Australia's Parent Visa Queue Explained: Wait Times, Costs and Planning Points for Sponsors

News · 2026-08-31 · 5 min read

Anyone planning to sponsor their mother or father for permanent residence in Australia should start with a single figure: 33 years. That is the approximate wait in the present queue for the non-contributory Aged Parent visa. The contributory option, often seen as the quicker route and costing close to $50,000 per applicant, now takes around 15 years. In many households, a delay of that length lasts longer than the family need that prompted the application.

The risk is not theoretical. According to Senate estimates data for the 21 months to 31 March this year, over 1,500 parent visa applicants passed away before their applications were decided. These were applicants who had paid tens of thousands of dollars and lodged all the paperwork they were asked for, yet the queue outlasted them.

Many families only learn these realities after money has already been spent. This guide sets out the current position in an organised way so you can assess a parent visa application with clear expectations.

Core facts sponsors should know

Non-contributory Aged Parent visa: a queue of roughly 33 years.
Contributory pathway: close to $50,000 per applicant and around 15 years of waiting.
Annual places: reduced from 8,500 to 7,060 for this financial year.
People waiting: a backlog of more than 157,000.

The structural causes of the delay

The slow pace is a result of how the system has been built over many years, not an administrative accident. Two factors are responsible.

A low and falling cap on grants

Each year the government limits the number of parent visas it will grant. That limit has gone down, from 8,500 places to 7,060 in the current financial year, even as the number of people waiting has climbed above 157,000.

Onshore lodgements that move ahead

Some parents arrive in Australia on a visitor visa and then lodge their parent visa application from inside the country. They can stay on bridging visas for as long as their case remains open, and they are often processed ahead of applicants who followed the correct offshore process. Abul Rizvi, a former deputy immigration secretary, has described this as the loophole that regulators now want to shut. It also explains why offshore applicants often feel they are slipping further down the line.

In 2023, a government-commissioned review of the migration system put the problem plainly. It said that offering people a visa that would probably never be granted in their lifetime was cruel and unnecessary.

Proposed reforms and their two sides

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has been expected to announce a wider overhaul of migration settings, and reports suggest family visas are included. Under one proposal, the spouses, children and parents of Australian citizens could no longer lodge visa applications while in Australia as tourists. This would target the onshore route described above.

The likely effects differ depending on your situation:

For offshore applicants who followed the rules: closing the loophole could, in principle, reduce the queue-jumping that has held them back.
For families who rely on the onshore option: it is not yet known whether new arrivals will still be able to apply from inside Australia. If they cannot, families would lose one of the few ways to keep a parent in the country while a permanent visa is pending.

No decision has been finalised. If your plans depend on a visitor visa followed by an onshore application, follow developments carefully over the next few months.

The working family perspective

For many sponsors, bringing a parent over is a practical requirement rather than an emotional wish. Skilled migrants who work long hours, such as a Sydney-based surgical trainee whose situation has been shared in consultations, frequently need a parent nearby to help with childcare and running the home while they establish their careers. When that help is limited to six-month stays on a temporary visa, and parents must leave Australia for long periods between visits, the pressure builds. It affects careers, household budgets, and the health and stability of ageing parents.

An action list for parents already waiting

If your parents have already applied, these points deserve attention now:

Check the stream they are in. Contributory and non-contributory parent visas differ sharply in cost and waiting time. Review whether the stream you chose still suits your family.
Keep every temporary visa visit fully compliant. If your parents travel between Australia and their home country on visitor visas while the permanent application is pending, make sure each entry follows the conditions. A breach could put the main application at risk.
Monitor ministerial directions on processing priority. These directions decide which applications are handled first, and they can change the real order of the queue considerably, whatever the lodgement date.
Base your plans on realistic timeframes. Processing estimates change. If your family needs a parent visa within a certain period, compare that expectation with current data instead of relying on a figure you were quoted years ago.

Final guidance for sponsors in Pakistan and elsewhere

The parent visa system is under serious pressure, and a reform package will probably alter the rules for new and existing applicants alike. Families already waiting must, for the moment, deal with a system that government-commissioned reviewers have called unsustainable. Whether you are about to begin or are partway through, obtain advice suited to your own circumstances before your next step. Choosing the wrong stream or the wrong timing costs more than money; it can cost years that your parents may not have.

If you are still building your own pathway, for example by looking at jobs in Australia for Pakistanis, keep these long family visa timeframes in mind when planning for the years ahead.

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