Sponsoring Your Parents' Visa To Australia - How Travel Frequency Between India And Australia Affects Your Application

Why does it matter if your mum has taken Australia to India Flights back and forth a lot? Once you understand how the immigration department assesses these applications, it all becomes very clear. There is a way for you to put together an application that reflects positively on your parents.

This guide outlines exactly how travel frequency impacts parents’ visa decisions, what the assessing officers look for in applications and how you, as the sponsoring son or daughter, can create a travel pattern and document trail that works for you. 

How is Travel Frequency Significant When Filing Visa Applications

Most temporary visa applications include a Genuine Temporary Entrant (GTE) requirement. This applies to Visitor visas (subclass 600), including the Sponsored Family stream, which many Indian families use to bring their parents for long-term visiting.

GTE is outlined as follows: The Department of Immigration needs to establish that your parents intend to come to Australia for a short period only and then return home to India. 

In order to make this decision, the case officers do not rely solely on the application form; they scrutinise previous visits to Australia on temporary visas and the total amount of time spent in Australia. If there appears to be a pattern showing that your parents have spent excessive time in Australia on temporary visas, this may raise doubts regarding the actual intention to remain temporarily in Australia and go back home.

They will also evaluate the travel history outside of Australia to ensure the person complied with the conditions of their visa and that their travel history supports their credibility.

Two Faces of the Same Situation

Your parents' frequency of Australia to India Flights can create positive and negative effects depending on the travel pattern:

• Positive travel pattern: If your parents repeatedly make regular and shorter visits to Australia with evidence of compliance, and they are maintaining their home, work, or community ties in India and meeting all conditions of their visa.

• Negative travel pattern: If your parents are making longer visits to Australia, which seem to become more like permanent residence.

The Families This Affects Most 

If you identify with any of the following, then the rest of the guide was created for you: 

Sandwich Generation Professionals

You are someone who moved to Australia to work or study about 10 years ago and are now an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Your parents were in India and are now getting older. You desire for your parents to visit frequently so that you no longer feel guilty about being away from them.

Recently Settled Couples

You are in a newlywed relationship, and both of you have recently achieved permanent residency. Both sets of parents want to come to visit you and, potentially, spend part of the year living with you. You are confused about whether inviting them to visit you through a visitor visa would be a better solution than a parent visa (subclass 870) and how your financially-related travel plans would affect those two alternatives.

The Visa Renewal Veteran

Your parents have visited Australia on visitor visas at least two or three times. Their first trip was okay, their second trip had a smaller visa grant than they thought they would get, and you now have concerns about what the 3rd application will look like.

The Long Game Planner

You aren’t going to be applying for anything, but you’re thinking about it and want your parents to visit Australia often, so they can have organised travel records when applying for the parent visa.

If you see yourself as one of these people, continue reading, because all of the practical information provided in this article is based on the examples above. 

Need to fly out fast? Book affordable flights to India from Australia and get there when it matters most. 

The Visa Pathways Where Travel History Plays a Role 

It's important to outline how the frequency of your travel may impact how each type of application works.

1. Visitor Visa (Subclass 600) - Family Sponsored Stream

The visitor visa is intended for Indian parents who want to visit their children in Australia. This visa is intended for temporary visits to family members living in Australia and usually allows stays for up to 12 months; however, this, and other types of applications below require the applicant to have an eligible sponsor in Australia.

Individual circumstances will affect your length of stay. Visitor visa holders can generally expect to receive visas that allow for stay lengths of 3, 6 or 12 months at a time. This is where the importance of your travel history will begin. A first-time applicant who has never travelled to Australia will be assessed differently from a parent who has previously visited Australia 5 times with an otherwise clean compliance record.

2. Sponsored Parent (Temporary) Visa - Subclass 870 

For families who wish to remain in Australia for extended periods, the 870 visa has gained popularity among applicants. The approved duration of the 870 Supported Parent (Temporary) Visa subsection determines the length of time a parent can reside in Australia (3 or 5 years), with an overall limitation of 10 years. The main eligibility requirement under this subsection is to obtain the Certificate of Sponsorship (CoS) from an approved Australian citizen or permanent resident sponsor before applying for this type of Parent Visa.

3. Permanent Parent Visas - Subclasses 103, 143, 173, 804, 864 

Permanent Parent Visas are available under the following categories (subclass): 103, 143, 173, 804, 864. In general, these Permanent Parent Visa categories serve as longer-term paths toward achieving Permanent Residency in Australia. 

Almost all Parent Visa categories in these subclasses serve as pathways to obtaining Permanent Residency, except subclass 870 and 173 visas. While travel frequency is less relevant than it was for other Parent Visas when determining eligibility and inclusion, a parent’s prior travel history to Australia may still be used to assess their character and the genuine nature of their relationships.

How Case Officers Read a Travel History

Let's look in detail at what is visible to a case officer when they review your parents' travel pattern.

Pattern 1: A Regular and Short Travel

Let us look at one specific example: Your father has travelled to Australia for 6 to 8 weeks every year and has been returning to India within the required time period for the last several years.

This pattern exemplifies what is typically looked at by a case officer as the "gold standard" of travel history:

• a regular reason for travel and reasonable certainty that he has returned to India each time he has travelled;
• that there are no diminishing ties to India 
• that he has complied with the terms of his visa and continues to comply with his visa requirements.
• Supporting evidence for a frequent traveller/returned traveller would include, but is not limited to:

Pattern 2: Length of Stay is Increasing

Now see the opposite scenario from your parents' previous pattern of visits: the first time they visited, they stayed for 3 months; the second visit, they stayed for 9 months; and now, they are requesting an additional 12-month stay.

It is this kind of increasing length of stay that case officers are trained to look for. A series of previous entries on temporary visas, where the amount of time they have spent in the country raises questions about whether the applicant truly intends to return after a temporary visit, is considered negatively in relation to the application. 

Pattern 3: History of Compliance

This aspect is not so much about the frequency of those trips, but rather the activities of the applicant while they were in Australia previously. If the applicant has visited or lived in Australia before, their compliance history with respect to the terms of their visa will weigh heavily in the consideration of their current application. Did your parents depart prior to the expiry of their visa? Did they undertake any work contrary to the visa? Did they apply for an extension only to have it refused? The applicant's credibility is established (or damaged) based on these factors and will be taken into account when determining future applications.

Pattern 4: No Travel History At All

It is interesting to note that if you are not a first-time applicant, then the lack of previous travel may not be a big deal, but because there is no prior travel history to support your application, you will have to substantiate your application with stronger evidence elsewhere. First-time applicants must provide stronger evidence in the form of a clear connection to India, strong financial support, a specific, credible reason for travelling to the Canadian border and a well-written support letter.

What Constitutes "Strong Connections to India" and Why is It Related to the Frequency of Travel?

In many areas of migration-related documents, one of the principles is that, when determining how tied to their home country a person is, travel frequency is just one indication, as it relates to the overall picture of ties. Each immigration officer will take into consideration: the applicant’s connections with their home country, which indicates how likely they return to their home country once they complete their visit.

Some of the more significant pieces of evidence that can be used to demonstrate strong ties to India by Indian parents are as follows:

• Ownership of property in India
• Ongoing income from a pension, investment or rental that requires the applicant to be present in India regularly
• Family members still living in India who rely on the applicant for their support or are being cared for by the applicant 
• Community, social, or religious obligations
• Continuity of medical care through an ongoing relationship 

There must be a match between the travel pattern you create and the story you are telling. If your father has a strong business relationship in India but has spent 10 of the past 12 months living in Australia, the case officer may see this as an inconsistency between your story and your father's travel pattern.

Practical Tips to Create an Ideal Travel Pattern

If you are at the beginning of your journey and are planning your parents' first trip to Australia, this gives you a special opportunity to build a travel pattern. This will allow you to establish a solid travel pattern that you can use in your future applications.

1. Start with Shorter Trips

Most applicants who were successful in applying for long-term stays had first travelled through Australia for 2-3 months before applying for a long-term stay. Therefore, it is better to build up your travel record, so you don’t lose credibility in the future by requesting a long return to Australia. 

2. Visits to Australia follow a fixed pattern

You will find that monthly or bi-annual visits aligned with a set occasion appear to be much more typical than visits that are unassociated, or follow one another back-to-back.

3. Keep a Log/Summary of Each Visit

You should keep a record of your boarding passes, passport stamps, the dates your parents departed Australia, and confirm that they did not extend their stay more than a couple of days. 

4. Keep Strong Links to India Between Visits

It does not mean that your parents' lives in India should just gradually come to an end because they are going to visit you more regularly in Australia. If your parents sell their property, stop using their local doctor, or terminate any subscriptions or memberships linked to their home in India, it will weaken the intention to return argument of your next application. 

5. Find the Right Visa to Match Your Plan

If your parents want to actually stay and spend as much time in Australia as possible for multiple years, a genuine application for the subclass 870 visa may provide them with a more sustainable way to stay in Australia than to keep applying for visitor visas.

What If Your Parents Has A Messy Travel History?

Having a messy travel history is not the end of the world for future applications. However, this will need to be addressed openly and honestly. 

• Don't Cover It Up: All information provided by evidence must be accurate and credible.

• Identify Changes Since Last Application: A new application can be successful if someone provides strong proof meeting the acceptable criteria and demonstrates that things have changed from the last application.

• Get A Second Opinion Before Re-Submitting: If a previous application was rejected solely based upon genuine temporary entrant issues, prior to re-lodging, it is worthwhile to get a professional migration agent's analysis of what went wrong. 

The Practical Side - Costs, Flights, and Family Logistics

Taking Australia to India flights back and forth is expensive and tiring for ageing parents who will have to endure long-haul flights, layovers, jet lag, etc.

Here are some helpful hints:

• Booking your flights to India from Australia early can help save you money and provide you with fixed-in-time documented travel dates to include in your application to the visa officer.

• Family emergencies, health problems or good news will often require you to make reservations from Australia to India on short notice.

• By comparing flights online, you can get affordable flights to India from Australia.

• If your family is regularly visiting each other, you can save time and money by using a travel company like Eazyfares Family Travel Solutions.

• Getting the travel logistics ensures that your parents are comfortable and establishes their travel history over time.

Quick Checklist Before Submitting Your Parents’ Next Application

Make sure you run through this list before submitting your parents' next visitor visa:

• Have you listed all previous visits (dates in, dates out, type of visa and whether the conditions were met)?
• Have your parents returned to India after every visit on time, without any overstays?
• Do you have evidence of a continuing connection with India?
• If your parents' previous stays have been increasing in duration, can you account for these changes, and is the duration being requested reasonable?
• Have you honestly addressed past issues such as overstays, refusals and breaches rather than hiding the facts?
• Is your sponsorship documentation, like proof of residency, income, and accommodation, still correct and consistent with what you have previously submitted?
• If this will be your parents' third, fourth or fifth visit to Australia, have you considered if applying for a longer-term visa (e.g. Subclass 870) would be more appropriate than continuing to make visitor visa applications?

Final Thoughts

The frequency of travel between India and Australia represents a key component in portraying a clear picture of your family's situation. If handled properly, this will build confidence in the Department of Home Affairs; however, if not handled properly, it will raise suspicion that can lead to the refusal or limitation of the granting of a visa.

You are ultimately in control of how you plan your travel and apply for a visa. By doing so, you will develop a pattern of travel that accurately reflects who your family is. This method will aid you in achieving your visa application requirements and will also assist you in staying close to your loved ones. For the best deals, search last minute flights to India from Australia at Eazyfares.