The following requirements apply to all parent categories:

	you must be a parent of a child who is an Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible NZ citizen
	your child must be settled in Australia (in most cases, resident for at least 2 years), & must sponsor you. Yyou must pass the balance of family test (at least half of your children must live permanently in Australia, or you must have more children living permanently in Australia than in any other single country)
	you must meet health & character requirements in addition to paying the first Visa Application Charge (1VAC) & meeting the above requirements, you will need to pay a second Visa application Charge (2VAC)
	if you are applying for any category that has the word 'aged' in its title, you must be old enough to be granted an Australian age pension

There are 2 groups of parent visas: "standard" parent visas & contributory parent visas. Within the 2 groups are 6 types of temporary & permanent visas available for parents wishing to migrate to Australia.

Permanent		Temporary
	Contributory Parent		Contributory Parent
	Contributory Aged Parent		Contributory Aged Parent
	Parent
	Aged Parent

Applicants for the contributory parent visa classes are required to make a higher contribution towards their future health & welfare costs. This is implemented by way of paying a substantially higher 2VAC. As of August 2003, the 2VAC is Australian Dollars $25,000 (per person).

Subject to visa places available, applicants who are able to meet all the requirements for the contributory parent visa classes:

1. will be granted a permanent visa if they choose to pay the full 2VAC at one time, or
2. will be granted a temporary visa valid for 2 years if they choose to pay 60% of 2VAC

Temporary visa holders must pay the remaining 40% before a permanent visa can be granted. Application for the permanent visa must be made before the temporary visa expires.

There are more than 3 times the number of visa places available each year in the contributory parent visa classes than in the parent visa classes. If you apply for a contributory parent visa, you can expect your application to be processed much more quickly.

An Assurance of Support (AoS) is required for all permanent visa categories.