Parent Visas

[Gollywobbler]

NB: Thread started by Gollywobbler on ENJA's behalf

Thanks for the advice CalNGary and for confirming it Alan. I broke the news to my parents last night that they may have to wait two years before I can sponsor them and they are still quite up beat about the move, it gives them more time to save the pennies.

From reading previous threads I have the idea that they can come over on a temporary visa for a year and then when my two years are up they can apply for the visa and that if we time it right these two visa's can overlap (I hope that makes sense). Could somebody please confirm this?

Also, from looking at the immigration site I think that there are two types of parent visa's; one with a 10-12 year waiting list and one with an immediate visa. With the immediate visa you need to make a lump sum payment. I just am not sure if this lump sum is returnable after a length of time (i.e. an investment/deposit) or it is a payment. Again, can anyone confirm this?

Thanks everyone

Enja

[Gollywobbler]

Hi again, Enja

At such an early stage, I don't think you need to be blinded with science! I assume that you are sure that your Parents will be able to satisfy the Balance of Family Test?

There are two types of Parent visa as you say. With the non-contributory Parent visa, the wait is a lot longer than 10 years. The example on the DIAC website talks of about 10 years assuming that the person was added to the Queue on something like 17 June 2003, which is almost four years ago. Therefore the real-time wait for this person is going to be more like 15 years by the time the process is finally over.

Currently, the Contributory Parent 143 visa (the one they all end up with even if they split the process into two stages) is taking 12-15 months to be processed and granted. At present, assume $30,000 AUD per parent for the visa itself. None of that is refundable. $1,340 of that is the cost of processing the application. The remainde - the bulk of it - is a Contribution to the parents' future health-care costs in Australia, since they are eligible for Medicare from the day they arrive in Australia.

In addition, the visa has to be supported by an Assurance of Support, backed up by a Bond. The amount of the Bond is presently $10,000 for a single parent or $14,000 for a couple. The money is held for 10 years and is then refunded in full so long as there have been no recoverable claims on Centrelink (social security) during that time. In the meanwhile, the Bank pays interest on the Bond every six months, so both the capital and the interest on this bit do come back to the family.

The Assurance of Support is a potential trap for the unwary, because the Assurer/s is/are required to prove a minumum level of net assessable income (ie income earned and taxable as income tax. Assets are irrelevant in this test.) For more information about the level of income reqiuired currently, please see this article by Alan Collett of Go Matilda, who also posts on this forum:

http://www.gomatilda.com/news/article.cfm?articleid=214

and also

http://www.gomatilda.com/news/article.cfm?articleid=391

You asked about long-stay tourist visas as well. Please see here:

http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/tourist/676/index.htm

There is no reason why the Parent cannot spend most of the wait for their CP visa in Australia if they want to, using one of these long-stay tourist visas. My mother did this last year. She now has a Contributory Parent 143 visa and is back in Australia as a Permanent Resident, so do not let anyone tell you that this cannot be done, chum!

Come back to me if you have any more queries, and it would be helpful if you could tell us your parents ages. When people want more info about what is possible, the age of the parent plays a big part in the way DIAC thinks.

Cheers

Gill

[ENJA]

Hi Gill,

You were mentioned on an earlier thread as the person in the know regarding Parent Visa's but I didn't know how to reach you. Thank you for starting the new thread.

My parents are both currently 60, and at the time it will come to them emigrating (given that it will be at least 3 years) they will own their house outright and so have decent lump sum along with at least my mum's pension. Do they have to have a certain amount of capital and guaranteed income when they arrive?

I had read on the Immigration website that they would need to pay $30,000 each and to be honest they will be coming to live with us and so are happy to pay that in order to start a new life, given that they will not have to buy a house. What would happen to the bond if they leave the country and move back to the UK?

The AoS shouldn't be a problem, I have already spoken to a recruitment agency over in Australia who have assured me that I won't have a problem gaining employment which will cover the AoS quite comfortably.

I am still not sure about the timings of the temporary visa, if they have a 12 month temporary visa and then apply for a premanent visa do they have to leave the country between the temporary visa running out and the permanent residence visa being granted? Do I need an agent?

I know that it is very early in the whole process to be thinking about my parents moving, but we are all very close (OH included) and them not being able to live with us could play a big part in the decision.

Thanks again Gill

Enja

[Gollywobbler]

Hi Enja

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I had a sore eye yesterday and couldn't tolerate the glare from the screen so I didn't really visit the forum at all and when I did, I couldn't read it!

I think the Bond is probably held for 10 years willy nilly unless the visa is cancelled for some reason. The Bond account pays interest every six months though.

If your parents apply for the Contributory Parent 143 or 173 visas, they must leave Australia in order for the visa to be granted. However, depending on which part of Oz your parents are in, either Singapore or Auckland will do for this purpose and they would only have to go there for about 5 days, so it isn't a big deal.

Whether they could make the application from inside Australia depends on whether or not Condition 8503 is imposed on the 676 tourist visa. DIAC has a discretion to impose it on a 676 visa, ad it is mandatory to impose it on the third such visa and any subsequent ones. The effect of Condition 8503 is that if your parents tried to apply for a CP visa from onshore in Oz, the application would not be valid and would be rejected, though they would get a refund of the fees in those circs.

However, it isn't a big deal if they do impose Condition 8503 because the one thing DIAC are NOT keen on is people trying to use tourist visas to "live" in Australia full-time as opposed to "just visiting." Having said that, they are pretty generous to British Parents who want to make long visits to Oz. I think that if you were to explain to them that your parents are really only wanting to mark time with the family whilst they wait until you can sponsor them for a CP visa, they would probably try to help out.

But they would have to leave Oz in between the tourist visas and preferably come back to the UK, because DIAC does like to see evidence that the Parent has a convincing reason for wanting to leave Oz when the tourist visa expires. So if Condition 8503 has been imposed, as it was on my mother, we simply sent her CP application while she was in the UK visiting me, and on the same day, I sent a second application to London, asking for another 676 visa for her, so that she could spend most of the wait for her CP visa in Oz. It worked like a charm. No probs at all. She came back to the UK before her CP visa was granted simply because that was the least-hassle option for Mum and ourselves.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Gill

[ENJA]

Hi Gill,

Thanks for the reply.

I hope the eye is better.

I will have to try to absorb all the information you sent me, all the numbers seem to blend into one and it does all seem really complicated. The more I look into the whole emmigrating business it seems that me and the OH could sort out our own visa's but we will need an agent for my parents.

My parents would probably be living with us on the temporary visa so I suppose it wouldn't look like they were trying to settle there on the temporary visa, but then again maybe they should not come over until the two years are up?!?!

Decisions, decisions.

[Gollywobbler]

Hi Enja

Honestly, there is no reason why your parents shouldn't spend a significant proportion of the time betweeon your arrival in Oz and the arrival of their CP visa out in Australia with you.

I know a couple who have to wait until June 2007 before they can apply for a CP visa. They have already made two long visits to Oz and arrived back in the UK very recently. They have come back here for a spell because they want to sort their house out (clearing out possessions hoarded for years etc) and to get it redecorated ready for sale. Once their CP application is in the system, they intend to go back out to Oz for another long visit so that they can investigate houses out there, decide which part of Sydney and the surrounding area they want to live in and so on.

Contributory Parent visas are relatively easy to do on your own - much less complicated than a skilled application, I'd say. I think you would be OK if you decided to handle your parents' application yourself because you'll have had 2-3 years to study it closely and repeatedly before you actually make the application.

However, I would also say that it is stressful - we didn't use an agent for my Mum's application and there were definitely times when it would have been nice to leave the responsibility (and fear about whether I might have slipped on a banana-skin somewhere) with somebody else!

Cheers

Gill