864 Visa Requirements

You must meet every one of these criteria.

• Have a sponsor. Usually your eligible child, who must be a settled Australian citizen, Australian permanent resident, or eligible New Zealand citizen. The Department must approve the sponsorship. If your child is under 18, an eligible relative or community organisation can sponsor you instead. If the sponsor dies while the applicant holds a Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) subclass 884 visa, the applicant might still be eligible for the 864.

• Be old enough to receive the age pension in Australia.

• Meet the Balance of Family Test. Covered in its own section below.

• Have an Assurance of Support. You must be able to obtain one. The Department will tell you when to provide it.

• Meet the health requirement. Applies to you and any family members applying with you.

• Meet the character requirement. Applies to you and any family members applying with you.

• Have paid back any debt to the Australian Government. Or have an approved repayment arrangement in place.

• Not have had a visa cancelled or a previous application refused. Your immigration history is considered. Some exceptions apply.

• Sign the Australian Values Statement. Required if you're 18 or older.

• Best interests of the child. The Department won't grant this visa if doing so isn't in the best interests of an applicant under 18.

A retiree pathway (available on the 103) is not listed among the 864's eligibility criteria.

​

Applying via the 884-to-864 two-stage pathway

An applicant who holds, or has recently held, a Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) subclass 884 visa can apply for the 864 through a second-stage pathway, if one of the following applies:

• The applicant holds the 884 at the time of applying for the 864

• The applicant held the 884 at any point in the 28 days before applying

• More than 28 days have passed since the 884 ended, and the applicant can demonstrate compelling and compassionate circumstances to regain their previous visa status, with evidence, to the Minister's satisfaction

Applicants who qualify for this pathway have already met the Balance of Family Test through their 884 application and do not need to meet it again for the 864.

​

If none of these circumstances apply, the 864 application is processed as a standard application rather than through the two-stage pathway.

​

Applying for the 884 first, then the 864, spreads the total cost across two visas over a longer period. According to the Department, this two-step total cost is higher than applying directly for the 864 — the benefit is timing the payments, not reducing them.

​

The Balance of Family Test

You must pass this test to be eligible for the 864, unless you qualify for the 884-to-864 pathway above.

​

You pass if:

• At least half of your children and stepchildren are "eligible children" — Australian citizens, or Australian permanent residents or eligible New Zealand citizens who usually live in Australia, or

• More of your eligible children live in Australia than in any other single country

​

The Department will not waive this test for compelling or exceptional circumstances.

​

A child living in Australia on a temporary visa does not count as "usually resident" for this test. Only citizens, permanent residents, and eligible New Zealand citizens count.

​

Example calculation

Four children, two living permanently in Australia and the other two living in two different countries (one each): passes the test, since two eligible children is more than the one child living in any single other country.

Four children, one living permanently in Australia and the other three split across three different countries: fails the test.

​

How to apply 864 Visa Australia: the 5-step process

Step 1 — Before you apply. Confirm you, and anyone applying with you, hold a valid passport. You can arrange someone to act on your behalf.

Step 2 — Gather your documents. This includes:

• Identity documents

• Sponsor documents

• Balance of Family Test evidence (unless already met through the 884-to-864 pathway)

• Character documents

• Assurance of Support evidence

• Partner and dependant documents, if applicable

• Photographs

Step 3 — Apply online via ImmiAccount. The Department's "About this visa" page for the 864 states the applicant must be in Australia (not in immigration clearance) when applying. Its "Step by step" page states more generally that an applicant can be in or outside Australia when submitting, unless applying as a retiree. Since these two pages give different guidance, confirm your onshore/offshore status requirement directly with the Department before lodging. You cannot apply if you already hold or have applied for the 870 visa.

Step 4 — After you apply. The Department confirms receipt of your application and documents. Health examinations are requested when the Department is ready for them. The second instalment must be paid when invoiced, or the application is refused.

Step 5 — Visa outcome. You must be in Australia (not in immigration clearance) when the Department decides. If granted, the Department provides your visa grant number, start date, and conditions in writing. If refused, the Department states the reason and whether a review right applies. The application fee is not refunded on refusal.

​

864 Visa Australia Costs

The AUD 49,900 figure is the visa application charge only. Additional costs:

• Assurance of Support bond — AUD 10,000 for one adult, AUD 14,000 for two adults, from an individual assurer (AUD 20,000 from an organisation). Held for 10 years from the date of grant or arrival.

• Health examinations for each applicant

• Police certificates — required from each country where an applicant lived for 12 months or more (cumulative) in the past 10 years

• Certified translations of non-English documents

• Migration agent fees, if engaged

​

Costs may be lower for applicants who previously held a Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) subclass 884 visa, or a substituted Visitor (subclass 600) visa — the 864 instalment itself is reduced for these applicants, per the Department.

 

Separately, the Department states the combined 884-then-864 total is higher than applying directly for the 864 (see the 884-to-864 pathway section above). Read together, this implies the earlier 884 payment outweighs the later 864 discount — the Department does not spell out this arithmetic explicitly.

​

Timing of the Assurance of Support, health checks, and police certificates

Services Australia requests the Assurance of Support bond only once the application is close to final processing. The Department requests health examinations and police certificates on the same basis — not at the time of lodgement.

​

864 Visa Processing Time and Queue

As at 31 May 2026, the Department had released Contributory Aged Parent visa applications with a queue date up to November 2018 for final processing. New applications are acknowledged within approximately 4 weeks of lodgement; lodgements from around April 2023 were being assessed against core criteria. The Department's current processing time estimate for new applications is 15 years.

​

Applications are processed in lodgement-date order under the Department's capping and queueing arrangements.

​

Medicare and health cover while the 864 is processed

According to Services Australia, an 864 applicant can enrol in Medicare once the visa is granted. Before grant, Medicare enrolment is available only if the applicant is from a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) country and meets that country's RHCA conditions. This is the same rule that applies to the 103, 143, and 804 Parent visa subclasses.

​

Bridging visa while the 864 is in the queue

The applicant must be in Australia when the Department decides the 864 application, and — per the Department's "About this visa" page — generally when applying too (see the note under Step 3 above on this point).

 

The Department's Bridging Visa A (subclass 010) allows a person to stay in Australia after their current substantive visa ceases, while a further substantive visa application is being processed. Whether one is granted, and its conditions, depends on individual circumstances — check with the Department before the current visa expires.

​

A Bridging Visa A does not permit overseas travel. The Department's Bridging Visa B (subclass 020) allows a person on a Bridging Visa A to leave and return to Australia once while the substantive application is still being processed.

​

What the visa allows once granted

A granted 864 visa allows the holder to:

• Stay in Australia indefinitely

• Work and study

• Enrol in Medicare

• Travel to and from Australia for 5 years from the date of grant

• Sponsor other eligible family members

• Apply for Australian citizenship, once the residence requirement is met

Under Services Australia's residence rules, the Age Pension requires 10 years as an Australian resident (with at least 5 of those years continuous) before it can be claimed. This applies regardless of the applicant's age at grant.

​

Frequently asked questions

What's the difference between the 864 and the 804?

Both require the applicant to be in Australia and to be old enough for the age pension. The 864 costs from AUD 49,900, with an estimated processing time of 15 years, and requires an Assurance of Support bond of AUD 10,000/AUD 14,000. The 804 costs from AUD 8,665, with an estimated processing time of 33 years, and requires a smaller AUD 5,000/AUD 7,000 bond.

​

Is applying for the 884 first, then the 864, cheaper than applying directly for the 864?

No. According to the Department, the two-step total cost is higher than applying directly for the 864 — the benefit of the two-stage pathway is spreading payments over a longer period, not reducing the total amount.

​

Do I need to meet the Balance of Family Test again if I already met it on my 884 visa?

No. Applicants who held, or recently held, the 884 have already met the Balance of Family Test and do not need to meet it again for the 864.

​

Can I access Medicare while the 864 is being processed?

Only if you're from a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) country and meet that country's RHCA conditions, per Services Australia. Otherwise, Medicare enrolment becomes available once the 864 is granted.

​

What happens if my sponsor dies while I hold the 884 visa?

The applicant might still be eligible for the 864 in this circumstance, per the Department's guidance on sponsors.