Subclass 143 visa document checklist (Contributory Parent)

The Contributory Parent visa (subclass 143) is a permanent visa that lets a parent of a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen move to Australia. The visa charge is paid in 2 instalments. Home Affairs states that demand for Parent visas is greater than the places available each year, applications are capped and queued and processed in the order received, and processing times are long. This checklist is a starting point as at November 2026; confirm each item on the Home Affairs subclass 143 page before lodging.

Key numbers (as at November 2026)

• Balance of family test: at least half of the applicant's children and step-children are eligible children, or more eligible children live in Australia than in any other single country. Holders of a subclass 173 visa have already met it.
• Instalments: the first when applying, the second when Home Affairs asks for it.
• Sponsor support: the sponsor agrees to provide support, housing and financial help for the applicant's first 2 years in Australia.
• From subclass 173: apply while holding the Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 173), or within 28 days after it ends.

Streams

• Sponsored parent: sponsored by a settled child, or for a child under 18 by an eligible relative, guardian or community organisation. Needs the balance of family test and an Assurance of Support.
• Subclass 173 holder: the second step after the temporary visa. Fewer documents are needed: those showing any change since the 173 grant, such as a new passport, a new partner or baby, a dependant who no longer qualifies, a new sponsor or the sponsor's death.
• Retiree (Retirement visa pathway): applied for in Australia. No sponsor, balance of family test or Assurance of Support, and children cannot be included.

Documents from the sponsor

• Relationship to the applicant: birth, marriage, death or adoption certificates, or an officially issued family book
• Citizenship or residence: citizenship certificate, passport, or visa for an eligible New Zealand citizen, plus evidence the sponsor is settled in Australia
• Community organisation sponsor: certificate of registration, authority for the representative, evidence it is lawfully established and has operated in Australia for at least 1 year, its financial capacity, and its relationship with the applicant's child
• Sponsorship: Form 40

Documents from the applicant

• Identity: passport bio pages and national identity card; evidence of any change of name
• Balance of family: evidence of how the applicant is related to each child, each child's citizenship or country of permanent residence, and the reason any child is not counted, such as a death certificate; not needed for a subclass 173 holder
• Assurance of Support: when Home Affairs asks for it. It can come from the sponsor or anyone else, including more than one person or an organisation
• Existing application: withdraw any other Parent visa application still undecided
• Character: Police certificates from each country where the applicant has spent a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning 16, including an Australian Federal Police check where it applies. Home Affairs asks for them during processing; do not arrange them before it does
• Health: Health examinations, when Home Affairs asks for them
• Photographs: 4 recent passport-size photos (45 mm × 35 mm) of each person included
• Partner: identity and character documents, the marriage certificate or evidence of at least 12 months as de facto partners (joint accounts, bills, leases, a shared address), and documents on former relationships
• Children under 18: identity and relationship documents; Form 1229 or a statutory declaration from anyone with a legal right to decide where the child lives who is not migrating, with their signed photo ID
• Children 18 or over: under 23 and dependent, or 23 or over and unable to support themselves through disability; identity, relationship and character documents, Form 47A, and evidence of at least 12 months' financial dependency

Collect it with Immiluma

Build this checklist once as a visa template in Immiluma, or have the assistant draft it from this page. Each matter sends it to the client's portal, the parent and sponsoring child upload against each item, and you review each document beside it. A parent moving from subclass 173 keeps the same client record, so the earlier documents are already there. See all visa checklists.