The ideal solution for bringing your parent or parents from Philippines to stay with you for a long time. They can stay for three years or they can stay for five years. And Sponsored Parent Visas may be renewed again, making it possible to have your parents stay for 10 years! 

We know all too well what this will mean to young parents including Australian Filipina couples, struggling with two jobs and daycare issues. I know I’ve been there. What could be better than having your parent in your home, as you would back in Philippines? 

Further details about Sponsored Parent Visas are here on the website.  

Sponsored Parent Visa – What is it?

It’s a temporary parent visa. At this stage there is no linking it to a permanent visa, but in most cases Filipino parents want to spend time visiting and helping to raise their grandchildren, and that means to be there for the formative years when they’re young and in need of a lot of hands-on care.

And this visa has two options – Three years and five years. And this may be doubled by applying again for a maximum stay of ten years!

And there is no “balance-of-family test”! You (or your spouse) can be the only one of mum and dad’s kids who left the Philippines, and that’s perfectly fine.

And yes, it’s pricey. No question about that, and yes of course the Government is profiteering. However as I’ll explain, it’s still a win-win situation. And it doesn’t mean you need a spare $50K+ like the permanent parent visa options. 

You need to earn a good income between the two of you, and you need to provide health insurance for your parent(s) whilst in Australia. The sponsor needs to be of good character with no history of violent crime. Mum or dad need to be of good character and in good health too. All of this is of course commonsense, and achievable for most people.  

Why is the parent visa great value for Australian Filipina parents?

Because Australia has an issue with child care! 

When I was a kid? Mums stayed at home. But those were the days when an Aussie factory worker could have his 1/4 acre bit of suburbia with a Hills Hoist and a lemon tree and a sprinkler for the kids to play under in summer and a place to park his second-hand EJ Holden. Mum vacuumed, washed, cooked and shopped, and played tennis with the girls on Thursdays. And she was home before you came home from school, so you never had to let yourself into the house. That was life in Australia prior to the 1980’s.

But then the house cost them a whole lot less, and Australian people were happy with fibro cottages. No one took overseas holidays, had boats or inground pools. I didn’t know anyone with a house with stairs, two cars or two TV sets. Life was cheaper, and therefore childcare was able to be provided by mum.

Not today! Most suburban houses in Australia cost more than 1/2 a million dollars, and that means two parents must work to pay this off. Babies come along, and the real stress starts. Paying the mortgage versus providing a safe and healthy upbringing and environment for your precious kids.

• Taking them to and from daycare centres
• Leaving them with people you don’t know or trust
• Paying the child care bill

Mum needs to earn a substantial salary to pay what may be a $500.00 a week childcare bill, and still have something left over to pay the mortgage! That’s reality! And it means packing up kids in the car, dropping them off where they probably don’t want to be, and racing to collect them in time every afternoon after work. Then getting home exhausted only to need to cook dinner and gets kids bathed and in bed. 

Parent Visas = Parents in your home

Imagine if your kids got to stay in their own home, with someone you trusted? Someone who actually loved them? And if your day ended by arriving home to a clean house, complete with clean kids and a yummy smell coming from the kitchen? Bliss, right?

So, suggest getting an assessment done. Most likely it can be done. And most of all remember that this is a long-term arrangement. 

The alternative is to try to get mum from Philippines on a tourist visa. Much cheaper, yes. But she won’t be able to stay more than 12 months in any 18 month period. Try to explain THAT one to your boss! And also look at the cost of daycare for your kids……then multiply that by the next five years! 

Then spend less than five minutes getting a free assessment done, and you decide if this is something you want to do.    

Jeff Harvie is a Registered Migration Agent from Australia, but resident in Philippines since 2010 with his Filipina wife Mila and large extended family. Experienced with the Philippines culture, cross-cultural relationships and bureaucracy as well as Australian visas and Australian Migration Law, he writes with authority and fortunately with enough informality and humour that the average Aussie gets it!