Assurance of support bonds for subclass 114 in 2026: who pays and how long it lasts

The bond is paid by whoever gives the assurance of support, and in a subclass 114 case that is normally the applicant's Australian sponsor — not the applicant. It is also not paid at lodgement. According to the Department of Home Affairs' Aged Dependent Relative visa (Subclass 114) page, as of the August 2026 official page, an applicant must be able to obtain an assurance of support, and the Department tells you when to provide it; the same page describes the assurance as a promise that the person covered will not have to rely on government assistance after entering Australia. Under the Migration Regulations 1994 the Minister must be satisfied at the time of decision that the assurance relating to the applicant has been accepted by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services (clause 114.225), and any secondary applicant must be included in that assurance or have one of their own accepted (clause 114.325).

What the visa page does not do is fix the amount or the duration. Those are administered by Services Australia, which is where the Department directs applicants for assurance of support. The figures recorded in the Department's procedural guidance (PAM3) for subclass 114 — a bond of about A$5,000 for the main applicant and about A$2,000 for each adult family member, over an assurance period of roughly two years — should be treated as a planning assumption only; Services Australia's current published requirements are what govern, and they are what you should budget against.

What is the assurance of support actually for?

Sponsorship and assurance of support are two separate undertakings, and confusing them is the usual reason people budget for the wrong thing. Sponsorship is the Form 40 Sponsorship for migration to Australia completed by the Australian relative — or by that relative's partner, provided the partner is living with the relative — and the sponsor must be at least 18, settled in Australia, and an Australian citizen, an Australian permanent resident, or an eligible New Zealand citizen. The Department must approve that sponsorship.

The assurance of support is the financial side. It exists to satisfy the Department that the person arriving will not fall back on government assistance, and it covers the applicant together with any family members who come to Australia on the same visa. It is a promise about the period after arrival, which is a different question from whether the applicant is eligible to be sponsored in the first place.

Who pays the bond — the sponsor or someone else?

The money comes from the assurer. In practice that is usually the sponsor, since the sponsor is the person in Australia who has already committed to supporting the relative and whose circumstances are already being examined. The two roles are not welded together, though: the Department's procedural guidance for subclass 114 contemplates the assurance being given by the sponsor or by a third party, and where one person's finances are not enough, more than one person can come together as joint assurers. Which arrangement is acceptable is determined by the agency assessing the assurance.

There is also a tension worth thinking through before money moves. A subclass 114 applicant has to show they were dependent on the Australian relative for basic needs — food, shelter and clothing — for at least three years before applying. An arrangement in which the applicant funds their own bond sits awkwardly against that dependency case, and the evidence supporting the application is built from the same financial relationship.

How much do you need to set aside?

The indicative figures recorded in the procedural guidance are:

Person covered by the assurance	Indicative bond
Main applicant	A$5,000
Each adult family member migrating on the visa	A$2,000

The count is not limited to the applicant. Because the assurance covers family members who come to Australia on this visa, a case carrying adult family members requires a larger sum than a single-applicant case, and the schedule for any other accompanying family members should be confirmed against the current official schedule. None of these amounts appear on the subclass 114 visa page itself, so they should be checked rather than assumed.

How long does the assurance last?

The assurance runs for a set period, not indefinitely. The procedural guidance records roughly two years as the usual assurance period for subclass 114, but the operative period is the one set when the assurance is accepted. For budgeting, what matters is that the money is committed for that entire period: it should be treated as unavailable for other purposes while the assurance runs, not as a one-off cost that is settled and forgotten.

That is the practical difference between the bond and the visa application charge. The charge is paid and gone. The bond ties up funds.

When does the money actually have to be in place?

Not at lodgement, and not at any point you choose. The visa page states that the Department will let you know when you need to provide the assurance of support, and the step-by-step guide for the visa repeats that you provide it when asked.

The surrounding payments run on a different clock. The subclass 114 application is a paper application made outside Australia on Form 47OF, with the first instalment of the visa application charge paid before the application is submitted. The second instalment is a late-stage payment: the Department sends an invoice for it after all other requirements for the visa have been met, and the visa cannot be granted without it. The realistic cash-flow picture is therefore a first instalment at lodgement, then — near the end of processing — the assurance of support bond and the second instalment, as separate sums.

How should the assurer plan the funding?

Three things make this easier if they are settled early rather than when the Department's letter arrives.

Have the bond in cash before the request comes. The request arrives late in processing, which is a poor moment to be assembling funds.
Keep it separate from the second instalment. Both fall due around the same stage, and neither can be funded out of the other.
Test whether one assurer is enough. If the sponsor alone cannot carry it, arranging joint assurers takes time, and that is worth discovering early.

Everything above describes how the published rules work in general terms and is not advice about any particular family's finances or application; confirm the current amounts and periods against the agencies' official guidance, and get a professional's opinion where your own circumstances are at stake.

What happens if the assurance is not accepted?

An accepted assurance is a criterion that must be satisfied at the time of decision, so the visa cannot be granted while it is missing. The procedural guidance lists an assurance that was not provided, or that was insufficient, among the common reasons these applications fail. The official page also states that the application fee is not refunded if the application is refused, which means the money spent on the visa application charge is not recovered even where the failure point was the assurance.

Both facts point the same way: the funding arrangement is worth resolving well before the Department asks for the assurance, because the request is the last step, not the first.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the applicant pay the assurance of support bond themselves?

No. The bond is lodged by the person giving the assurance, which is normally the Australian sponsor or another person in Australia. The applicant's obligation is to be able to obtain the assurance when the Department asks for it. This distinction matters especially for subclass 114, where the applicant must show they were dependent on the Australian relative for basic needs for at least three years before applying.

Can two people share the assurance of support?

Yes — the Department's procedural guidance for subclass 114 refers to joint assurers where one person's finances are not sufficient alone. Whether a particular combination is acceptable is decided by the agency assessing the assurance rather than by the visa page. Arranging it takes time, so it is better explored before the Department's request arrives than after.

How much is the subclass 114 assurance of support bond?

The figures recorded in the Department's procedural guidance are around A$5,000 for the main applicant and around A$2,000 for each adult family member covered. Neither the amount nor the schedule is set out on the subclass 114 visa page; the assurance is administered by Services Australia, whose current published figures are the ones to budget against.

Is the bond on top of the visa application charge?

Yes. The visa application charge is paid in instalments — the first when the paper application is lodged, the second after the Department invoices you once all other requirements have been met. The assurance of support bond is a separate sum lodged with the administering agency, and it needs to be budgeted alongside the second instalment rather than out of it.

How long does the assurance of support last?

The Department's procedural guidance records roughly two years as the usual assurance period for subclass 114, though the operative period is the one set when the assurance is accepted. Plan on the bond money being unavailable for other purposes for the whole of that period.

Do I need the assurance of support when I lodge the application?

No. The Department tells you when to provide it, and the step-by-step guide for this visa repeats that instruction. It is a time-of-decision requirement: under the Migration Regulations 1994, the Minister must be satisfied the assurance has been accepted by the Secretary of the Department of Social Services before the visa can be granted.

Does the assurance cover family members who are not migrating?

No. The visa page states that the assurance is for the applicant and any family members who come to Australia on this visa. Non-migrating family members fall outside it, although they may still be considered against other requirements such as health and character.