LindaH27

Yes the 870 is available. But as the wait time has blown out it makes things more difficult. It’s a further expense on top of what is already an expensive visa.plus the cost of private health insurance which is expensive for older people, as I’m sure you’re aware - I seem to remember reading that one of the reasons you went for PR was that your health insurance was getting very expensive? Then one 870 is probably not enough for some people. You have to leave Australia at the end of your first 870, whether it’s a 3 or 5 year one and have to be offshore for 3 months before you can reapply. But you then have to add on processing time - if it’s the same as now that’s another few months. I can’t see it being automatically renewed when you reapply at the end of 3 months as surely they would need to check the criteria is still valid ie your sponsor still meets the criteria of $84k annual income and whether you need another medical if your health has deteriorated - which is a possibility the older you get! . So you could end up being out of Australia for 6 months or more. Where do you go then?? I’ve seen posts where people have sold their houses because they anticipate getting their grant after 5 years, when that’s not going to be possible in a lot of cases. You could also end up paying capital gains tax if you then sell yout UK home after being absent for 3 or 5 years as the principal rate relief you get, (which means you pay no tax on the sale) , only applies if you’ve been living in it. Plus you may have had the extra hassle/ worry of renting your house out. It’s also a big change in lifestyle for older people to adjust to after spending 5 years in Australia, to go back home for that length of time.and perhaps worry something will happen and they’re refused a second option. No one knows yet what will happen at the end of an 870 as we haven’t reached that point yet. Then what happens at the end of a second 5 year 870?? It’s going to take at least 10 years or more for new applicants. You can only stay for a maximum of 10 years on an 870 The problem with the waiting times is not just the fact that more people have applied, it’s the fact that the government had reduced the yearly amount of grants from 7000 to supposedly 4500 for the year ending June 2021- they’ve just reduced those further in thd last couple of weeks to just 3600!! I’ve no idea what the cap will be from July 2021 but I’m not expecting any increase. But people on 804 snd 864 don’t have these extra problems - in fact 804 is very cheap - most people on it will never get their grant due to the extremely long processing times but they can stay onshore all that time. That is costing the government a lot of money in Medicare etc. 864 do make a contribution towards that as do 143 in the cost they pay for the visa - although I’m well aware it’s not really sufficient - and is only paid when the visa is finally granted years down the line So tell me again why it’s ok to make older people on 143 remain offshore and pay further big bucks to be with their families for the remaining years of their lives when people who apply onshore just get to stay there? Many of us are widowed with no other family nearby. It’s not rocket science to realise that the young skilled migrants Australia wanted also have parents and those migrants would like to have their parents with them. Believe me I am grateful Australia does offer parent visas as I’m aware it’s difficult in other countries including UK but Australia is a big country with only 25 million or so, unlike many other countries with big populations. There should be a level Playing field for all parent applicants. I’m waiting to see what happens after the current senate.inquiry into parent visas finishes and a report issued in August. I’m not holding my breath for good news though! In the current times spouses, partners and children of Australians residents or citizens can get an exemption to enter Australia but not parents because parents are not considered immediate family - I don’t know how much more immediate you can get when you’ve given birth to that Australia citizen/resident!!

No - being onshore is not the only criteria for 804 and 864! You also have to be of Australian pension age. When I applied I wasn’t old enough to apply for those onshore visas so had to apply for 143. Four years of waiting later i am of the right age but will still have to wait offshore.

The one with errors which need actioning will be given a queue date later than the one in perfect condition. They’ll probably add on the time it takes to request the info, wait to receive it and then action it. I’m June 2017 applicant so been waiting 4 years next month. There’s 22900 people in front of me as of May 2020 so if they’re only given 3600 grants Ive still got a very long wait of years yet!!

I’ve never been able to understand why 804 and 864 allow waiting onshore whilst 103 and 143 can’t. Some of us had to apply for 143 just to get in the queue as we were just a bit too young at the time to apply for onshore visas. To be fair, we should have the same option to transfer from 143 to 864 once we reach the necessary age.

Possibly quite a lot given that their processing time has gone to 30 years. It’s also possible that a lot applied for 103 when they were younger and working just to get in the queue, knowing from their queue date that it was going to take time and now they’re retired and maybe have a pension lump sum to put towards the cost of CPV? Plus the knowledge they keep their original lodgement date as well so anyone who applied for 103 with a date before May 2016 will go straight into the top of the CPV queue. Who could blame them to be honest? The option is there to take. Now if we could only do the same and change from 143 to 864 with same date for us oldies, we would at least be able to spend our waiting time onshore with our families !

The fact that immi are moving to queue dates makes me wonder whether they are finally going to bring back the queue calculator! It’s always previously been available to non CPV parent visas as those were the only ones given queue dates. Early last year it was amended to include CPV visas as well. It went well - too well I think, as it “crashed”/ was removed for system maintenance only a few weeks later in May 2020. I tried it with my application date of 21 June 2017. It told me there were 22900 in front of me !! Given the small amount of visas actually available these days I’m in for an even longer wait - it will be 4 years next month!

Only one that’s changed for processing that I can see is for 804 and 103 - changed from Sept 2010 to Oct 2010. 173,143, 884 and 864 still on May 2016? The queue assessment date has moved to Jul 2018 from June but that’s only to give a queue date, which at the moment seems to be around 3 years later than application date. . It has no effect on the actual movement towards current processing / granting of visas.

I think you’re only added to the queue and given a queue date once immi have assessed the application as being valid ie filled in correctly, all supporting documents attached, and all criteria met ( eg balance of family test etc) If docs etc are missing them that would prolong the wait further whilst they wait to receive it and action it. So two people who applied on same date could have different queue dates depending on whether there was a wait for immi to further clarify things.

The Australian gov said 4500 grants allowed for July 2020- end June 2021. They’ve recently said it now capped at just 3500! There were a lot of May 2016 applicants. The processing has been stuck on May 2026 from (I believe) around September last year !

Look at page 928 onwards on this thread for a discussion

Hi! I’ve been watching your posts for years and really sympathised with all your problems! Now when I think it took you 52 months it almost seems quick!! I’m currently on 47 months (June 2017 application) and the thought that, if I were like you, I could get my grant in another 5 months at 52 months seems unbelievable!! Given that May /June 2017 alone had nearly 9000 applications that means at least 2 years to get through those two months. Im looking at possibly at least another 3 years if not more !!!!

For me the best example is to look at how non contributory parent visa 103 works. Applicants lodge their application. They are then given a queue date which could be a few months or a year or more later. Their application won’t be considered when immi reach their actual lodgement date - it will only be considered for processing once it reaches their queue date. At the moment for 103 they’re currently processing 2010 applicants but they probably applied a year or so before that. So a 143 application lodged after 1st June 2018 probably wouldn’t be looked at till immi actually start processing the queue date they were given eg 2021. They are currently processing May 2016. Looking at applications with queue dates they all seem to wait longer eg new non contributory parent visas are now said by immi to take up to 30 years processing. It looks as though they have seen the applications increase enormously and wait times grow longer so they have introduced this queuing system so people are aware of the lengthy wait times. It would actually help more if realistic processing times were shown on the generic email - the quoted 58 months seems to apply only to the ones they are currently processing - not the actual wait time for a new application. Something that gave a lot of us the wrong impression. When I applied June 2017 it was showing as 18-24 months - and next month it will be 4 years since I applied !! Info taken from the website gives an example of queue dates etc Queue release dates As at February 2021, we have released for final processing: Contributory Parent visa applications with a queue date up to May 2016 Parent visa applications with a queue date up to September 2010 Aged Parent visa applications with a queue date up to December 2012

I had auto reply from there on 1st May!

Which address are you using ?

Nobody’s application before October 2020 was accessed prior to actually being processed but immi decided at that point that a queueing system was needed for applications from 1/6/18 onwards as applications had well and truly exceeded supply and demand. Changes of address etc need to be communicated on form 1022 in the subject line you put your name, date of birth and your BCC number from your acknowledgment letter from when you applied for your visa. I didn’t get a personal reply just the generic email they send showing lots of info - including the processing times etc. The first few lines are in red to stand out and actually say This email is your confirmation that we received your email and/or your emailed documents and a separate confirmation will not be provided. Due to the high volume of emails we receive every day, we are unable to respond to progress update enquiries or to enquiries where the requested information is provided in this auto-response. So now those applications after 1/6/18 will only be processed once immi reach the queue date -which is obviously now much later than the application date! They are currently processing May 2016 applications .