Australian Retirement Visa: Parent Subclasses, Waits, and Costs

Australia does not offer a standalone retirement visa to new applicants. The dedicated Retirement visa (Subclass 410) and the Investor Retirement visa (Subclass 405) are both closed to first-time applicants, so anyone hoping to retire in Australia today has to go through a parent visa (if they have children who are Australian citizens or permanent residents), a temporary sponsored parent visa, or — for a small existing group — a renewal of a Subclass 405.¹² The realistic path depends on whether you have adult children settled in Australia, and every route carries substantial cost.

What Happened to the Old Retirement Visas

The Subclass 410 was designed for self-funded retirees with no working-age dependents and has been closed to new applicants for years. Former holders who haven’t held another substantive visa since their last entry to Australia can still reapply.¹ The Subclass 405 works the same way: only existing or former holders can apply.² If you’ve never held either visa, neither is an option, no matter how much you can invest or how self-funded you are.

Parent Visas: The Main Route

If you have at least one child who is an Australian citizen or permanent resident, parent visa streams under the Migration Regulations 1994 are the primary route to permanent residency in retirement.³ The choice between streams is really a choice between money and time.

Contributory Parent Visa (Subclass 143)

This is the offshore permanent option and the faster of the two. It costs from AUD 48,640 per applicant, split across two installments — a smaller first payment on lodgement and roughly AUD 43,600 as the second installment years later, just before grant.⁴ For a couple, that’s roughly AUD 97,000 in visa fees alone. Despite being called the fast track, estimated processing for new applications is around 15 years.⁵

Non-Contributory Parent Visa (Subclass 103)

Costs start at AUD 7,345 over two installments. The estimated wait is roughly 33 years for new applications, and as of February 2026 the department has only reached applications lodged by July 2013.⁵ That is not a typo. A 60-year-old lodging today would theoretically receive the visa at 93.

Aged Parent Visas for Applicants Already in Australia

If you’re onshore, two equivalent streams exist: the Aged Parent visa (Subclass 804) and the Contributory Aged Parent visa (Subclass 864). Eligibility requires you to be old enough to receive the Australian Age Pension, currently 67 or older.⁶⁷ Costs and wait times mirror the offshore versions: the contributory version (Subclass 864) totals AUD 48,640, and the non-contributory Subclass 804 sits with the Subclass 103 at a 33-year queue.

The Balance of Family Test Comes First

Every parent visa requires you to pass the balance of family test. You qualify if at least half your children are Australian citizens or permanent residents, or if you have more children living in Australia than in any other single country.⁸ Stepchildren count.

This is where many applications die before they start. If you have three children and only one lives in Australia, you don’t qualify, even if that child is the only relative willing to sponsor you. The test is assessed when you apply, and it doesn’t credit children who plan to migrate later.

Assurance of Support

Parent visas also require an Assurance of Support (AoS): a legal guarantee, given by your sponsor, that you won’t draw on social security. The sponsor lodges a refundable bond with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia — AUD 10,000 for one adult, AUD 14,000 for two adults. For contributory parent and contributory aged parent visas, the AoS period runs 10 years from your arrival or the date the permanent visa is granted.¹⁰

Your sponsor also has to pass an income test for the current and previous financial year. The threshold depends on how many dependents the sponsor has, how many adults are being assured, and whether co-assurers are involved. Services Australia provides an online calculator, and if your child can’t meet the threshold alone, up to two additional people can join as co-assurers.¹¹

How Long the Wait Really Is

Parent visas are subject to an annual cap. For 2025–26, the cap is 8,500 places across all parent visa streams, and demand vastly exceeds supply.¹² As of February 2026, the department has released Subclass 143 applications with a queue date up to November 2018 for final processing, and Subclass 103 and 804 applications only up to July 2013.⁵

This is why most applicants with the resources choose the contributory stream, and why the Subclass 870 has become so popular as a parallel strategy.

If You Already Hold a Subclass 405

Existing Subclass 405 holders can reapply for a renewal, though the requirements differ from the initial grant. You must maintain a designated investment of AUD 500,000, or AUD 250,000 if you live in regional Australia, held in an approved state or territory government security for the visa’s duration. You also need a net annual income of at least AUD 65,000, or AUD 50,000 if you live regionally; a partner’s income can be combined to meet the threshold.² The Subclass 405 remains a temporary visa — it does not grant permanent residency.

Health, Character, and Medicare

Every pathway requires you to pass health and character assessments. Medical examinations must be done by approved providers: Bupa Medical Visa Services inside Australia, or a department-approved panel physician overseas.¹³ The assessment centres on whether your health conditions would impose significant costs on Australia’s healthcare system. If any family member on the application fails, nobody in the unit gets the visa. Health waivers exist but are limited, weighing factors like whether refusal would force an Australian citizen sponsor to relocate overseas or harm Australian citizen minor children.

Under Section 501 of the Migration Act 1958, the Minister can refuse or cancel a visa for character reasons. A “substantial criminal record” — a sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment or more — is one of the clearest disqualifiers.¹⁴ The department may ask you to complete Form 80 and to provide police certificates from every country where you’ve lived a total of 12 months or more in the past decade, since turning 16.¹⁵

Medicare is the surprise that catches many retirees. If you’re waiting for a permanent parent visa to be granted, Services Australia specifically excludes you from enrolling in Medicare, even though other permanent residency applicants can access it while pending.¹⁶ If you live in Australia on a Bridging Visa while your parent visa processes — which could be many years — you’ll need private health insurance for the whole period. The same applies on a Subclass 870: keeping adequate private cover from an Australian provider is a visa condition, and letting it lapse can lead to cancellation.⁹ For applicants in their 60s and 70s, those premiums are not small. Build them into your budget from the start.

Tax and Retirement Income Before You Move

Relocating to Australia in retirement creates obligations in both countries if you’re coming from a jurisdiction like the United States. Australia and the U.S. have a bilateral tax treaty, but its treatment of pension distributions and retirement account withdrawals is notoriously ambiguous. The pension article doesn’t clearly resolve whether distributions from accounts like 401(k)s or IRAs are taxed by one country or both, and professional tax advice is essentially mandatory before the move.

U.S. Social Security payments can generally continue while you live abroad if you’re a U.S. citizen. Non-citizens face stricter rules and may see benefits suspended after six consecutive months outside the United States unless an exception applies. The SSA offers a screening tool to check whether your specific benefits will continue in Australia.¹⁷

Becoming an Australian tax resident triggers an obligation to report worldwide income to the Australian Taxation Office. If you’re still drawing retirement income from overseas, you may face double reporting, and the foreign income tax offset won’t always eliminate double taxation depending on the income type. Sort this out before you arrive rather than after.

1
Department of Home Affairs. Retirement Visa (Subclass 410)
2
Department of Home Affairs. Investor Retirement Visa (Subclass 405)
3
Federal Register of Legislation. Migration Regulations 1994
4
Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Contributory Parent Visa
5
Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Parent Visas – Queue Release Dates and Processing Times
6
Australian Government – Department of Home Affairs. Subclass 804 Aged Parent Visa
7
Services Australia. Who Can Get Age Pension
8
Department of Home Affairs. Balance of Family Test
9
Department of Home Affairs. Sponsored Parent (Temporary) Visa (Subclass 870)
10
Department of Home Affairs. Assurance of Support
11
Services Australia. Who Can Be an Assurer for an Assurance of Support
12
Department of Home Affairs. Permanent Migration Program Planning Levels
13
Department of Home Affairs. Arrange Your Health Examinations
14
Department of Home Affairs. Character Requirements for Visas
15
Australia in the USA. Visa Requirements – Character Requirements
16
Services Australia. Enrolling in Medicare if You Are an Australian Permanent Resident
17
Social Security Administration. SSA Payments Outside US