870 temporary parent visa vs permanent parent migration in 2026
If you are weighing the subclass 870 sponsored parent visa against permanent parent migration, the real question is not which one is better in the abstract. It is which one you can pursue at all, and in what order. As of the August 2026 version of the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 870) official page, the 870 is a temporary visa that does not lead to permanent residence, and you cannot apply for a permanent or temporary parent visa when you have applied for or hold this visa. Permanent parent migration is the route that ends in permanent residence; the 870 is the route that puts a parent in Australia for a defined stretch of years. Under the published rules, you cannot apply for a permanent or temporary parent visa once you have applied for or hold an 870.
Is the 870 visa a pathway to permanent residence?
No. The subclass 870 page states that this is a temporary visa, that it does not lead to permanent residence, and that a holder has no right to permanent residence. Time spent in Australia on an 870 does not convert into permanent status, and there is no point at which the visa rolls over into a parent permanent visa.
The eligibility wording on the same page reinforces this. It says that if a parent has already lodged a permanent parent visa application, they may visit Australia, but not remain in Australia permanently while the application is being decided. The genuine temporary intention requirement is therefore not a formality — it is assessed against what the visa actually permits.
For a family doing long-term identity planning, that distinction carries most of the weight. The 870 buys presence. It does not buy status, and it does not build credit towards citizenship.
Can you apply for a parent permanent visa while holding an 870?
No, and the restriction reaches further than most families expect. The 870 page says you cannot apply for a permanent or temporary parent visa when you have applied for or hold this visa. The bar attaches at the point of application, not only at grant, and it covers both permanent and temporary parent categories.
So an 870 cannot be used as a holding pattern while a parent permanent application sits in the system.
Sequencing deserves care, though. What the rule forecloses is lodging a parent visa application once an 870 application exists. The 870 page does address an application already lodged: if a permanent parent visa application has already been lodged, the parent may visit Australia but must not remain in Australia permanently while the application is being decided, and the parent visa categories themselves are governed by separate official pages outside the scope of this article. If your family already has a parent permanent application in place, read the current wording on both the relevant parent visa page and the 870 page before choosing an order, and treat the latest official publication as controlling. What follows here is general information about published rules, not personalised advice for your circumstances; how it applies depends on your own facts and timing, so official information and, where the stakes are high, a professional opinion should govern.
What does the subclass 870 actually give you?
| Feature | What the official 870 page says |
|---|---|
| Stay per grant | Up to 3 or 5 years, as specified on the visa grant letter |
| Cumulative maximum | 10 years across all 870 visas held |
| Permanent residence | Does not lead to permanent residence; no right to it |
| Parent visa applications | Barred while you have applied for or hold an 870 |
| Work | You cannot work in Australia on this visa |
| Family members | Cannot be included in the application |
| Sponsor | Approved Parent Sponsor required; one sponsorship per sponsor household at a time, covering up to 2 parents |
| Balance of family test / Assurance of Support | Neither applies to this visa |
| Health cover | Must have and maintain adequate health insurance with an Australian health insurance provider |
| Funds | Must have, or have access to, enough money to support yourself |
| Where to apply | Outside Australia, unless granted Permission to Apply in Australia |
| Travel | Unlimited travel to and from Australia while the visa is valid |
The Migration Regulations 1994 set out the criteria in the subclass 870 provisions: sponsorship (870.221), sufficient funds (870.222), the 90-day offshore rule for repeat applicants (870.223), health insurance arrangements (870.224), substantial compliance with earlier visa conditions (870.225), genuine intention to stay temporarily (870.226), no outstanding public health debt (870.227), and the public interest and special return criteria (870.228–870.229). The Regulations list no secondary criteria, so each parent must satisfy the primary criteria in their own right.
How long can this arrangement actually last?
A single 870 can run for up to 3 or 5 years, and the visa ends on the date on the grant letter. Across all 870 visas held, the cumulative maximum stay is 10 years. Once that ceiling is reached, the parent is not eligible for a further 870 and must either depart Australia or apply for and be granted another kind of visa to remain.
You cannot extend an 870. Staying longer means applying for and being granted another visa.
Repeat applications have a hard rule attached. Unless the parent has Permission to Apply in Australia, a further 870 must be lodged from outside Australia, and the parent must have been outside Australia for at least 90 consecutive days since the relevant departure day. The relevant departure day depends on where the parent was when the last 870 ceased: if they were in Australia, it is the first day they left after the visa ceased; if they were outside Australia, it is the last day they left while the visa was in effect.
One exception sits in the background. If a parent held an 870 and was outside Australia on 1 July 2021, the visa period was automatically extended by 18 months under the COVID-19 visa concessions, and those additional 18 months do not count towards the cumulative 10-year maximum.
A visa can also end early: on the specified date, if it is cancelled, if the sponsor withdraws sponsorship and no new Parent Sponsor is found, or if the sponsorship itself is cancelled.
What does sponsorship involve for the household in Australia?
The parent needs an approved Parent Sponsor before applying, and cannot be granted the visa without one. The parent must be the biological, legal (including adoptive), step-parent or parent-in-law of that sponsor, and at least 18 years old.
The sponsor's side is where household planning matters. A sponsor's household is limited to one sponsorship at a time, that sponsorship can cover up to 2 parents per household at a time, and the sponsor cannot lodge a new sponsorship application until the current approved sponsorship ends. Sponsorship approval is a separate step, and it starts the clock: apply online from outside Australia within 6 months of sponsorship approval, or within 60 days if Permission to Apply in Australia has been granted. If that permission is refused, the parent must apply from outside Australia within 6 months of sponsorship approval or apply for and be granted a different kind of visa to remain in Australia.
This is the structural reason a family with two sets of parents, or with a parent who may later want a different visa, needs to think several years ahead. One sponsorship at a time per household is a real constraint on sequencing.
What does the 870 cost, and what happens to the money?
The visa is paid for in two instalments: the first when you apply, the second when the department asks for it. The second instalment must be paid before the visa can be granted; if it is not paid, the application will be refused. The official page gives a starting cost for a visa of up to 3 years and for a visa of up to 5 years, and directs applicants to the Visa Pricing Estimator for the figure that applies to them — that estimator does not include the second instalment or other costs.
Other costs can include health checks, police certificates and biometrics. Concessions apply in limited circumstances. From 1 July 2026, a lower visa application cost applies to eligible Pacific Island and Timor-Leste citizens who lodge a valid application, with eligibility recognised by passport from one of the specified countries.
Refunds are not part of the picture. The fee is not refunded if you withdraw the application, and not refunded if the application is refused.
How does an 870 application actually run?
- Confirm the Parent Sponsor has approval before anything else.
- Check the parent meets the relationship and age requirements.
- Gather identity documents, character documents and Form 80.
- Assemble evidence of funds and of adequate Australian health insurance.
- Prepare evidence of genuine temporary intention, including ties to the home country.
- Lodge online in ImmiAccount from outside Australia, or with Permission to Apply in Australia.
- Pay the first instalment.
- Complete any health examinations requested.
- Pay the second instalment when invoiced.
- Wait for the written decision and keep the grant letter.
Lodging within the sponsorship window matters, and complete applications are processed faster; incomplete ones can be delayed or refused. For a sense of timing, the department points applicants to its visa processing time guide tool, which shows times for recently decided applications and is a guide only, not specific to any one application.
How should a family weigh temporary companionship against permanent status?
The 870 fits families who need a parent physically present for a defined period — school years, a new child, recovery, or simply time together — and who can accept the trade-offs: no work rights, no family members on the application, a 10-year cumulative ceiling, a fresh application each time, and foreclosure of parent visa applications while the 870 is held or applied for.
Permanent parent migration fits families whose priority is the end state: permanent residence, and eventually the options that follow from it, including citizenship planning. That route is the only one of the two that ends in permanent residence, and the two cannot be advanced in parallel from an 870 standpoint.
Two practical points tend to decide it. First, the 870's length is generous for a temporary visa but finite, and after 10 cumulative years the parent must leave or qualify for something else — so an 870-only strategy has an expiry date. Second, each application has to satisfy the genuine temporary intention, funds and health insurance requirements on its own evidence, so a long chain of back-to-back stays puts more weight on that evidence every time. A family that already knows it wants permanence is usually better served by keeping the parent visa pathway open and treating the 870, if used at all, as a conscious interruption of it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the subclass 870 visa lead to permanent residence in Australia?
No. The Department of Home Affairs' subclass 870 page states that this is a temporary visa, that it does not lead to permanent residence, and that holders have no right to permanent residence. Time spent in Australia on an 870 does not convert into permanent status.
Can I apply for a parent permanent visa while I hold an 870?
No. The 870 page says you cannot apply for a permanent or temporary parent visa when you have applied for or hold this visa. The restriction bites from the moment the 870 application is lodged, not only once the visa is granted.
Can my parent work in Australia on an 870?
No. The visa does not carry work rights, and the official page states directly that you cannot work in Australia while you hold this visa.
How long can parents stay in Australia on 870 visas in total?
Each grant can run for up to 3 or 5 years, with a cumulative maximum of 10 years across all 870 visas held. Once the 10-year maximum is reached, the parent is not eligible for another 870 and must depart or apply for and be granted another kind of visa to remain in Australia.
Can one household sponsor both parents?
Yes, up to a point. A sponsor's sponsorship can cover up to 2 parents per household at a time, but the household is limited to one sponsorship at a time and the sponsor cannot lodge a new sponsorship application until the current approved sponsorship ends.
Do I get a refund if the 870 application is withdrawn or refused?
No. The department states that the visa application fee is not refunded if you withdraw your application, and not refunded if the application is refused.
Can the 870 be applied for from inside Australia?
Generally no. You must be outside Australia when you apply unless you have Permission to Apply in Australia, which may be approved in exceptional circumstances where the parent cannot depart Australia, for example because of a serious accident or serious illness (medical evidence must be provided) or a natural disaster preventing travel to the parent's home country.
What happens to a pending permanent parent application if the parent visits on an 870?
The eligibility wording says that if a permanent parent visa application has already been lodged, the parent may visit Australia but must not remain permanently while that application is being decided. The parent visa categories are governed by their own official pages, so confirm the current wording there.