Britabroad

True, perhaps we should all apply or not go to Australia at all and stay in the UK where things are more familiar for all of us

Hi Bungo, you're almost right regarding cultural sphere. Although I'm British, my wife is from China and it is common in her country to leave young children with grandparents while the parents work in cities hundreds of km away. Although in our case we would be talking about many 1000s of km away. I feel sad talking about this now but when it comes to life choices, there are some external factors beyond our control that determine what we have to do at the time when it seem appropriate

Thank you all for your replies, much appreciated! I have read that for permanent visa like 189, dependents can't be added later if they weren't included in the original application as migrating dependent. I suppose the rules are defferent for 457? Do we still have to declare the youngest child as non-migrating dependent?

Any suggestion for a migration agent who may be able to point me in the right direction?

Hi, I'm applying for a 457 visa, my wife and children weren't included as we were unsure whether to bring all our children or not as they are very young and it would be a struggle for us to live in a new country with no relatives to support us. We now decide to leave the youngest child with her grandparents (who are more than happy to take care of her) for a couple of years. Once my visa is granted, we will apply for wife and eldest child to join me. Can we add the youngest child on a later date, say 2 years later? Or do they all have to apply as dependents at the same time? Thank you very much.

Hi Susanbro, I didn't know you could see what docs were uploaded by agent. Did you just create your own immi account and import the TRN from agent? My agent submitted my 457 application on 2 weeks ago, and I'm still waiting to hear. Might ask agent for TRN so I can track the application myself. My employer has sponsored 457 visas before so I hope the process might be relatively smooth. Thanks