purpleal

I wouldn't think so, no. If you were an employee that had physically been working with them and were perhaps a week or 2 short, they may consider waiving this. You have not established a working relationship with them so I cannot see them giving any leeway. My husband has employed several 457 visa holders - he would be mightily p'eed off if someone started working for him and announced they were only available to work for 6 months. There is a lot of paperwork and behind the scenes stuff that as an employee you don't see. You may find once you are on leave, that there is a 'restructuring' within your department and your services are no longer required or they may refuse to sponsor you for PR. Companies do not appreciate being taken advantage of - I feel you are letting your 'want of living in Australia' cloud the reality of your situation.

[h=2]Which employees are eligible for unpaid parental leave?[/h]All employees in Australia are eligible for unpaid parental leave if they have completed at least 12 months of continuous service with their employer. This includes casual employees, but only if: they have been employed by the employer on a regular and systematic basis for a sequence of periods over at least 12 months had it not been for the birth (or expected birth) or adoption (or expected adoption) of a child, they would have a reasonable expectation of continuing employment by the employer on a regular and systematic basis.

Wow - that is pretty steep. When we first moved here on a 457 (2005), our insurance through BUPA was almost $500 a month - initially a family of 3 but then we were 5. It didn't go up much with each addition though. Luckily, my husbands company paid for it until our PR came through. I would imagine then that a single retiree would be at least 5,000 a year. We will find out when my Mum comes over I guess!

How much is your health insurance Ramot, if you don't mind me asking?

Is the new temporary visa that was announced today an 'extra visa' to run alongside the non-contributory visa and contributory visa? The latter hasn't been abolished has it?

Nor are mine - what's happened to the automated response?

We moved from Richmond in Surrey to the lower north shore in 2005. We started off in Cremorne (Mosman's neighbour), moved to Mosman, ended up in Neutral Bay and then moved to the Northern Beaches when we decided to buy. Mosman really is lovely but very expensive as others have said. Cremorne and Neutral Bay are slightly (just slightly) cheaper and are a bit closer to the city. We loved our time there, however it is VERY expensive to buy and in order to buy something big enough for our family we had to move. Now moving may not seem a big deal, what it has meant is the kids had to start a new school and make new friends. Easy for some - my eldest daughter was 8 and being an introvert really struggled making new friends - my youngest had no problems. The 5 years we spent fostering relationships have become null and void because inevitably you lose contact with people that are now 45 min to an hours drive away from you. I still speak occasionally on the phone but weekends become family time and tbh after a long week, days at home are really appealing! Another thing to factor in is lifestyle of the people you are living with in your suburb. My husband has a really great salary but still we could never have the lifestyle of some of the people we were living amongst. We are talking about 16 years olds being flown on private jets to spend a weekend in New York watching a Justin Bieber concert (as a birthday celebration). We are happy now on the Beaches where everything is a little more laid back and down to earth. If your heart is set on living there, Cremorne and Neutral Bay are great. They have really great schools, lots of restaurants, cafe's, supermarkets and you would be in the city under 20 mins by bus.

Hi Everyone, Just an update on our timeline... My husband couriered my mother's application to the Perth PVC very late Monday (12 September) afternoon (Sydney time). It was signed for by the PVC on Tuesday (13th September) morning 9.36 am Sydney time. They have taken out the first VAC today at 10am Sydney time. I must admit, I wasn't expecting this to be done so quickly - I was anticipating a several week wait!

Thanks for your time Alan - hopefully no changes are made prior to us receiving an acknowledgement.

My Mother has never taken out seperate travel insurance when she has visited Australia. She has always used the insurance via her credit card. Last December, she was bitten by a tick and had a severe reaction which resulted in several trips to the GP - all of which were paid for by the insurer.

Many thanks for your input - I somehow missed your post when reading the thread yesterday

Isn't government subsidised aged care means tested? My mother will be coming here with her own money which would rule her out of any means-tested assistance, be that aged care, benefits etc. We ourselves are specifically (for the sole purpose of my mother coming here) building a new house with a separate wing for my mother. Her funds will be kept in the bank until such time that she needs to go into care, which will be in a private facility.

Many Thanks! The application was signed for yesterday at 9.36. Does this mean it is lodged or is it only classed as being lodged once you have an acknowledgement of receipt?

How frustrating! How do you track it once it has been picked up? Our application was signed for yesterday at 9.36 by the PVC, so the waiting begins! I won't feel relaxed until we have some kind of acknowledgement and have paid the first VAC. I keep checking the address on the courier slip - paranoid it has gone to the wrong place

Sure! http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/news-chat-dilemmas/251460-permanent-parent-visas-abolished.html

Good Evening, I sent my mother's CPV application to the parent centre in Perth yesterday by courier - does anyone have an idea as to how long it takes to receive an acknowledgement of receipt and how long after is the first payment taken? Is this done by post or by e-mail? Many Thanks, Purpleal

Many Thanks for your response. My understanding is that the Offshore 143 visa's are taking upwards of 2 years to process however onshore applications are substantially shorter - round about a year?

Hi! Having read the new thread about the possible abolishment of the parent visas, I was wondering if you could give me a little bit of assistance. My mother's 143 was couriered off to the PVC yesterday. In your experience, if changes to visa regulations are made, how long does it take to implement them? Do they have a cut off - so in other words, do they process the applications already in the system? Or do they say, that's it, no more visa's and reject the applications in the system? My Mother has no-one left at home (South Africa), her only living relative is her sister who had a severe stroke and is in a nursing home. My sister and myself are both here in Sydney. I was just wondering if perhaps it would be better to get her to do an onshore CPV application when she comes here again on holiday so that the processing time is shorter? Many Thanks, Purpleal

That's great! Thanks for your help

It is my Mum's contributory visa application - paper application that has to be couriered to the Immigration Parent visa centre in Perth.

What method is best for submitting the visa application form and documents? Do DIBP prefer staples, paperclips or bulldog clips? We have a lot of paperwork to submit! Thanks

We are in the process of building and whilst our house is big (433 sqm) - we aren't having all the 'bells and whistles' in terms of all the extras. With demolition (we have asbestos), we are looking at about $550,000 on the build itself excluding landscaping. From our research, we have found that every builder - including the very expensive custom home builders - seem to have negative reviews as well as positive. We are knocking down our current house and will be renting so hopefully we wont have any issues. However, we have been told by others that have built, to add 3 months onto any estimated construction timeframe given.

Hi, I hope you are all well! I was wondering if someone could give some advice . We are submitting my Mum's CPV and we just have a question with regards to documents that need to be provided. My Mum was married to my Dad - he had 2 children from his previous marriage. He died 11 years ago whilst still married to Mum. My Mum only has 2 children herself - myself and my sister who also lives in Australia. On the document checklist, it says provide (1) 'Evidence of where all your children reside (eg. passport,citizenship or residence certificate).' and (2) Certified copies of birth certificates of all your children(showing names of both parents) or the family book (showingnames of both parents). Does my Mum have to provide the documents for just myself and my sister as we are her only children? Or does she need to provide these for us as well as my half-siblings? Many Thanks, Purpleal

Thanks for your help

My children are now 10,9 and 8 and we are still together, happily married. My sister has recently moved here too - she has a husband and a new baby - trying to fit in visiting with her is another thing - they have built up such a social network through their baby that they are quite busy!