Australia 870 Sponsored Parent visa in 2026: 3-year, 5-year and the 10-year ceiling

A parent holding a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 870) can be granted 3 or 5 years at a time, and the cumulative maximum across all 870 visas is 10 years. That 10-year figure is the ceiling for the entire 870 route, not a per-visit limit, so the real planning question is which sequence of grants gets you the coverage you want before the allowance runs out. What follows is based on the Australian Department of Home Affairs official page for the Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 870), as of the August 2026 official page.

How does the 10-year ceiling actually work?

Each 870 grant is a temporary visa of up to 3 or 5 years. Across separate grants, the cumulative maximum stay is 10 years. The period or dates specified on your visa grant letter govern how long you can stay, and the visa ends on that date.

The visa can also end earlier. According to the official page, it ends if the department cancels it, if your sponsor withdraws sponsorship and you do not find a new Parent Sponsor, or if the department cancels the sponsorship. You cannot stay longer by extending the visa; to remain in Australia you must apply for and be granted another visa.

One historic exception sits outside the count. If you held a subclass 870 visa and were outside Australia on 1 July 2021, the visa period was automatically extended by 18 months under the COVID-19 visa concessions. That additional 18 months does not count toward the cumulative 10-year maximum.

Which combination of 3-year and 5-year grants fits under the ceiling?

Only two lengths are on offer per application: up to 3 years or up to 5 years. The arithmetic of the ceiling then determines how many grants you get and how many offshore breaks you have to absorb.

Sequence	Number of grants	Offshore gaps between grants	Years covered
5 years + 5 years	2	1	10
5 years + 3 years (or 3 + 5)	2	1	8
3 years + 3 years + 3 years	3	2	9

A 5 + 5 sequence uses the whole allowance in two grants and one break. A 3 + 3 + 3 sequence reaches 9 years and leaves a margin too small for another 3-year grant without crossing 10. Once the cumulative 10-year period has been held, the official page is explicit: you are not eligible for a further subclass 870 visa, and you must either depart Australia or be granted another kind of visa that allows you to remain.

What has to happen between two 870 visas?

Re-applying is not simply a matter of filing a new form. Several conditions stack up:

• You must lodge the new application from outside Australia, unless you have been issued Permission to Apply in Australia (and are not in immigration clearance). Permission is approved only in exceptional circumstances, such as the parent being unable to depart because of an accident or serious illness with medical evidence, or a natural disaster preventing travel to the home country.
• If you apply for the new visa while you are outside Australia, you must have been outside Australia for at least 90 consecutive days since your relevant departure day.
• Your relevant departure day depends on where you were when the previous visa ceased. If you were in Australia, it is the first day you left after the visa ceased. If you were already outside Australia, it is the last day you left while the visa was still in effect.
• You can be in or outside Australia when the decision is made, but not in immigration clearance.

The sponsor side runs on its own clock. A sponsor's household is limited to one sponsorship at a time, and a sponsorship can cover up to 2 parents per household. A sponsor cannot lodge a new sponsorship application until the current approved sponsorship ends. Once sponsorship is approved, the visa application must be lodged within 6 months — or within 60 days if the parent was given permission to apply in Australia.

How far back should the first application start?

Work backwards from the year you want the arrangement to end. Assume a family wants a parent present across the decade from 2027 to 2037 and wants the fewest interruptions possible.

1. Fix the end date first.
2. Subtract the length of the final grant, usually 5 years.
3. Subtract the offshore break that must precede it: at least 90 consecutive days outside Australia.
4. Add the time needed for a new sponsorship approval and a decision on the application.
5. Check that the sponsor's previous sponsorship has ended before the new one is lodged.
6. Repeat the same subtraction for the earlier grant.
7. Add the grant lengths together and confirm the total is at or below 10 years.

In that hypothetical, a 5-year grant running from 2027 to 2032 is followed by a departure, 90 days outside Australia, a fresh sponsorship, and a second 5-year grant from 2032 to 2037. The allowance is then exhausted, and no further 870 visa is available. A family choosing 3-year segments instead would see grants covering roughly 2027–2030, 2030–2033 and 2033–2036, with two offshore breaks and about one year of allowance left unusable, because any further grant would push past the ceiling.

What the 10 years do not give you

The 870 is a temporary visa and does not lead to permanent residence. More importantly for long-range planning, the official page states that you cannot apply for a permanent or temporary parent visa when you have applied for or hold this visa. Years spent on 870 grants therefore do not accumulate toward a parent visa, and holding one closes off lodging a parent visa application at the same time.

Other boundaries matter when budgeting a decade: the visa holder cannot work in Australia, no family members can be included in the application, and travel to and from Australia is unlimited while the visa is valid. Rules shift and circumstances differ, so treat this as general orientation only and confirm the current official settings or consult a registered professional before committing to a sequence — this is not personalised advice and not a prediction of any outcome.

Where the ceiling catches families out

The most expensive mistakes are sequencing mistakes rather than eligibility mistakes. Assuming a grant can be extended rather than replaced is one; the visa cannot be extended. Assuming the 18-month COVID-19 extension eats into the 10 years is another; it does not. Assuming continuous presence is achievable is a third, because the 90-consecutive-day rule forces a real gap between grants.

Sponsorship timing is the fourth. A new sponsorship cannot be queued up while an earlier one is still approved, so the household's single-sponsorship limit sets the pace of the whole schedule. Families who plan backwards — end date, grant length, offshore gap, sponsorship window — tend to discover the constraint early, while there is still room to choose 5 + 5 over three shorter segments.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I extend a subclass 870 visa past the date on my grant letter?

No. The visa cannot be extended, and it ends on the date specified in the grant letter, unless it is cancelled or the sponsorship ends first. To remain in Australia you must apply for and be granted another visa.

Do I have to leave Australia to apply for a second 870 visa?

Yes, in most cases. You must lodge from outside Australia, and you must have been outside Australia for at least 90 consecutive days since your relevant departure day. Permission to Apply in Australia exists but is approved only in exceptional circumstances.

Does the COVID-19 18-month extension count toward the 10 years?

No. If you held an 870 visa and were outside Australia on 1 July 2021, your visa period was automatically extended by 18 months, and the official page states that those additional months do not count toward the cumulative 10-year maximum.

Can one sponsor cover both parents?

Yes. A sponsor's sponsorship can cover up to 2 parents per household at a time, though the household is limited to one sponsorship at a time and cannot apply for a new sponsorship until the current one ends.

Can other family members be included in an 870 application?

No. The official page states that you cannot include family members in your visa application. Each parent needs to be covered by the sponsorship within the household limit.

Does holding an 870 visa affect a later parent visa application?

Yes. The 870 does not lead to permanent residence, and you cannot apply for a permanent or temporary parent visa while you have applied for or hold an 870 visa. Once the cumulative 10 years have been held, no further 870 visa is available either.

How much does the subclass 870 visa cost?

The official page sets the cost as a charge payable in two instalments — the first when you apply and the second when the department asks for it — with separate figures for a visa of up to 3 years and up to 5 years. It points to the Visa Pricing Estimator for the current amount, and notes you may also pay for health checks, police certificates and biometrics. From 1 July 2026, a lower visa application cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens lodging a valid application.

References

Australian Department of Home Affairs — Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 870)