Australia - Assurance of Support (AoS)

You must be able to arrange for an assurance of support (AoS) to be given and the AoS bond paid if required to do so by the Department of Immigration.

Certain visa types require an Assurance of Support (AOS).

There are 2 types of AOS; Mandatory and Discretionary.

There is a Mandatory AOS requirement for Parent, Remaining & Aged Dependent Relative visas.

The Discretionary AOS can be applied by the Department of Immigration to a range of visas and is most often used where there is a sponsor and the sponsor may have a low income, for example in a Spouse application.

An AOS is a legal agreement whereby the assurer agrees to provide financial support to the migrant and family and to repay the Australian government any benefits paid to the visa holder and family during their first two years in Australia. The exception is the Contributory parent visa where the bond is held for ten years.

Your assurer does not have to be a relative but they must be able to meet the minimum taxable income requirements for each of the last 2 financial years. One to three people can combine to act as assurer and an AoS can also be given by a company.