Onshore Aged Parent Visa Refusals: Department Confirms Withdraw-and-Relodge Pathway

The Department of Home Affairs has responded to concerns about a series of refusals affecting onshore Aged Parent (subclass 804) and Contributory Aged Parent (subclass 864) applicants.

The issue affects a narrow group of cases: families where the parent who lodged the application has since passed away, leaving a surviving partner who had not yet reached pension age (currently 67) when the application was first made.

What the Department Has Confirmed

The Department has confirmed that a compassionate measure first introduced in July 2025 continues to apply to this group. Under that policy, a former secondary applicant who was not old enough to qualify for the Australian age pension when the application was lodged — but who has since reached the qualifying age — has the option to withdraw their existing application and lodge a fresh one for an Aged Parent (subclass 804), Contributory Aged Parent (subclass 864), Contributory Aged Parent (Temporary) (subclass 884), or another visa suited to their circumstances.

To avoid disadvantaging these families, a new application can be treated as carrying the queue date of the original application. This only applies, however, where the earlier application had already been assigned a queue date.

The Queue-Date Question Still Being Tested

According to the Department, all of the refusals issued this year involved applicants whose applications had not yet been assigned a queue date.

Therefore, whether or not an application carries a queue date can determine whether the withdraw-and-relodge pathway preserves their place in the queue.

Applicants Must Be Contacted Before a Refusal

The Department has acknowledged that its processing team had not been contacting every applicant to explain their options and offer the chance to withdraw before a decision was finalised. It has since reaffirmed internally that all applicants — whether or not their application carries a queue date — are to be contacted before any negative decision is made.

This is a meaningful safeguard, but it depends on consistent implementation, and no one in this situation should simply assume they will be approached.

Our View: Know Your Options Before Acting

Review rights after a refusal are strictly time-limited, so seek help promptly if a decision has already been made to refuse your application.

If an application is still in progress, avoid withdrawing or re-lodging until you understand whether a queue date is attached and what that means for your place in the queue.

Arta Migration is monitoring this issue closely and will share further updates as the Department clarifies its position. In the meantime, you can read our earlier coverage of the aged parent refusals escalation or how Parent visa applications have moved online, or contact us for advice tailored to your circumstances.

This article is based on information published by the Migration Institute of Australia (MIA Notice 66, 26 June 2026). It has been summarised and reworded by Arta Migration, with the MIA acknowledged as the original source.