Hello Robles
Welcome to Poms in Oz.
For an Aged Parent visa to be launched, the Parent must be in Australia at the time when the visa application is made. The Parent must also be in Australia at the time when the visa is granted. The theory goes that the fact that there will be a gap of many years between the two is not the applicant's fault, so the applicant goes onto a Bridging Visa during the wait. More information is here:
http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1024i.pdf
Note that in the Mediare section it specifically says that the holder of a Bridging Visa who has applied for a Parent visa is not entitled to Medicare. I do not know whetherr the Reciprocal Health Care Agreement between the UK and Oz would kick in so as to provide limited Medicare for a British Parent in this situation, regardless of Form 1024i. Please see here:
Visitors to Australia - Medicare Australia
I suspect that the first question is what is the exact legal status of a Bridging Visa holder? Is s/he a visitor to Australia? If not then what is s/he because s/he clearly isn't a resident of Australia either?
I don't know enough about the legal intricacies to be able to answer my own question. I also think much depends on what Medicare's actual practice is, regardless of anything that the RHCA might say.
However, the day when somebody is admitted to Intensive Care at potentially colossal expense is no time to be wondering about who is going to be responsible for a whoppig medical bill, so do please bear this query in mind.
The second thing you need to consider is how to get the prospective Aged Parent visa applicant into Australia in the first place? After all, if people can simply emigrate to Australia lock, stock & barrel on the strength of nothing more than a tourist visa, what is the point of any of the rest of Australia's migration legislation?
DIAC give out a really mixed message on this one. The legislation states categorically that tourist visas may not be granted unless the applicant states a clear intention to only make a short visit to Australia for the purpose of tourism. The proposed purpose of the visit and also the proposed duration of stay in Australia are questions which are asked in the application form for a tourist visa, whether that is made on line or on paper. These questions are both repeated in the passenger card that the person must complete on the plane. It is possible that the person could be asked these two questions a third time at Immigration Control at the airport in Oz.
Clearly if the person reveals that the real purpose of the visit is permanent migration to Oz and that the proposed duration of the visit is indefinite, the visa will not be forthcoming. If the truth is revealed on the passenger card or at Immi Control, there is a risk that the visa will be cancelled on the spot once the truth emerges.
It is therefore unwise to take this sort of idea for granted because it might not prove to be possible in practice.
You should really take legal advice from a solicitor or a Migration Agent in Australia about your proposals because it is not necessarily as easy to make them work satisfactorily in practice as you might imagine at this early stage in your planning.
However if the Parent succeeds in entering Oz and the visa s/he is holding is not lumbered by Condition 8503 - no further stay - then the remainder works as I have described above. Long stay tourist visas can attract Condition 8503. 90-day ETA visas cannot, but please note the circumstances in which a 90-day ETA can be granted. More information about Condition 8503 is here:
http://www.immi.gov.au/media/fact-sh...a_condition.ht
Best wishes
Gill
