parent (subclass 103) or Aged Parent (subclass 804) visa, and $49,900 on the Contributory Parent (subclass 143) or Contributory Aged Parent (subclass 864) visa lodged directly, before any concession. Those charges have applied since 1 July 2026 and are paid in two instalments.

These are large sums, and for a couple the contributory figures nearly double. The much cheaper Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 870) does not lead to permanent residence. Every figure below comes from Schedule 1 of the Migration Regulations 1994, the Department’s own pages or, for the bond, Services Australia. For other visas, our guide to Australian visa fees in 2026 covers the wider changes.

What each parent visa costs from 1 July 2026

Every parent visa charge is a visa application charge set by Schedule 1. Regulation 2.12C of the Migration Regulations splits it into a first instalment, “payable when the application is made”, and a second instalment, “payable before the grant of the visa”. For the contributory visas, most of the money sits in that second instalment.

Source: Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 1 items 1124, 1124A, 1130, 1130A, 1221, 1221A and 1239, compilation in force from 2 October 2026; checked against the Department’s current visa pricing table, updated 1 July 2026. Pacific Island and Timor-Leste concessions are not shown.

The Department’s visa pages give the same totals. The Contributory Parent visa page says the visa “costs from AUD49,900 for a single applicant”, and the Parent and Aged Parent pages both say “from AUD8,665”.

Two details in the law surprise people. The 884 first instalment ($6,300) is higher than the 173’s ($4,245), although their second instalments are identical. And the 870 has no family member charges at all: Schedule 1 requires that “The applicant is at least 18”, and the Department’s pricing table notes “Additional applicants are not eligible for this visa.”

Eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens pay less. In the Department’s words, “From 1 July 2026, a lower visa cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid visa application.”

Adding a partner or child to the application

Each person included in a permanent or contributory parent application pays their own charge. A partner or other adult pays the additional applicant charge at lodgement. Then, for the contributory visas, each adult pays the full second instalment before grant. That is the number that changes most when a couple apply together.

Source: Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 1 items 1124, 1124A, 1130, 1130A, 1221 and 1221A, in force from 2 October 2026. “Child” means a dependent child under 18 at the time of application. For the 103 and 804, the Department’s pricing table says the second instalment is “for each person included on the application”.

Here is how that adds up. A couple lodging a Contributory Parent (143) application directly pays $6,300 plus $2,125 at lodgement, then $43,600 each before grant: $95,625 in total. The same couple on the Contributory Aged Parent (864) pays $96,645, because the 864’s extra adult charge is $3,145 rather than $2,125.

Staged or direct: the 173 to 143 and 884 to 864 routes

The contributory visas can be reached in one step or two. The two-step route starts with the Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 173) or the Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 884). Both are two-year visas that cannot be extended, and the permanent 143 or 864 is a separate application made later.

The Department’s Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa page is candid about the trade-off. The staged route “costs more than applying directly for the Contributory Parent visa (subclass 143), however, the cost is spread across the 2 visas over a longer period.”

Source: our calculations from Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 1 items 1130, 1130A, 1221 and 1221A, in force from 2 October 2026. Couple figures assume two adults, no children, no concessions, and that both hold the 173 or 884 when the permanent application is lodged.

The lower stage-two price depends on timing. Schedule 1 charges $555 and $19,420 if, when you lodge the 143, you hold the 173, or “held a Subclass 173 (Contributory Parent (Temporary)) visa at any time in the 28 days immediately before making the application”, or held a 173 and now hold a substituted Subclass 600 visa. Miss all of those and the 143 is charged at the full $49,900, unless you give the Minister evidence that “compassionate and compelling circumstances” exist and the Minister is satisfied of them, in which case it is $4,040 at lodgement and $17,575 before grant. The 884 to 864 timing rules mirror these, although the compassionate-circumstances amounts differ.

Our Contributory Parent visa (subclass 143) guide covers eligibility for the permanent visa itself.

The Assurance of Support bond

Outside the retiree pathway, the permanent parent visas need an Assurance of Support (AoS): a legal promise to support the parent financially so they do not need income support during the assurance period, and to repay any recoverable payments they do receive. It is backed by a bond. For the 103, clause 103.226 of Schedule 2 requires that “The Minister is satisfied that an assurance of support in relation to the applicant has been accepted by the Secretary of Social Services”, and clause 143.228 says the same for the 143. The 173 and 884 criteria contain no such requirement, so on the staged route the AoS comes at the permanent stage.

Source: Services Australia, bank guarantee and term deposit for an Assurance of Support (updated 22 July 2026), how long an Assurance of Support lasts (updated 4 March 2026) and how an Assurance of Support works (updated 22 July 2026). Amounts are for an individual assurer; an organisation guarantees $10,000 for a 4-year assurance and $20,000 for a 10-year one.

The person giving the AoS does not have to be the sponsor. The Department’s visa pages say: “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.”

The bond is lodged as a bank guarantee backed by a Commonwealth Bank term deposit, and Services Australia says “You must not arrange a bank guarantee and term deposit until requested to do so in writing from us.” The Department’s Assurance of Support page calls it “a refundable bond”. When the assurance period ends, the assurer can ask Services Australia to release the bank guarantee. If the parent received recoverable income support during the period, that amount is taken from the term deposit first, and anything beyond it can be pursued under the Social Security Act 1991.

It is also a long commitment. Services Australia says the assurer cannot cancel once the visa is granted, “even if” the assuree “becomes an Australian citizen” or “your relationship breaks down”.

The Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (870): what each side pays

The 870 works differently. The sponsor (the parent’s child, or the child’s partner) applies first to be approved as a parent sponsor, and the Department’s Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa page puts that cost plainly: “The sponsorship application fee is AUD420.00.” It is not refunded if the sponsorship application is withdrawn. The sponsor must also pass an income test, which the same page sets at taxable income of “at least equal to, or greater than AUD83,454.80” for the most recent completed income year. A sponsor who combines income with their partner or another of the parent’s children must still have taxable income of “at least 50 per cent of the taxable income amount specified”.

The parent then pays $1,515 at lodgement and a second instalment that depends on the visa period. Schedule 1 charges $4,855 if the visa’s end date “will not be more than 3 years after the day the visa is granted”, and $10,925 in all other cases. A single 870 cannot run past five years, and total time on 870 visas is capped at 10 years.

There are running costs too. The parent “must have and maintain adequate arrangements for health insurance from an Australian Health Insurance provider”, and the sponsor agrees to “pay back all outstanding public health debts incurred by the sponsored parent in Australia”, an obligation that survives the parent leaving. Our Subclass 870 visa guide walks through sponsor approval in more detail.

Costs you might not expect

• Health checks, police certificates and biometrics. The Department’s Parent visa page says “You might also need to pay related costs for each applicant for health checks, police certificates and biometrics.” These sit outside the visa application charge.
• The second adult. On a 143 or 864 lodged directly, a partner pays the full $43,600 second instalment too: $87,200 for a couple.
• Letting the 173 or 884 lapse. More than 28 days, without another exception, means the full $49,900 rate.
• An 870 can block a permanent application. Schedule 1 requires that an applicant for a permanent or contributory parent visa “does not hold a Subclass 870 (Sponsored Parent (Temporary)) visa” and, if they held one, “has left Australia since that visa ceased to be in effect”.
• Switching from a 103. The Department says that if you switch to a contributory visa, “we will take the date you originally applied for a subclass 103 visa into account for your new application”, and that switching “will not disadvantage you”. The contributory charges then apply. Only applicants who lodged a 103 before 27 June 2003 and withdraw it when applying get a nil first instalment under Schedule 1.

If an application is withdrawn, refused or ends early: what comes back

Regulations 2.12F, 2.12G and 2.12H set the refund rules. The first instalment is refunded only in the circumstances regulation 2.12F lists, such as an application “made because of a mistake made by Immigration” or where “the applicant dies before a decision is made on the application”, or circumstances the Minister specifies in an instrument. A refusal is not one of the listed circumstances.

The second instalment is treated more kindly. Regulation 2.12G says an applicant “is not liable to pay the second instalment” if they withdraw before paying it or if the application is refused. That matters for parent visas, because the second instalment is invoiced before grant rather than at lodgement: “You must pay the second instalment before we will grant the visa. We will send you an invoice when it is due.”

Source: Migration Regulations 1994, regulations 2.12F, 2.12G and 2.12H, in force from 2 October 2026.

When it is worth getting legal advice

The charges themselves are fixed. What can go wrong is the order and timing, and with sums this large a small error may cost tens of thousands of dollars. Advice may be worth it if:

• a 173 or 884 is nearing its end and the permanent application has not been lodged
• your parent holds, or recently held, an 870 and you are weighing a permanent visa
• you are unsure whether your parent meets the balance of family test
• a parent or partner has a health condition, or there has been a previous refusal or cancellation
• a 103 or 804 application is already in the queue and you are considering a switch

If any of these apply, our family migration lawyers can look at which route fits your parents’ circumstances before anything is paid. For a side-by-side look at eligibility, see our overview of parent visa options.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a parent visa cost in Australia?

From 1 July 2026, a single applicant pays $8,665 for a Parent (103) or Aged Parent (804) visa and $49,900 for a Contributory Parent (143) or Contributory Aged Parent (864) visa lodged directly. The staged route costs $53,350 (173 then 143) or $55,405 (884 then 864). The temporary 870 costs $6,370 or $12,440.

How much does it cost to sponsor a parent?

For the permanent parent visas, the Department says “There is no cost to sponsor a visa applicant. However, as a sponsor you will have financial obligations.” Those obligations last two years. For the 870, the sponsorship application fee is AUD420. The Assurance of Support bond is separate, and it is lodged by whoever gives the assurance.

Are parent visa fees refundable?

Mostly not. The first instalment is refunded only in the circumstances in regulation 2.12F, and a refusal is not one of them. The second instalment is not payable if the application is withdrawn or refused first, and it is refunded on written request in the circumstances listed in regulation 2.12H.

What is the 870 visa fee?

$1,515 at lodgement, then $4,855 for a visa of up to three years or $10,925 for a longer one, to a maximum of five years per visa. The sponsor separately pays a $420 sponsorship application fee.

Do we get the Assurance of Support bond back?

If the parent has received no recoverable income support during the assurance period, Services Australia says it will release the funds to the account holder once the period ends, and the assurer can ask for the bank guarantee to be released then. If payments were made, they are recovered from the term deposit first.

Can my parents stay more than 6 months?

On a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa, yes. The Department says it “allows parents to visit their children in Australia for up to 3 or 5 years at a time for a maximum total of 10 years.” The permanent parent visas allow them to stay indefinitely once granted.

A realistic next step

You cannot negotiate the charge, so the saving lies in lodging the right visa, at the right time, with the right people included. If you are weighing the contributory route against the 870, or timing the move from a 173 to a 143, you can book a consultation with our migration lawyers before you pay.

About the author: Tina Nematian is the Principal Lawyer at One Planet Migration Law. She is admitted as an Australian Legal Practitioner, and has guided clients through partner, skilled, employer-sponsored, student, and humanitarian visa applications across Australia.

This article is general information only and does not constitute legal or migration advice. Visa rules change frequently and outcomes depend on individual circumstances. Speak with a registered migration lawyer or agent before making any application. Figures were current as of October 2026; always check immi.homeaffairs.gov.au before lodging.