Bridgeman
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Everything posted by Bridgeman
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It means you can't get a disability pension or the Australian aged pension (which is means tested anyway) for ten years.
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I don't think he will be able to claim anything at all until he has been in Australia for at least 2 years. Hence the undertaking of the sponsor to be prepared to support the person they are sponsoring for two years.
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Yes, they do, but I think more in jobs which don't compete with the general workforce, eg leaflet and local paper delivering etc. There is quite a lot of age discrimination in Australia, especially in WA.
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I can confirm that dental costs are exorbitant here, an absolute ripoff I believe, so it would be a good idea to get any major dental work done before coming over. You can take out private insurance, but unless you have the highest level of insurance it will not cover all your dental costs and you will usually be left to pay the ‘gap’. You will also need to pay for any prescriptions, however, after 2 years as a permanent resident if you are over 65, you can apply for the Commonwealth Seniors Health card and then you will pay about $6 for a prescription I think. You also pay for visits to the GP so to avoid this you will need to find a doctor who bulk bills, at least bulk bills for seniors. Having said that Tony Abbot is trying to bring in a charge of $7 to visit the GP for everyone. I think in general the health costs are much higher than in the UK. Your living costs will also depend on whether you want to rent or buy. Rents can be quite high – have a look at realestate.com.au for rental and house prices. If buying you will have to pay council rates and water rates. You can look up the rates for your desired area online. Then there is the cost of water used and also electricity which is quite expensive. We find we have to ration our air-conditioning in the summer as we find the cost too high. We are currently in a rental with a garden and pay quite a lot of money for reticulation in the summer, so we won’t be making that mistake again! On the plus side, you may be eligible for a state Seniors Card, depending on which state you will be in. The concessions vary from state to state so you will need to check out what you can get. We are in WA and you can apply for this if over 60 and working less than 20 hours a week. We get free transport on buses, trains and ferries, however, I know that Queensland only give a 50% discount on fares. In addition we get a discount on rates if a home owner. I think Queensland also offers help towards dental costs. Also many businesses will offer discounts for seniors. As for general shopping, things like white goods are expensive, so bring all those with you if you can. Cosmetics, toiletries and herbal remedies are also quite expensive but there are a few discount chemists around. With regard to everyday food items, you can save a lot of money by shopping around at local markets, rather than buying everything at Coles or Woolworths. There are also ‘bargain shops’ where you can get household essentials. So the rule is definitely shop around. Eating out is also quite expensive we find, although petrol is cheaper than the UK but we find we need to drive longer distances to get anywhere. You need to bear in mind that if you receive a state pension then this will be frozen forever at the rate at which you start to draw it or are drawing it when you move to Australia. Plus you will be at the mercy of the exchange rate. Fortunately this has improved slightly since we came over here and so we have more Australian dollars at our disposal. There is a lot to weigh up and it is difficult to know how much it costs to live here until you are actually here. It also depends on your lifestyle. Although written a couple of years ago you might find this useful: http://myob.com.au/blog/how-much-do-I-need-to-retire-at-60/?utm_source=outbrain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=article64
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The way it works is that you can delay moving over to Australia permanently until just before the end of the five year period. However, it is advisable to move over before the end of three years for reasons explained as follows. Your right to come and go on your visa expires at the end of five years. So, if after these five years you want to leave Australia for any reason, eg holiday, and you are not a citizen (which you won’t be as you won’t have spent the requisite four years in Australia) in order to get back into Australia you will need to apply for a Resident Return Visa. In order to get this you will need to have spent at least two years in Australia. Hope this makes sense.
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Since you are allowed to submit your application for the 143 right up until your 173 expires I would assume that you would be granted a bridging visa while your 143 is processed. Just to be sure I would contact the Parent visa centre for confirmation
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We weren't told anything about the medicals, the next thing we knew we got the request for the AOS. I presume you would hear something though if they were not successful.
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We cancelled our 103 and applied for the 143 and had to pay the initial VAC for the 143. Sometimes the immi admin staff don't always get everything right, but good luck.
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Sorry, no, if she cancels the 103 she will not be reimbursed with the initial VAC and yes, she will have to pay the initial VAC for the 143 - this will not be waived unfortunately.
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I don't think that getting the medicals done again after visa grant will change anything. When the visa is issued it will state a date by which the visa applicant must first enter Australia. If he were to redo the PCC this would have to be done before submitting them to DIBP, ie before visa grant. They would then probably go by the date of the medicals. Don't forget he can validate the visa with a holiday visit, it doesn't have to be permanent.
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When we cancelled our 103 and applied for our 143, the time we had been waiting on the 103 was taken into consideration. Yes, you do have five years to finally move over. However at the moment it is generally advisable to move over within 3 years to avoid any complications with having to apply for a Resident Return Visa if you have to leave after 5 years even for a holiday, and are not citizens,
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Not sure if everyone is aware, but this might help with planning: When the visa is granted you get one year from the date of either medicals or police checks (whichever is sooner) to validate your visa, that is the date by which you must enter Australia or forfeit the visa. . If you want to travel to Oz sooner rather than later this doesn't matter, but if you have various matters to sort out it might make a difference.
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The AOS process varies depending on which Centrelink office is used. Ours was lodged in Queensland and the whole process took about 10 weeks to complete, but they were notoriously slow at the time. I would say anything from a few weeks onwards.
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1)From what I understand, the 143 visa can be lodged from Aus but you wont be entitled to a bridging visa-Is that correct? Only reason being if we had to lodge it offshore, she has to leave the country, move flights etc-Too much of a hassle! Ie. It is fine to lodge in Australia..just no bridging visa...and she will be able to come back as a tourist whilst the visa is being processed. - See more at: http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/77756-brand-new-pio-parents-visa-thread-688.html#sthash.J5gH1FHV.dpuf Your parents can physically be in Australia when you submit the visa, but there is no bridging visa and they will have to leave when their tourist visa runs out. They must be offshore when the visa is granted. 2)My mum has been here on an eletronic travel authority (601) but there is no visa number attached to it(I think-on her document there's no visa number). What should I put for that on the form as it asks for a visa number?? - See more at: http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/77756-brand-new-pio-parents-visa-thread-688.html#sthash.J5gH1FHV.dpuf We just put tourist visa, electronic travel authority 601 3)I'm not an Australian citizen but PR.....Should I put country of residence as Australia or the country that I am a citizen of? I'm guessing Australia because it says residence and not citizenship. (I am working full time here) - See more at: http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/77756-brand-new-pio-parents-visa-thread-688.html#sthash.J5gH1FHV.dpuf Yes, your country of residence is Australia I would think. Questions 4 and 5 - this just applies to anyone who is applying for the visa, ie your mother,
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Unfortunately it is not possible to sponsor a parent for a remaining relative visa, plus she would not qualify if she has a brother in the UK. The RR visa is also being axed. Also it is only possible to get a bridging visa if she applied for the Aged Parent visa onshore. Not sure about processing times. I believe the onshore visa was taking about 7-8 years and I have heard that the offshore one was also taking this time recently. However, no-one really knows what will happen now that the visa is being axed.
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I assume you mean you have applied for the normal 103 parent visa which is not contributory and are waiting? Unfortunately, there is not other option than the 173/143 route. If you apply for the 173 first, you need to apply for the 143 after 2 years. This only allows you to split the cost, and actually may cost a little more than going for the 143 straight off as the visa charge will be the one in force at the time of application. When you are granted the 173 you need to pay just over half the final VAC ( don't have the exact figures to hand but its on the link I gave you). When you then apply for the 143 you then have to stump up the remainder of the second VAC and the AOS. Unfortunately, you need to be over 65 to be able to apply for the CPV onshore and there is no bridging visa option for the offshore 143. If you apply for the 173 then you could stay in Australia for 2 years till you apply for the 143. Not sure if you are planning to work in Australia, but I would just like to add that it is often difficult for older migrants to find work.
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Sorry for the typo - I am sure you know by now that it's $46,300 pp (trying to type with granddaughter leaning on my knee!) I don't think they are trying to hide it, it's just that the visa charges table is not in a very clear format any longer - used to be much clearer than it is now. That's why it's the 'Contributory' parent visa - and it is getting very expensive now unfortunately.
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That's probably just the initial Visa application charge. The second instalment is $43,60 per peron if I have read the table right: http://www.immi.gov.au/Help/Pages/fees-charges/visa.aspx You do need to plough through the notes at the bottom.
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I would just like to add it might be worth considering using a courier for the documents due to the urgency as the post may not be completely reliable. We sent our stuff to our daughter via DHL - cost us about fifty quid and only took 2 days about 2 years ago - she then added her sponsor form and couriered the application to the Parent Visa Centre. I know it's extra money but might be worth it in the end for peace of mind.
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Yes, you get a year to validate, but no, you don't get 5 years to move out. The 173 is a temporary visa for 2 years only and you need to apply for the 143 permanent visa before the 2 years are up.
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When you get your CPV permanent visa you have 5 years to settle here. During this time you can come and go as you please. If you leave after this time, and are not a citizen with an Australian passport, you need to apply for a Resident Return visa in order to re-enter Australia. In order to get this there are rules and regulations about how long you have to have spent in Australia. So, basically, if we were to return to the UK without having got citizenship, we may have difficulty getting back into Australia at a later date. If both our kids were here, we might want to retunr at a later date, so having citizenship would allow us to do that.
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I do know that there is some talk of the UK government maybe rethinking freezing the state pension for those living in Australia, not that I think it will make a lot of difference. This is because so many pensioners are returning to the UK as they can no longer afford to live here. This of course puts pressure on the Health Service and Social Security. We loved it here after coming on holiday for many years and when we forked out for the CPV it was with the intention of staying here. Since starting the process, however, the exchange rate has gone pear shaped, so we still haven't bought a house here - OH isn' really happy with the style and quality of Australian houses - and if we do will have to set our sights a lot lower than we had anticipated when we first started this process.. We are finding it very expensive here especially in WA and are not able to live the lifestyle that we had anticipated and are aware that we could have a much better standard of living back in the UK. It's not something you can really gauge till you live here. Having said that we still have a couple of pensions which we have not yet started to draw, so I guess the crunch will be to see how we go and whether the exchange rate bucks up. We love being with our family and young grandchildren and that's priceless, but don't feel entirely at home here. I know some people have said they don't care about living frugally as long as they can be with their family. However, we still have a daughter in the UK, but she has expressed an interest in moving to Australia maybe some time in the future, so we would like to stay here and see if we can get citizenship to keep our options open. It wouldn't be spending the money that would cause us to make more of an effort, but the fact that we had both our kids here. We do feel torn at the moment but if we can get citizenship then spending the money won't have been in vain.
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Contributory Parent Visa / Assurance of Support / Bond ..Questions
Bridgeman replied to a topic in Aussie Chat
Hi I will try and answer your questions: 1. If you want to apply for a 143 Contributory Parent Visa (or from the remainder of your post I assume it is your mother who will be applying)then you will need to cancel you 103 application and put in a new application, which will also involve paying the initial VAC again. However, the application date will be the date that she initially applied for the 103, ie the time she has spent waiting on the 103 will be taken into consideration when waiting for a CO. 2. I think you may be getting confused between the second large VAC and the Assurance of Support. The second large VAC is payable just before the visa is granted and is not refundable. The Assurance of Support ($10,000 for a single and $14,000 for a couple) is refundable in full after 10 years, and you will also get interest on it in the meantime). 3. Have a look at the following link which tells you what payments are recoverable from the AOS. In reality there are not many which would apply to parents. http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/factors/assurance_support.htm 4, She will still be able to come to Australia on a visitor visa once she has applied for the CPV. I assume this also applies to the 103. With the CPV timing is crucial as this is an offshore visa and she does not want to find herself in Australia when the visa is granted. it is vital to keep DIAC informed of any visits to Australia so they can contact her and she can then arrange to go offshore for the visa to be granted. 5. She will need to have spent four years in Australia under the normal rules to apply for citizenship. She will need to wait at least 2 years to be eligible for any benefits. See the following link: http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/individuals/settle_pay_permres.htm http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/factors/newly_arrived.htm I hope this helps. If you have any more queries it might be an idea to post them in the parent visa thread which is a sticky at the top of the immigration thread. There are lots of helpful, knowledgeable people who post on there.