Medicare Eligibility for Subclass 864 visa holders and Applicants.
You can enrol for Medicare if you hold a permanent contributory parent visa subclass 864.
A Subclass 864 visa is a Contributory Aged Parent visa.
This visa allows the holder to:
- stay in Australia as a permanent resident
- work and study in Australia
- enrol in Australia’s public health care scheme, Medicare.
Is a subclass 864 applicant eligible for Medicare?
Some applicants for a permanent residency visa in Australia are permitted to enrol for Medicare even before their visa is granted.
This has caused some Permanent Visa applicants to think that they can apply for Medicare while waiting for their Permanent visa to be granted, even though they are not actually eligible.
A quick read of this statement from Centrelink needs to be read carefully.
You can enrol in Medicare if you live in Australia and have applied for either:
a permanent residency visa, except for a parent visa.
a permanent protection visa.
Source: www.servicesaustralia.gov.au
It actually means that a person that has only APPLIED for a Parent Visa is NOT yet eligible for Medicare in Australia.
It does go on to say that you can enrol if either of these apply:
- you’ve applied for a contributory parent visa and have a temporary 173 or 884 visa.
- you have a permanent contributory parent visa subclass 143 or 864.
This means that once the 864 is granted, the holder is eligible.
It also means than if the applicant for an 864 visa already holds a temporary 173 or 884 visa, they are also eligible for Medicare.