Do I need to be outside Australia when my 143 visa is decided in 2026?

Where you must be when your Contributory Parent (subclass 143) visa is decided, and which applicants may be in Australia at decision.

Published: 10 July 2026 Reading time 12 min

For most applicants, yes. Under the Australian Department of Home Affairs' Contributory Parent visa (subclass 143) official pages, checked as at July 2026, everyone except the three groups set out below must be outside Australia when the department decides the application — even though the same application could lawfully have been lodged while you were visiting family in Australia. This article explains general requirements rather than advice about one person's circumstances, so confirm the current published requirements before you plan travel around a decision.

Can I lodge a subclass 143 application while I am inside Australia?

Yes. You, and any family members applying with you, can be in or outside Australia when you lodge, as long as you are not in immigration clearance. Since 22 April 2026, applications must be lodged online through ImmiAccount; paper lodgement is only considered where a technical problem cannot be resolved through the department's technical support process.

One bar applies at the threshold: you cannot apply for this visa if you have already applied for, or hold, a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 870).

The mistake many applicants make is reading this lodgement rule as permission to stay. Being allowed to lodge onshore says nothing about where you must stand when the decision is made.

Where do you have to be when the decision is made?

Outside Australia, unless you fall into one of these categories:

you applied as a retiree under the Retirement visa pathway, or
you hold, or held, a Contributory Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 173) before you lodged, or
you hold, or held, a substituted Visitor visa (subclass 600) before you lodged.

"All other Contributory Parent applicants must be outside Australia when we make a decision on your application" — that is the default rule, and it operates separately from the lodgement rule.

Your situation	At lodgement	At decision
Standard sponsored applicant	In or outside Australia, not in immigration clearance	Outside Australia
Applied as a retiree	Must be in Australia, not in immigration clearance	In or outside Australia
Hold or held a subclass 173 before lodging	In or outside Australia, not in immigration clearance	In or outside Australia
Hold or held a substituted Visitor visa (subclass 600) before lodging	In or outside Australia, not in immigration clearance	In or outside Australia

Am I applying as a retiree?

This is a narrow category, not a lifestyle label. You can apply as a retiree if, on 8 May 2018, you held or had previously held an Investor Retirement visa (subclass 405) or a Retirement visa (subclass 410), you have not held any other substantive visa between 8 May 2018 and the date you applied, and you are in Australia.

Retiree applicants are spared parts of the usual framework: there is no balance of family test, no Assurance of Support, and no sponsor. In exchange, you are personally liable for your healthcare costs in Australia while the application is processed, and you must maintain adequate health insurance covering medically necessary treatment, including transport, until the visa is granted. Retiree applicants also cannot include their children, or their partner's children, and if a partner is added after lodgement they must be in Australia at that point.

Note the asymmetry: a retiree must be inside Australia at lodgement, and may be either inside or outside at decision. For everyone else it is roughly the reverse.

Does holding a subclass 173 keep me covered for the decision date?

Yes, provided you are genuinely within that pathway. Think of subclass 173 as stage one and subclass 143 as stage two: applying for the temporary visa first spreads the cost of the two applications across several years, and the balance of family test already met for the 173 carries over to the 143 if you apply before the temporary visa ceases.

Timing matters. You must apply for the subclass 143 before your subclass 173 expires, and the department encourages lodging stage two immediately after the 173 is granted. If your 173 ended within the 28 days before you apply, you are still treated as a 173 applicant; beyond 28 days, you need compelling and compassionate circumstances, supporting evidence, and ministerial satisfaction, or the application is processed as a standard application instead.

Can I wait out processing in Australia if I hold another visa?

You may remain in Australia during processing if you hold another valid visa, and you should make sure you stay lawful if your current temporary visa is close to expiry. A subclass 143 application gives you a bridging visa only if you applied through the Retirement visa pathway, you held a subclass 173 when you applied, or you are a family member of a subclass 173 holder.

That distinction catches people out. Holding another visa, or holding a bridging visa through one of those gateways, fixes your lawful status during the wait; it does not convert you into someone who may be in Australia at the moment of grant. The department also advises applicants not to arrange to stay permanently in Australia until the visa is granted, and it reminds applicants to keep phone, email, address, passport and family details current — it may write to you directly even where a sponsor's email or an authorised recipient is nominated.

The second instalment of the visa application charge must be paid before the visa will be granted; unpaid invoices lead to refusal.

What happens once the decision is made?

The department gives its decision in writing. If the visa is granted, the notice sets out your visa grant number, the date the visa starts, and the conditions attached, and you must enter Australia before the date specified in that letter. As a permanent visa it allows indefinite stay, work and study, enrolment in Medicare, and travel to and from Australia for five years from the grant date, after which a Resident Return visa (subclass 155 or 157) is needed to re-enter as a permanent resident. For citizenship purposes, permanent residency starts on the grant date if you were in Australia, or on the day you enter Australia on the visa if you were offshore.

If the visa is refused, the notice explains why and whether you have review rights. The application fee is not refunded.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I lodge my 143 application while visiting my children in Australia?

Yes. Applicants and any family members included in the application can be in or outside Australia at lodgement, provided no one is in immigration clearance. That permission covers lodgement only; unless you meet one of the three exceptions, you must be outside Australia when the department decides the application.

I hold a Visitor visa and my 143 seems close to decision — do I need to leave?

Yes, unless you applied as a retiree or you held a subclass 173 or a substituted Visitor visa (subclass 600) before lodging. Parent applications are capped and queued and the department does not provide progress updates within normal processing times, so plan travel well before the decision rather than at the last minute.

Does a bridging visa let me be in Australia when the 143 is granted?

Not on its own. A bridging visa attached to a subclass 143 application is only available to Retirement visa pathway applicants, people who held a subclass 173 when they applied, and family members of a subclass 173 holder. Even then, the separate question is whether you fall within the retiree, 173 or substituted 600 exceptions that allow an onshore decision.

I applied as a retiree — must I be offshore at decision?

No. Retiree applicants may be in or outside Australia when the decision is made, but they must have been in Australia, and not in immigration clearance, at lodgement. Adequate health insurance must be maintained until the visa is granted.

Can I apply for the 143 if I already hold a subclass 870 visa?

No. The eligibility requirements state that you cannot apply for this visa if you have already applied for or hold a Sponsored Parent (Temporary) visa (subclass 870). If you are already on that visa, your parent visa planning sits on the subclass 870 track rather than this one.

Where must family members included in my application be?

Family members applying with you can be in or outside Australia at lodgement, other than retiree applicants, whose accompanying partners must also be Retirement or Investor Retirement visa holders. Adding a dependent child after lodgement can be done whether they are in or outside Australia; adding a spouse or de facto partner to a retiree application requires them to be in Australia at that time.