Visitor visa for parents visiting Australia: the Tourist and Sponsored Family streams

A parent can visit Australia on a Visitor visa (subclass 600) in the Tourist stream with an invitation letter from the family member, or in the Sponsored Family stream if a relative in Australia sponsors them and the Department can ask for a security bond.

Check the visit purpose, intended stay and need for formal sponsorship before choosing a stream. For broader relationship-based categories, see relationship visas for Australia.

Evidence captured 18 October 2026: Home Affairs’ Sponsored Family stream guidance supports the invitation and sponsorship distinction below.

Tourist stream or Sponsored Family stream?

Use the Tourist stream invitation route when the family member wants to support the visit without becoming a sponsor. For formal sponsorship, check the relative’s eligibility and obligations before choosing the Sponsored Family stream.

Who can sponsor a family visitor

A Sponsored Family stream sponsor must be at least 18 and a settled Australian citizen or permanent resident. Usually, the sponsor must have lived in Australia for the last 2 years.

The permitted relationships are:

• Spouse or de facto partner.
• Parent or child.
• Brother or sister.
• Grandparent or grandchild.
• Aunt or uncle.
• Niece or nephew.
• The step equivalent of these relationships.

For a visiting parent, a child is within the permitted relationship list, but the child must also meet the sponsor requirements. Being related does not replace those requirements.

Home Affairs lists a fiancé or fiancée, in-law, cousin, friend and New Zealand citizen as excluded sponsors. The narrow exception concerns a sponsor who is a relative of another applicant who is a member of the applicant’s family unit; it should not be treated as general permission for an otherwise excluded relationship.

Sponsorship also carries obligations: the sponsor must repay money the visitor owes the Australian Government.

Can my parents stay more than 6 months?

Yes, a Sponsored Family stream stay can exceed 6 months: Home Affairs may grant up to 12 months in limited circumstances. The standard stay is 3 months, so a 12-month stay should not be treated as the default.

This page does not assign a stay duration to the Tourist stream. The Sponsored Family stream’s maximum should not be transferred to the Tourist stream or treated as the period every parent receives.

Stay and genuine temporary stay

For the Sponsored Family stream, prepare the visit around the applicable restrictions rather than assuming the visitor can work or apply for another visa in Australia.

1. Plan to apply offshore. The applicant must be outside Australia when applying and when Home Affairs decides the application.
2. Account for entry arrangements. Home Affairs generally grants this stream with a single entry.
3. Plan without employment. Sponsored Family stream visitors cannot work.
4. Account for condition 8503. This stream carries No Further Stay condition 8503, which prevents applying for a new visa in Australia.

These are Sponsored Family stream rules, not a statement of Tourist stream conditions.

Security bonds

Home Affairs can request a security bond for the Sponsored Family stream; a bond is not an automatic requirement for every application. Bonds are usually between AUD5,000 and AUD15,000 per person, but the Department can request any amount.

The bond is refundable if the visitor complies with their visa conditions and leaves Australia before the visa expires. Plan around both requirements rather than departure alone.

Visiting versus the 870 and the permanent parent visas

Home Affairs describes the Sponsored Parent visa’s temporary stay limits separately from the Parent visa’s permanent status.

Why a visit does not lead to a parent visa

The visiting and parent categories above serve different purposes. A Sponsored Family visitor also faces condition 8503, so an onshore parent visa application should not be assumed to be available.

Subclass 870 is expressly temporary and does not lead to permanent residence. Subclass 103 is a separate permanent visa category; its permanent status is not a feature of either visitor stream.

Before you lodge

Compare who can sponsor a family member and family unit rules for relationship-based distinctions. For alternatives to a visit, read about Australian parent visas and subclass 870.

An application prepared by an Australian migration lawyer is more likely to succeed because sponsor eligibility, the permitted relationship and offshore application requirements can be addressed before lodgement. A pre-lodgement application check can also address condition 8503 and the difference between invitation-based support and formal sponsorship; enquiries from this site go to Australian Migration Lawyers.