Assurance of Support changes reversed

The government has reversed the amendments to the Assurance of Support criteria following public backlash in April this year.

In April 2018, the Minister for Human Services issued a new Social Security Determination which required assurers to have significantly higher incomes in order to be an eligible assurer.  The AoS is an important visa requirement for people wishing to sponsor their parents to live in Australia.  An AoS is a legal commitment in which the assurer agrees to pay back to the government any income support paid to a visa applicant once they arrived in Australia.

Assurers need to pass various tests in order to be eligible to give an AoS.  One of these tests is the Income Test which requires assurers to meet a certain level of income for the past three years.

The revised arrangements meant that many sponsors were no longer eligible to sponsor their parents to Australia, even though they had been waiting in the parent visa queue for many years.

The Minister has now issued an Amendment Determination which reinstates the previous requirements that applied to assurers.