Bringing Your Parents to Melbourne: A Family Visa Guide
For many Nepali families in Melbourne, nothing feels more like home than having आमा and बुबा (aama and buba) close by. Here's a warm, plain-language guide to the main ways you can bring your parents to Australia — and help them settle in.
Visa rules, costs and processing times change often, and every family's situation is different. This guide is a friendly starting point — not legal or migration advice. Always confirm the latest details on the official Department of Home Affairs website, or speak with a registered migration agent (MARA) before you apply.
First, what do you actually want?
Before looking at visa names, it helps to be honest about what your family needs. Ask yourselves:
- A long visit — parents come for a few months for a festival, a new baby, or a holiday, then return to Nepal?
- To live here permanently — parents move to Melbourne for good, to be with you and the grandchildren?
- How soon? Some pathways are quick; others can take many years.
- What's the budget? Some visas are inexpensive; the permanent ones can be very costly.
Your answers point you to one of the three families of options below.
1 · Visiting Visas — for a holiday or a long stay
If your parents just want to visit — for Dashain, a graduation, or to meet a new grandchild — a visitor visa is usually the simplest place to start.
👵 Visitor Visa (subclass 600) Temporary
Lets parents visit for tourism or to see family, usually for up to 3, 6 or 12 months per visit depending on what's granted.
There is also a longer-stay Sponsored Family stream where you sponsor your parents and may need to pay a bond. Good for extended visits without committing to permanent migration.
For visitor visas, a clear letter of invitation, proof you can support them, and evidence they intend to return to Nepal all help. Encourage parents to keep ties to home (property, pension, community) documented.
2 · Permanent Parent Visas — to live here for good
These let your parents become permanent residents. They're the dream for many families — but they're also expensive and the queues can be very long. There are two broad routes: the faster contributory visas (higher cost) and the cheaper non-contributory ones (much longer wait).
✈️ Contributory Parent Visa (subclass 143 / 173) Permanent
The faster permanent route. Subclass 143 is the permanent visa; 173 is a temporary two-year step some families use to spread the cost.
Most families budget tens of thousands of dollars per parent for the contributory route, so plan finances early.
🏡 Parent Visa (subclass 103) Permanent · low cost
The cheaper permanent option — but the waiting list is very long (often quoted in decades). Suitable only if cost matters far more than time.
The "balance of family" test
Most parent visas require that at least half of your parents' children live permanently in Australia (or that more live here than in any other single country). If most of your siblings are still in Nepal, check this carefully — it can affect eligibility.
3 · Sponsored Parent (Temporary) Visa — subclass 870
👴 Sponsored Parent (Temporary) Visa (870) Temporary · up to 5 yrs
A middle path: parents can live in Australia for up to 3 or 5 years at a time (up to 10 years total across renewals) without committing to permanent migration. You must first be an approved sponsor.
Great for families who want parents here for long stretches — to help raise grandchildren — but aren't ready for (or eligible for) a permanent visa.
Money, health & the things people forget
- Health cover: parents on temporary visas usually aren't covered by Medicare — budget for private health insurance. Permanent residents generally are eligible.
- Assurance of Support: permanent parent visas often need a financial bond lodged with Centrelink, refunded after a set period.
- Health & character checks: all applicants do medicals and police checks.
- Processing waits: use the official "global visa processing times" tool for current estimates — don't rely on old forum posts.
- Apply on time: if a parent is already here on a visitor visa, note when it expires so they don't overstay.
Helping your parents settle in Melbourne 🏔️
Getting the visa is only half the story — the other half is helping आमा and बुबा feel at home in a new country. A few things that make a real difference:
🌿 A little settling-in checklist
- Connect them with the Nepali community — temples, cultural societies and senior groups (see our guide to Nepali organisations in Melbourne).
- Show them the Myki public transport card and a couple of easy routes.
- Find a Nepali-speaking GP or one used to interpreters.
- Point them to Nepali grocery stores and familiar food.
- Help them video-call relatives back home — it eases homesickness.
- Involve them in daily life — temple visits, walks, picking up grandkids — so they feel needed, not isolated.
Bringing parents over is a big, emotional, expensive journey — and a beautiful one. Take it step by step, get proper advice for your situation, and lean on the community. Having three generations under one roof, learning Nepali together, is worth every bit of the effort.
Quick recap
- Just visiting? → Visitor Visa (600), or its longer Sponsored Family stream.
- Long stay, not permanent? → Sponsored Parent (Temporary) Visa (870).
- Permanent, faster? → Contributory Parent Visa (143/173) — higher cost.
- Permanent, cheapest? → Parent Visa (103) — very long wait.