Government changes parent visa rules amid COVID-19 restrictions, allowing applicants to stay in Australia

People who have applied for a parent visa will now be allowed to stay in Australia while their applications are processed, under a temporary change announced by the Federal Government.

Under the previous rules, applicants who started the process overseas but were now in Australia needed to travel offshore to be granted the visa.

But some families argued that was too difficult because of coronavirus travel restrictions on leaving the country, and passenger caps to re-enter.

It led one family to consider…