Parent visa processing time: the Department of Home Affairs estimates by visa

Parent visa applications are capped and queued, and the Department of Home Affairs estimates 18 years for a new Contributory Parent application and 42 years for a new Parent or Aged Parent application. The Home Affairs parent visa processing page, updated on 6 October 2026, publishes these estimates; they do not predict an individual application’s decision date.

Compare which parent visa fits alongside the published waiting estimates.

Processing time by parent visa

Queue-release figures: as at 31 August 2026; source page updated 6 October 2026. The last column records applications released for final processing, not predicted decision dates.

The 18-year estimate covers the contributory groups, while the 42-year estimate covers Parent and Aged Parent applications. A historical release cut-off is different from the estimated wait for someone lodging a new application.

Compare contributory parent visas with the non-contributory parent visa before choosing a pathway. The published waiting estimate does not establish whether an applicant qualifies.

How parent visas are processed in two stages

Parent visa processing has two stages: initial assessment, then queue release. Home Affairs also describes this two-stage assessment for subclass 103.

1. Initial assessment and queue allocation. Home Affairs assesses applications in lodgement-date order. Applications meeting the core visa criteria receive a queue date, notified in writing; applications that do not meet those criteria are refused.
2. Queue release for final processing. Home Affairs contacts applicants in writing when their queued application is released. Release is a processing milestone, not a grant date.

For Contributory Parent applications lodged before 1 June 2018, the queue date is the application lodgement date. The parent visa queue date page explains queue dates and release cut-offs in more detail.

Initial-assessment milestones must remain separate from queue-release dates. A more recent application being initially assessed does not mean that applications lodged at that time have reached final processing.

What moves the estimate

Parent visa estimates can change with planning levels, application numbers, withdrawals, refusals and Administrative Review Tribunal outcomes.

• Planning levels: capping sets a maximum number of grants in each migration program year. The published planning levels, updated on 21 September 2026, allocate 7,060 Parent places for 2026–27, compared with 8,500 in both 2024–25 and 2025–26.
• Applications entering or leaving the process: Home Affairs identifies applications submitted, withdrawn or refused as factors affecting processing estimates.
• Administrative Review Tribunal outcomes: Home Affairs also lists these outcomes as a factor that can change timing.

These allocations are not a formula for calculating an individual wait. Home Affairs generally updates its estimates yearly at the beginning of each program year; parent visa changes 2026-27 provide planning context rather than a personal decision forecast.

The temporary-to-permanent shortcut: 173 to 143 and 884 to 864

The temporary-to-permanent transitions are subclass 173 to subclass 143 and subclass 884 to subclass 864. Calling them a “shortcut” does not establish that either provides a faster overall pathway.

Home Affairs’ processing table records a May 2026 milestone for these transitions, on the page updated on 6 October 2026. That is a dated processing milestone, not an application duration or a promise about a new transition application.

Can the wait be shortened?

The published estimates are 18 years for contributory applications and 42 years for Parent and Aged Parent applications. That comparison does not establish a guaranteed acceleration option.

• Compare the pathways separately from their published waiting estimates.
• Lodge a complete application with all necessary supporting documents: Home Affairs identifies completeness as an individual processing factor.
• Distinguish the temporary subclass 870 from the queued parent subclasses in the estimate table.

Processing time for the temporary 870

Subclass 870 processing guidance directs applicants to the Home Affairs processing time guide tool. The Sponsored Parent temporary visa page, updated on 12 October 2026, provides that direction.

The 18-year and 42-year estimates above are not subclass 870 processing estimates.

Before you lodge

Compare the parent visa application charge alongside the waiting estimates, or return to the Australian family visa list to compare relationship-based options.

An application prepared by an Australian migration lawyer is more likely to succeed because the core criteria and supporting documents can be addressed before lodgement. Home Affairs refuses an application that does not meet the core criteria for queue allocation, so an application check addresses more than timing. Enquiries from this site go to Australian Migration Lawyers.