An Assurance of Support is a guarantee that a new migrants will not take certain welfare payments within their first 2 years of residence in Australia. In Contributory parent cases the Assurance of Support period is 10 years.
It can be done by any Australian citizen or resident (or two Australians jointly).
The sponsor does not need to be the person who does the Assurance of Support.
A bond is often paid to secure the Assurance of Support.
The process requires an Australian (who does not need to be related to the migrant) to complete a form, have an interview and supply some documents about themselves. In some cases a bond must be paid as security against the possibility that the new migrant(s) may take the benefit of welfare payments. The welfare payments covered by an Assurance of Support are listed on the website shown below. The amount of this bond varies depending on your case, and is explained in the link below. The Assurance of Support is normally the last step in the visa assessment process. So, if Immigration requests an Assurance of Support it can mean that the other aspects of the application have been considered satisfactory. In some cases Immigration may issue a combined request for various documents including an Assurance of Support. This is normally done to try and reduce delays and backlogs. In those cases, the request does not indicate Immigration’s satisfaction with the other information. In all cases the person who signed the Assurance of Support is liable to pay back to the Australian Government the amount of any welfare payments received by the Migrant(s) during the term of the guarantee, even if that is more than the bond.
The Assurer must prove they had sufficient income over the past 2 years to pass the Assurance of Support means test. The amount of income required is different in every case. If the Assurer does not meet the necessary income level, you may use 2 Assurers added together to pass. In this case the families of both Assurers are taken into account when calculating the amount of income they must show. The processing of an Assurance of Support is not handled by the Immigration Department; it is done by a separate government department. Detailed information is available at:
http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/assurance-of-support
Most Assurers handle the process easily by themselves, but if assistance is required, please contact us.
An Assurance of Support is Parents migrating to Australia under the Contributory Parent Migration program
- The Assurance of Support lasts 10 years
- The amount of the bond is more (AUD10,000 for the first parent and AUD $4000 for the second parent)