Bringing Your Parents to Australia: Visitor 600 vs Sponsored 870 vs Contributory 143/173 vs Non-Contributory 103/804

The six options, side by side

Australia does not have one "parent visa." It has six distinct products that solve different problems, at wildly different prices and timelines. The table below is the core of this guide — every other section explains one row of it in more detail.

Fees shown are Department of Home Affairs base charges from 1 July 2026, which rose roughly 25% on their first instalments that day; second-instalment (VAC2) figures are taken from the consolidated Migration Regulations, and queue-based wait framing comes from the department's own published queue-release dates — see Sources for exactly which figure comes from where, and the dates each was checked.

One detail the table can't show: while a parent has an 870 application on foot or holds the visa, they cannot apply for any other parent visa, permanent or temporary (103, 804, 143, 173, 864, 884). That is Home Affairs' published wording — "You cannot apply for a permanent or temporary parent visa when you have applied for or hold this visa" — and the page does not say what happens once the 870 route ends. With grants running 3 to 10 years, the practical effect is years off every permanent queue, so confirm the exit position with a registered migration agent before choosing this route.

Why the queue numbers matter most

The Australian Government caps total parent visa places at a fixed number each year, across every subclass combined. For 2026–27 that cap was set at 7,060 places — down from 8,500 the year before — inside an overall permanent Migration Program of 185,000 places (Department of Home Affairs, permanent Migration Program planning levels, immi.homeaffairs.gov.au, announced 12 May 2026, accessed 17 July 2026). Home Affairs publishes that total, but not a formal per-stream split. Its queue-release dates make the imbalance plain anyway: the contributory queue has been released to lodgements from late 2018, while the non-contributory queue is still working through lodgements from mid-2013 — the contributory stream receives the large majority of each year's places.

Two things follow directly from that structure, and neither is a forecast — they are arithmetic on a fixed queue:

• The queue is not shrinking. Home Affairs' own "queue release dates" page — the department's mechanism for telling applicants which lodgement dates have reached the front of the line — showed, as at figures reported in early-to-mid 2026, that Contributory Parent (143) applications lodged up to roughly November 2018 had been released for final processing, and non-contributory Parent (103) and Aged Parent (804) applications lodged up to roughly July 2013 had been released. A new 143 application lodged today sits behind everyone lodged since November 2018 — applications now reaching the front of that queue waited roughly seven and a half years, and a fresh application joins a queue that is still lengthening, so its wait can reasonably be expected to run well past a decade. A new 103/804 application sits behind everyone lodged since July 2013 — roughly thirteen years of applicants ahead of it before its own wait even begins, which on any realistic reading means a wait measured in decades.
• Paying more money buys queue position, not a guarantee. The contributory second instalment ($43,600 per parent, on top of the $6,300 first instalment) funds the larger annual allocation the contributory stream receives. It doesn't buy a fixed number of months — it buys a place in a materially shorter queue than the non-contributory stream, which gets only a small share of the capped annual places against a much larger backlog.

For orientation only: at mid-July 2026 exchange rates of roughly ₹66 to the Australian dollar, the $43,600 second instalment for one 143 applicant is in the region of ₹29 lakh, and the combined ~$95,625 first-plus-second-instalment cost for two parents applying together is in the region of ₹63 lakh. Exchange rates move daily — check a live rate before budgeting.

Visitor 600: the near-term, no-queue option

The subclass 600 Sponsored Family stream is not a migration pathway at all — it is a temporary visit product, and it is the only option on this list that does not compete for a place in the capped annual program. An Australian citizen or permanent resident child can sponsor a parent for a visit visa allowing multiple entries, with a maximum continuous stay in Australia of 12 months per visit, and total visa validity of up to 5 years depending on the parent's travel history (first-time applicants and those with a lodged 103 application are typically limited to shorter initial grants). Home Affairs may, at its discretion, require a security bond — reported in the range of roughly $5,000 to $15,000 — as a condition of grant; this is assessed case by case and is not automatic.

Two limits matter for parents on a 600: there is no Medicare access (India has no Reciprocal Health Care Agreement with Australia), and condition 8501 (mandatory adequate health insurance) is applied at the case officer's discretion on a 600, not automatically — check the actual grant letter or VEVO record. There is also no right to work. Because of the insurance question, the practical detail of what "adequate" cover has to include for a parent on a 600 or 870 — benefit minimums, pre-existing condition waiting periods, and an alphabetical comparison of insurers — is covered in full in our companion guide, Health Insurance for Parents Visiting Australia on a Subclass 600 Visa.

Because the 600 carries no cap and no multi-year queue, it is the only one of these six options that can put a parent in Australia within weeks rather than years. That is a factual, structural difference from every other row in the table above — not a recommendation.

Sponsored Parent 870: buying years, not permanence

The 870 sits between the 600 and the permanent pathways. It requires a separate sponsorship application from the Australian-resident child (a $420 sponsor application fee applies), sponsor approval before the parent's own visa application can be lodged, and a sponsor income test — reported at a minimum taxable income threshold of approximately $83,454.80 in the most recent completed tax year (or, if combining income with a partner or another eligible child, that the primary sponsor's own income meets at least 50% of the threshold, i.e. approximately $41,727.40).

The 870 does not require a Balance of Family Test and, notably, does not require an Assurance of Support — the one significant procedural saving it has over every permanent option. It runs for 3 or 5 years per grant, renewable up to a cumulative 10-year cap (confirmed on the Home Affairs 870 page). A further 870 generally has to be lodged from outside Australia, and cannot be granted until the parent has spent at least 90 consecutive days outside the country since their relevant departure day — a rule that applies between any two 870 grants, not only after five years. It carries no work rights and mandatory health insurance (condition 8501) for the full validity period — no Medicare access at any point. Most significantly, while an 870 application or visa is on foot the parent cannot apply for any permanent parent visa (103, 804, 143, 173, 864, 884) — and Home Affairs does not publish what the position is once the 870 route has been exhausted.

On processing, the Department of Home Affairs' official global visa processing-times service (retrieved 17 July 2026) shows the 870 visa application stream at about 8 months at the 50th percentile and 9 months at the 90th, and the separate sponsorship application stream at about 82 days (50th percentile) and 4 months (90th percentile).

Contributory 143 and its temporary feeder, 173: the faster paid queue

The Contributory Parent visa (subclass 143) is a permanent visa reached either by a direct application or via the temporary Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 173), a 2-year visa that splits the total contributory cost across two payments — the 173 application itself, and a subsequent 143 application, usually made from within Australia while the 173 is in force. Both pathways require the same Balance of Family Test (at least half the applicant's children, or more children than in any single other country, must be Australian citizens, permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens usually resident in Australia) and the same Assurance of Support obligation.

The 173 route has become a minority choice: migration-industry reporting on program-year grant numbers cites roughly 81 subclass 173 grants against roughly 3,586 subclass 143 grants in the same period, suggesting most contributory applicants now apply directly for 143. The 173 second instalment is $29,130 (Migration Regulations 1994, Schedule 1 item 1221, compilation 287); with the $4,245 first instalment, the full 173 stage comes to $33,375. A 173 holder's later 143 application is then charged at reduced rates — a $555 first instalment and a $19,420 second instalment — so the whole 173-then-143 route comes to roughly $53,350 in application charges, against $49,900 for a direct 143.

For a direct 143 application, the cost is clearer and more consistently reported: a first instalment of $6,300 plus a second instalment of $43,600 per applicant, payable when Home Affairs is ready to grant the visa (a 28-day payment window applies) — approximately $49,900 for one parent, or ~$95,625 for a couple applying together (the second parent joins as an additional applicant: $2,125 first instalment, then $43,600 each before grant), before medicals, police checks (typically $300–$500 per person) and the Assurance of Support bond.

Assurance of Support bond, contributory stream: For visas with a 10-year Assurance of Support period (which includes 143), the bank guarantee is $10,000 for one adult, or $14,000 for two adults (Services Australia, bank guarantee and term deposit for an Assurance of Support, verified 25 July 2026). The bond is held for the full 10-year period and is refundable at the end of that period, less any Centrelink payments claimed against it during that time.

Non-contributory 103 and 804: the low-cost, multi-decade queue

The Parent visa (subclass 103, generally lodged offshore) and Aged Parent visa (subclass 804, an onshore-only visa requiring the applicant to already be in Australia when applying and when granted, and to have reached Age Pension qualifying age — 67 for those born on or after 1 January 1957) are the non-contributory permanent options. Both require the same Balance of Family Test and Assurance of Support obligation as the contributory stream, but at a fraction of the cost: a first instalment of $6,600 plus a second instalment of $2,065 per applicant — $8,665 per parent in total.

Assurance of Support bond, non-contributory stream: For visas with a shorter (2- or 4-year) Assurance of Support period, the bank guarantee is $5,000 for one adult, or $7,000 for two adults, for both the 2-year and 4-year Assurance of Support periods (Services Australia, verified 25 July 2026).

The trade-off for that much lower fee is the queue itself. Home Affairs' own published queue-release dates, as at the archived 14 May 2026 snapshot, showed non-contributory Parent and Aged Parent applications lodged up to roughly July 2013 being released for final processing — meaning a parent lodging a fresh 103 or 804 application today is behind roughly thirteen years of prior applicants competing for a small share of the capped annual places. On those release dates, the realistic wait for a new non-contributory application is measured in decades, not years. This is a structural feature of a fixed, oversubscribed annual cap — not a temporary processing delay that a change in staffing or budget would fix quickly.

What this means for joint-family expectations

For many Indian families, the assumption going in is that a parent visa is a single, time-bound project — apply, wait a defined period, parent arrives permanently. The queue data above says that assumption is only true, in any near-term sense, for the contributory stream, and even there "near-term" means over a decade. For the non-contributory stream, a visa lodged today is, on current cap levels and published queue movement, a project for the applicant's grandchildren's generation as much as their own.

That gap between expectation and published queue reality is where the emotional and financial tradeoff sits. A contributory 143 costs roughly six times what a non-contributory 103 costs per parent, but its queue is moving through lodgement years far faster — released to late 2018, against mid-2013 for the non-contributory queue, on the May 2026 release dates. Whether that trade is worth it is a financial and family decision for each household — this guide does not recommend one visa over another (a registered migration agent is the appropriate source for advice on individual circumstances). Two facts, though, are consistently under-discussed by comparison sites. The non-contributory queue is now measured in decades on the government's own published release dates. And the 600 and 870 are not consolation prizes while a permanent application sits in that queue — they are the options that put a parent physically in Australia during the wait, provided private health insurance for however many years that takes is budgeted for from the outset. Our companion guide on insurance for parents on the 600 and 870 covers that ongoing cost.

A practical way to read the table

• If your priority is having a parent in Australia in weeks, not years, and permanence is not the immediate goal: the 600 is the only option that isn't queued.
• If you want a parent resident (not just visiting) for a period of years, can meet the sponsor income test, and are willing to accept that this closes off every permanent pathway afterwards: that is what the 870 is built for, and no Assurance of Support is required.
• If permanent residency is the goal and the household can fund roughly $49,900 per parent in government charges plus AoS bond and medicals: the contributory 143 (or 173-then-143) queue had been released only to around November 2018 lodgements as at the May 2026 queue-release dates — a wait for a fresh application reasonably expected to exceed a decade.
• If permanent residency is the goal and the $43,600 second instalment per parent is not affordable: the non-contributory 103/804 pathway costs roughly a sixth as much per parent, but published queue-release dates — still working through mid-2013 lodgements as at May 2026 — put a fresh application's realistic wait at multiple decades.

Every figure above changes with each 1 July indexation round and with each year's Migration Program planning-level announcement (typically published around May). Confirm current charges on the Department of Home Affairs' official visa pricing pages and current queue-release dates before budgeting or lodging.