Contributory Parent Visa Subclass 143: Requirements, Costs & Process

Your parent is overseas, you're settled in Australia, and you want a permanent outcome — not a visitor visa rotation that runs forever. The Subclass 143 is the most commonly pursued pathway to bring a parent to Australia permanently, and it's the closest thing this system has to a predictable route.

It is not cheap, and it is not fast. But it is reliable in a way the non-contributory alternatives are not, and understanding exactly what it requires will help you decide whether to move forward.

What the Subclass 143 Is

The Contributory Parent (Migrant) visa Subclass 143 is a permanent residency visa for parents of Australian citizens, permanent residents, or eligible New Zealand citizens. It is an offshore visa — meaning the parent applies from and is granted the visa from outside Australia, then enters to settle permanently.

"Contributory" refers to the large government fee that forms the bulk of the application cost. This fee is explicitly designed to offset the projected healthcare and community service costs the parent will incur over their lifetime as a PR holder. In exchange for paying it, applicants receive priority placement in a faster processing queue than the non-contributory subclasses.

Eligibility Requirements

The Balance of Family Test

The most important eligibility gate for a 143 application is the Balance of Family (BoF) test. The parent must demonstrate that at least half of their eligible children live in Australia, or that more of their eligible children live in Australia than in any other single country.

"Eligible children" includes biological children, adopted children, and step-children of the parent and their current partner. Step-children from former relationships are included only if the child is under 18 and the applicant has legal custody.

Children on temporary visas in Australia are treated as living in their home country. Children who are deceased, have been removed from the parent's custody by court order, or are registered as UNHCR refugees are excluded from the calculation.

The Settled Sponsor

The sponsoring child must be an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or eligible NZ citizen who has been "settled" — meaning lawfully residing in Australia — for at least two years. The Department has discretion to waive this requirement in compelling and compassionate circumstances (such as the sudden death of a co-parent), but such waivers require extensive documentation and are granted rarely.

Age

There is no maximum age for the Subclass 143. However, parents aged 67 or older have access to the "Aged Parent" subclasses (804 and 864), which may be more appropriate depending on their circumstances — particularly if they are already in Australia and want to remain onshore while waiting.

Health and Character

All applicants must undergo health examinations conducted by a government-designated panel physician. The Medical Officer of the Commonwealth (MOC) assesses the projected cost of the applicant's medical conditions against the Significant Cost Threshold of $86,000 over a five-year period (three years for applicants over 75). If the projected cost exceeds this threshold, the visa is refused — and there is limited avenue for a health waiver on parent visas specifically.

Character requirements include police clearances from Australia and every country the applicant has lived in for 12 months or more in the past 10 years.

Fees and Cost Structure

The Subclass 143 fee is structured in two instalments:

The first instalment is paid at lodgment. The second instalment is only requested when the application reaches the front of the queue — roughly 12 to 15 years after lodgment.

For a couple applying together, total government charges (both instalments plus AoS bond) approach $110,000, excluding health examinations, police clearances, and any professional fees.

The second instalment is non-refundable once paid. The Assurance of Support bond is returned after 10 years, provided no recoverable welfare payments were made.

Processing Times in 2026

This is where the 143 diverges most sharply from the expectations of families new to the system. As of 2026, the Department of Home Affairs estimates that new Subclass 143 applications will take 12 to 15 years to process. Cases currently being finalized were lodged in late 2018.

This is a long wait, but it is materially shorter than the non-contributory alternative (30-plus years for Subclass 103 applicants). For a parent who is 55 today, a 143 lodged now would reach a decision when they are approximately 67 to 70 — still within a meaningful window for enjoying life in Australia and benefiting from Medicare.

The 2025–2026 program year allocated 6,800 places to the contributory stream, reflecting the government's prioritization of the paying track.

How to Apply

As of April 2026, the Subclass 143 is lodged online through ImmiAccount — a change from the previous paper-based system under the Migration (Arrangements for Parent Visa Applications) Instrument 2026. The application requires:

• Identity documents (passport, birth certificate)
• Evidence of the parent-child relationship
• Evidence of the sponsor's settled status (two years of residence documentation)
• Completed Balance of Family test documentation
• Police clearances for the parent (and any included secondary applicants)
• Health examination results (requested by the Department at the appropriate point in the queue)
• Assurance of Support (arranged through Services Australia at the end of the queue)

The lodgment and first instalment payment can be completed in a single session on ImmiAccount. After that, the application enters the queue and requires no active management until the Department contacts you.

What Happens After Grant

On grant of the Subclass 143, the parent receives immediate permanent residency entitlements:

• Medicare: Full access upon arrival. This is one of the most significant benefits, providing subsidized access to GPs, specialists, and public hospitals.
• Work and study rights: Full entitlements, though most parents near retirement age exercise these sparingly.
• Age Pension eligibility: Requires 10 years of Australian residence (including 5 continuous years) before a claim can be made. The parent must fund their own living costs during this period, with the sponsoring child legally obligated to provide support under the Assurance of Support.

The parent must enter Australia before the Initial Entry Date specified in the grant letter to activate the visa.

The Strategic Case for Lodging Now

The single strongest argument for lodging a 143 application immediately, even for families that aren't certain they'll ultimately proceed, is that the queue position is set at lodgment date. Every year of delay is a year added to the total wait. At a cost of approximately $5,040 for the first instalment, securing a queue position now while you continue to assess your options is financially rational.

If you later determine the parent cannot pass the health test, you will have lost the first instalment — but you will have lost it at a point of certainty rather than uncertainty. If you proceed, you'll have given yourself the maximum possible time to prepare financially for the $43,600 second instalment.

The Australia Parent Visa Guide walks through the complete 143 application process, including the Assurance of Support income calculations, the health examination process, and how to document the Balance of Family test for edge-case family structures.

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