Qflyer

Merry Christmas gang! I hope it was a wonderful day with your loved ones, filled with food comas and crushing hangovers.

Question around the 'settled' citizen requirement please... 

I lodged my parents' contributory PR application back in Sept 2017 which means they are unlikely to be granted the visa for at another 3-4 years at least...

My partner and I have lived in Sydney since 2015 but are thinking about moving back to Melbourne. Will this mean I'm no longer a 'settled' Australian citizen until I've lived in Melbourne for a further 2 years? I've been living in Australia since 2002 - Melbourne originally, but have moved to Brisbane and then Sydney for employment opportunities.

I understand 'settled' to mean I as the sponsor need to be living in the same place for 2 years but am unclear on how they define the location - must the 2 years be spent in the same postcode / city / state / country etc...?

Of course we could always wait till my parents have been granted their PR but it seems a little silly to have to put any plans on hold (particularly with rapidly rising house prices) when there's so much ambiguity around processing times.

12 hours ago, Flangela100 said:

Hi

Does anyone know which airlines are actually flying from Europe to Australia?

Cheers

Angela

Qatar is still flying to Australia and from all accounts, little reduction in inflight service and amenity since pre-COVID.

Best to check transit requirements to ensure you are actually allowed to travel on a transit itinerary via their hubs but others that are technically operating to both Europe & Australia include Emirates, Cathay, All Nippon Airways, Singapore Airlines.

3 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

I wouldn’t bother ringing up as it’s unlikely you’ll get a true answer. Your parents probably have in excess of another three years to wait so you’re better off just getting on with life and at some point in the future that long awaited email will appear. You’ll be able to see on here when it’s getting closer too. 

I just started a part-time MBA and am planning to go on exchange to the US in 2023, assuming COVID gets sorted by then (and 2023 is looking aspirational at this stage given the flipping thing doesn't look like it's even peaked). Whilst I certainly hope for an optimal outcome and can't wait to have them in Oz, I'm kind of hoping to not have to bother with all the paperwork during the 3-4 months I'm away haha, as I'll be away in a third country! Sod's law etc.

Thanks! Just re-read the website and realised that to be the case. Phew. Thought it's a piece of info that I'd completely overlooked.

How do I find out what the queue date is for my parents' 143- short of calling up? I believe I only have a lodgement date (that up till now have mistakenly believed it's the same thing as the queue date).

11 minutes ago, LindaH27 said:

I’m not sure on that but it’s highly unlikely your parents visa will be granted when you say so you have time to finish your course etc and clear the debt  

It’s more  likely that September  2017 applications won’t be ready for processing until 2024 and possibly even later. The queue  had spikes  in both 2016 and 2017 when large numbers lodged their applications.   May/ June 2017 had around 9000 applications just in those two months alone and only 6000 per year are granted so just those two months will take at least 18 - 24 months to be processed.  

 

Whoa... ok! Serves us right for procrastinating! We started on the paperwork around Mar-Apr 2017 believe it or not, but then it took some dithering (some on my part) whilst we worked out what we needed and information we needed to gather (like evidence that my dad had been discharged from the Malaysian armed forces back in the 60s), and didn't end up lodging the thing until September. 

With the AoS, what exactly does Centrelink assess other than income? Is the assessment criteria like applying for any other kind of finance?

I've been accepted into a postgraduate degree course, starting this November, and unfortunately will have to incur a FEE-HELP debt. My parents lodged their 143 in Sept 2017, so should be up for assessment in late 2021/early 2022. I'll be studying part-time (1-2 subjects per semester) over 3 years whilst working full time so at least the debt will be drip-fed on a subject-by-subject basis rather than the full whack all at once by the time they're up for assessment.

Will "debt to the Commonwealth" impact my chances of sponsoring my parents?

Otherwise I earn a pretty healthy (6 figure) salary so have no issues meeting the income requirement. Also have a mortgage if that makes a difference.

Thanks all

On 23/08/2018 at 10:19, Qflyer said:

My parents are in the queue for a subclass 143.

 

The old man had a health scare last night - "acute pulmonary oedema secondary / hypertensive emergency" last night (fluid in lungs due to heart failure). Thankfully he's out of the woods now, just needs to stay a couple of nights in hospital. 

 

We've been DIYing their application so far. They're a few years away from having their visa application assessed. Would Dad's health scare warrant going to an Agent for assistance? I'm nervous about the implications this might have on his health assessment when the time comes.

 

Also, they're in Malaysia whereas I'm in Sydney. I've been coordinating the paperwork to date. Would people recommend an Agent in Sydney or should an Agent also be based where they live? (they aren't too tech savvy but Mum has grasped email and Facebook). 

Friendly bump...

Think I know the answer to my own question (which is to get an agent) but just wanted a sanity check...

My parents are in the queue for a subclass 143.

The old man had a health scare last night - "acute pulmonary oedema secondary / hypertensive emergency" last night (fluid in lungs due to heart failure). Thankfully he's out of the woods now, just needs to stay a couple of nights in hospital. 

We've been DIYing their application so far. They're a few years away from having their visa application assessed. Would Dad's health scare warrant going to an Agent for assistance? I'm nervous about the implications this might have on his health assessment when the time comes.

Also, they're in Malaysia whereas I'm in Sydney. I've been coordinating the paperwork to date. Would people recommend an Agent in Sydney or should an Agent also be based where they live? (they aren't too tech savvy but Mum has grasped email and Facebook). 

5 hours ago, Wishfull said:

Have any retirees who have moved to Oz and are now permanent residents had any difficulty in acquiring a credit card from their bank and did they have a lengthy waiting period before this was granted?

If you have an American Express account overseas you can initiate a global transfer to set up an AMEX card in Australia. Friends who have moved to the US found this very useful as it is very difficult to build a decent credit score over there.

https://www.americanexpress.com/global-card-transfers/

I'm assuming they can visit as tourists as often as they like (to the extent that an ETA allows) - do my parents have to flag upcoming visits with IMMI as whilst waiting for their application to be processed? They don't tend to stay more than a fortnight at a time.

28 minutes ago, Kpnuts said:

Everything IMMI do is by email so that’s the efficient bit. The frustration is simply the wait and lack of formal acknowledgement of documents.

That's good to know re use of email. 

When I applied for my (onshore)  partner visa back in 2010 it was all snail mail. In fact I nearly lost my visa grant letter as Australia Post for some inexplicable reason didn't let me know I had mail waiting for me at the Post Office until I suddenly received the final mail pick up notice. 

13 hours ago, Kpnuts said:

It does become a black hole. My daughter was the nominated sponsor and receiving agent on our be half. After the first stage nothing went to her at all; it all came to me with her on the address header. Some emails were sent, some were responded to and others ignored.

Did they at least email you or was a lot of time wasted on snail mail? Would hope they at least use email. I set up a Gmail account for Mum who's the main applicant and taught her how to use it with great success recently. Dad's Gmail account on the other hand is still gathering dust...

10 hours ago, Kathss56 said:

Well my friend and I haven't had the  request. At least you should just be able to copy it all over if need be anyway!

Yeah that's what I figured. And I've just realised that you can type into the PDF file - I have been handwriting them all this while! They filled out Form 956 appointing me as an exempt person providing assistance so that I'm the designated form filler and all they have to do is sign the things. Being able to type into the form and emailing it to them for printing and signing would have saved me a bit on postage. Ah well, never mind.

1 hour ago, Kathss56 said:

Not so sure you can do form 80 so early. After all it asks for last 10 yrs travel dates which you still have 3 yrs to add etc.,

Hmm, ok, maybe the goal posts have changed but previous posts I've read led us to think that Form 80 is requested when the acknowledgement letter is sent; hence I organised for the olds to complete it in anticipation of the acknowledgement letter, and am surprised that no such request has been made. Oh well, they will just re-do it in a few years if they  have to.

26 minutes ago, Cerberus1 said:

I wouldn’t be 100% certain that the visa fee will count towards the $4,000 spend.  Spending on ‘Govt fees and charges’ doesn’t earn points. Most credit cards clamped down on this (or the regulator clamped down) some time ago. 

Still works for NAB. Their only exclusion is gambling transactions, and "govt fees and charges" usually relate to things charged to your bank account like stamp duties and the like unless a merchant has specifically spelt out a broader exclusion. This ranges from the likes of Citi (and all white label cards issued by them - Virgin Money, Qantas Premier etc) which precludes any form of spend at government-related merchants for Points accrual (this extends to an otherwise eligible merchant like a café operating out of a government building), to other less restrictive issuers which only exclude ATO expenditure.

The blanket prohibition by Citi is annoying as I use one of their white label cards as my back up non-AMEX card, but lots of ways and means to get around it. For example, in Sydney you can top up your Opal card at Coles/Woolies where the transaction isn't a government-transaction and thus earn Points whereas transacting with Opal directly will not get you Points; you can also sometimes pay Council rates via Paypal to avoid the transaction being classified as 'government.'

In any case I ended up passing up on the 60k NAB offer but they then ran a 90k bonus Points offer a few days later with the same mechanic. As we didn't know when the visa charge was going to come through we put the other half's dental surgery (at a non-government facility) on the card which instantly qualified for the bonus Points (ouch...). The visa fee got put through an ANZ card where I know it definitely qualifies for Points based on recent and anecdotal experiences.

My parents have just joined the Contributory Parents visa hamster wheel with me as sponsor. The application was arrived at the Department on 21 September, and I've just received the acknowledgement letter and tax invoice for the first visa application charge. Even though it seems like we still have a long way to go, there was something satisfying about receiving the first piece of correspondence from the Department about the application on Saturday afternoon (clearly someone is working overtime due to the backlog).

I was expecting a laundry list of "what's next" in the Acknowledgement letter, but all it said was the application hasn't been assessed and that they'll be in touch to request for more information if needed.

We've decided to proactively send in Form 80 anyway in the hope that this will give them 1 less thing to request for and speed up the process a tad.

The good thing is that my parents aren't in a rush to get over here and fully anticipated the 36 months lead time. They live in Malaysia which makes visits to Australia easy and vice versa - we see other at least twice a year around Chinese New Year and/or Christmas and other family events or family holidays.

Best of luck to everyone in the queue for a Parents Visa.

The application arrived at the Department on 21 September. Application acknowledgement letter received & credit card charged over the weekend on 28 October (a Saturday - someone was working overtime!).

My parents weren't given a laundry list of what happens next though unlike some of the reports on here and elsewhere (eg no instruction to send in Form 80). It'd be due to the extended lead times I imagine. Now we hang back and wait...

1 minute ago, Tulip1 said:

That sounds positive, good luck 

Thanks! Can't believe I'm back on the immigration hamster wheel again - just when I thought getting my citizenship was 'the end' haha. 

Thanks Tulip1. The forms imply that they can use anyone's credit card so long as that person consents - it does ask for the card holder's name, billing address, signature etc. 

I know that when I applied for my student visa and didn't have a credit  card, they encouraged me to use someone else's (ie mum's) credit card as they prefer card to bank cheque. This was more than a decade ago though. Worth checking for sure.

My parents are about to lodge their Contributory Parents' Migrant visa application. Does anyone know if the first lot of visa fee is pretty much charged straight away (within say 1 or 2 weeks after receiving the forms) or do they tend to drag their feet?

Reason being I was going to apply for a new credit card (from NAB if anyone is interested) which is offering 60,000 bonus Qantas Points if I spent $4,000 within 60 days of account opening. As they do with most big purchases whenever they visit Australia my parents have agreed to transfer me cash and let me put my card details down so I can earn the Points - and I was thinking this would be an easy way to trigger the NAB bonus Points offer. Can I be sure that DIBP will charge my card within that timeframe?