SusieRoo

28 minutes ago, Fisher1 said:

Does your dad know that his UK state pension will be 'frozen' at the rate payable the day he leaves the UK?  No further cost of living rises are paid after that date, although if he returns to the UK for a holiday, his pension will be paid at the correct rate for UK resdients for the duration of his visit.

As a point of interest, do you know if becoming an Australian Citizen, qualifies for an Australian pension? Or is there some requirement to have worked (and paid tax) for several years. Could you end up with a UK and Oz pension?

3 hours ago, sharon h said:

If my dad applies for a non contributory parent visa whilst in Australia is there any way he can then stay in the country and access his pension as I believe they can take many years to be granted.

If your dad is 65+ he can apply for the 804 Aged Parent visa while in Australia. He will also be entitled to a bridging visa, which will allow him to stay in Australia while the visa is processed (10 years+).

He will also be able to access his UK pension while in Australia (with some conditions).

There is also the 864 visa, which is much quicker, but costs more.

If I were you, I would try and fund the more expensive 864, as there is some uncertainty as to the future of the 804.

Also I would recommend talking to a good agent like Go Matilda

10 hours ago, Nemesis said:

Retired from the visa process, I guess. In a nutshell.......got a visa years ago, got citizenship, fell in love, tried to get my husband a visa, got refused, so we have gone home. 

Wow! That’s some nutshell, more like a shakespearean tragedy.

I am very sorry to hear you have had to move back. Immigration is such an emotive topic and sends most politicians to cover their backs (and other parts). And we all end up with this muddy compromised ‘one size fits all’ rulebook, which can be so unfair.

They say ‘Love conquers all’ and maybe they need to amend that to exclude the DIBP.

14 hours ago, juliew1499 said:

Hi Susie

347.30 AUD per person. Hmm...... the building project.........we are still waiting for a design, they came up with one design it was lovely but just not right for us or the block of land. It's just like waiting for IMMI all over again. Frustrating, just sick of constantly waiting and waiting and waiting!

we are also in another waiting room but this one is very exciting - first grandchild due 2 Jan!

julie

 

Congratulations Julie on the forthcoming addition to your family.

It also sounds very exciting to be designing your new home. Just let me know if you would like to swap waiting rooms.

Are you planning for the open plan, outdoor living style with pool? I can remember seeing some very trendy looking homes down there.

We have always lived in older 'character' properties here, so something modern and compete different is very appealing. I would like to think we are still too young for a bungalow, but having everything on one level would be just fine with me.

I hope you manage to get settled soon, and the experience and insight you bring to this forum is invaluable.

6 hours ago, Pertenhall said:

Some interesting reading which was posted on another forum.  Lots more figures to conjure with but I don't think it gets us any closer to calculating our timescales.  Have a good weekend everyone!

From the "Report on Migration Programme 2015-16" available at https://www.border.gov.au/ReportsandPublications/Documents/statistics/2015-16-migration-programme-report.pdf:

 "Contributory Parent

The Contributory Parent category outcome for 2015–16 was 7175 places. Demand for places in the Contributory Parent category decreased by 567 applications (or 4.4 per cent) between 30 June 2015 and 30 June 2016. As at 30 June 2016, 29,591 clients remain in the pipeline, an increase of 16.1 per cent compared to the pipeline as at 30 June 2015."

 Other yearly statistics and trends are at: https://www.border.gov.au/about/reports-publications/research-statistics/statistics/live-in-australia/migration-programme

Just spent an hour looking at all these reports (yes, very sad life) but there is something not quite right.

They quote the number of applicants in the ‘pipeline’ on the 30th June each year, and also the % change from the previous year. But these don’t match (it’s always understated).

So for example, from June 2014 to June 2015 the ‘Pipeline’ increased from 12,800 to 24,287 applicants, but they report an increase of only 17.4% (which is rubbish and it’s really closer to 90%).

They also state, “Demand for places in the Contributory Parent category decreased by 1179 applications (or 9.1 per cent) between 30 June 2014 and 30 June 2015.”  ?????? How is that even conceivable?

Please can anyone help with this? Have I missed something obvious? I don’t mind being made to look a little stupid, if it helps.

46 minutes ago, Nemesis said:

They don't test for that! Just as well, considering the stress DIBP have put my and my OH through over the last year or so. We have resorted to the bottle more than once!!

Sorry to hear you’re having problems with DIBP.

I see your ‘forum status’ is showing as ‘retired’, I have no idea what that means in forum terms. I am guessing you’ve been posting for some time, then ceased.

Also, if you don’t mind me asking, where are you up to in the visa process?

30 minutes ago, juliew1499 said:

Hi Susie

i had my medical at Bupa in Melbourne, the Doctor there gave me a written referral to my GP as my blood pressure was slightly elevated, said I must have it rechecked within 30 days, she also stated that it would not affect the results and that all was Ok so far just waiting the results of blood,urine tests which would be a further 48hrs. Although they cannot give you the paperwork they have to tell you if they have found something wrong. Hope that puts your mind at rest.

Julie

 

Thanks Julie, sounds like we should all have medicals in Melbourne. Would you mind me asking the cost in Australia for the medical?

Also, I hope you are a little warmer this weekend and I trust all is going well with your building project. This is something my husband is very keen to do, so please keep us posted.

4 minutes ago, Catlady2014 said:

If my memory serves me right, I believe you have to sign a consent to information being relayed to your doctor if necessary.  

That makes more sense, but it still makes my blood boil. (Anyway I’m not sure if I may be an alcoholic by then, given the speed of processing)  

44 minutes ago, Wishfull said:

Yes these make interesting reading, particularly the year end pipeline stats:

2009/10 - 10,000

2010/11 - 10,000

2011/12 - 12,000

2012/13 - 12,500

2013/14 - 12,800

2014/15 - 24,287

2015/16 - 29,591

 

Assuming all these figures are calculated on the same basis, they show an almost doubling of people in the pipeline at the end of June 2015 although thankfully this increase slows down again the following year. This will explain in part the drastic slow down in processing visas whilst this "bulge" is being worked through. It will be interesting to see what the 2016/17 figures show when they are published later on this year. However with just 7,175 places up for grabs each year for PCVs one can speculate that it will take just over 4 years to clear the 2015/16 pipeline, assuming that each entry equates to a visa and no-one drops out. We can only wait and see once things start moving again. I hope I am wrong!

That’s a good analysis of this data.

If you drill down a little more you can see total new applicants for each year

2014/15 – 13,453 new cpv applications

2015/16 – 12.886 new cpv applications

So the queue is growing approximately 1.75 times faster than the speed of processing.

Also there looks to be 407 applicants who dropped out (or failed in someway) in the year 2014/15 – or 5.7%.

So if you project this forward, as you rightly say, it will take until May 2020 to process everyone with a lodgement date before June 2016.

With our own lodgement date of April 2016, we can expect to wait until April 2020 (4 years, which is roughly the same as the current ‘Global Processing’ estimate).     

3 minutes ago, Nemesis said:

The results have to go direct to DIBP, its to avoid them being 'doctored' by the applicant. Its always been that way,even back in the days when there were 40 or 50 places in the UK doing them. 

No problem... I get the need to avoid the results being ‘doctored’ by the ‘applicant’, but what if the results show the applicant needs doctoring?

The point I’m making is that we should be able to have all the results ourselves. Imagine if something really nasty shows up on the xray, like you only have 6 weeks to live. What happens next? Do you wait 5 weeks for immi to send you an email?  “We have good news and bad news”

I doubt if holding back your results is ethical or even legal.

Thank you anyway for your contribution and sorry to go off a bit. It’s just this sort of petty, bureaucratic nonsense belongs in the dark-ages.

48 minutes ago, Kathss56 said:

So unfair. Not sure why it is now down to one company. It's in the city and  not great for parking. Lots of roadworks! 

Just looking at the Nuffield website.

They are asking £300 per test and then say you can’t know the results ???? (Excuse me, we’re humans, not cattle)

Whoever wrote the rulebook for this visa process must really dislike immigrants.

Oh well it's Friday and nearly wine’o’clock.

1 hour ago, Kathss56 said:

I believe you have a month to pay 2nd vac. ? Also my local clinic for the medical is a Spire hospital so I'm sure you could go for a pre check up as it is a private one. You just have to pay. It does tell you immi online where you can go. Just enter your area for list to come up 

Thank you for the info Kathss56, my husband has an appointment next week for a knee injury at Spire, so I will make enquirers while there.

A month is not long to pay the 2nd vac, so we would really need to have everything in place, long before taking the medicals. So difficult to workout when this will be. I can fully understand anyone selling up well in advance, as house sales are slow here too at the moment. It's a 'catch 22' situation and grossly unfair, IMMI could be so much more transparent with such unpredictability in the processing times.

No reply to the test email today (we normally get a Friday update) but the last one was showing about 34 months processing, but immi's global page is showing 44 months (for 173s). That's a big disparity if you need to plan when to sell your home, and devastating if you cut it too fine.

I know the application says to have all funds in place when applying, which is fine if you are only planning of a few months. But 18 months, 2 years, 3 years and now possibly 4 years, it's completely unreasonable to expect anyone to live in temporary uk accommodation for this ever increasing length of time.

Even for a risk-averse scaredy cat like me, the idea of joining the rest of you 600'ers is very appealing.

Good luck to everyone!

1 hour ago, gafuk said:

Hi nanajan, I have pondered the different scenarios and our first problem is we haven't got all of the funds in our bank and need to have the house sold to complete our finance.  We are both fit ( ish) and no known serious medical problems so we are optimistic ( if not just hopeful ) that we will be accepted medically. Yes, if something horrible came up on the medical we would buy somewhere smaller anyway .

I wonder if immigration read these posts?  I do feel they should offer a lot more information about what medical conditions are accepted, probable timelines for lodgement dates etc. This is such a radical change of circumstances where "we" are selling homes, everything we have spent our lives achieving . I have a business to wrap up, finances to sort out With tax , vat etc Without  knowing when or if we will get a visa granted. All this and we are paying a handsome sum of money , which I believe is justified, to be with our children. They are young and love their new lives and country and want  spend their working lives contributing to Australias future. If we cannot join them I doubt they would be as sure.

I hope to make Australia my home  and contibute to its future also. Would love some more info to lessen the guesswork and therefore stress!  At this point I should sing the national anthem but I have not got to that page in the handbook yet !

thanks again everyone for any information posted

I can feel your frustration and you’re not alone in needing to use some equity from your home to fund your visa.

In practical terms, how much time do you get to pay the 2nd vac? You are now very close to medicals etc. and I guess things can move quickly from there.

I know its taken ages for Catlady2014, but that’s probably due to the finical year-end, and is not typical for most visas (I think Fisher1’s was less that 8 weeks).

Following on from my earlier post about medicals, it would be useful to know we have time to sit the medical (and get some feedback), before having to raise the cash for the 2nd vac.

Can anyone shed some light on these timings?

1 hour ago, Fisher1 said:

This was something we thought about trying to organise ... but then we came to the conclusion that there was no substitute for passing 'the' medical and that given the five years grace they allow you to make the big move over once you had your visa, it was probably better to just get the visa application in and go with the flow. This how we came to have our visa before we were able to leave the UK.  It's really difficult and I think you're right, I think a lot of people worry about the medical. I can only say that we were hugely relieved once the medical was over.

That’s a good approach to take. I wish there were some way of submitting the CPV application and then forgetting all about it, while getting on with our day-to-day life. Trouble is once the application goes in, everything changes and every little decision seems to have an Australian angle.

Also the increased processing times are frustrating our plans. We like most people here, we expected to have our visas within 18 months. And now we are considering if there is a way to also make the move before our visas are granted.

The more I think about it, the more important it is to not get carried away without mitigating the risks. A pre-medical medical is a really a no-brainer. We are both very active and reasonably fit for our vintage, so we don’t have any reason to think the worst. But there’s no harm in checking, and having a ‘pass’ now would make any future decision much simpler.

I will look into the options and please any advice would be welcome.

Still have my fingers crossed for your house sale Fisher1.

14 hours ago, NanaJan said:

 

We are on holiday as we speak. Homeless, unemployed and reliant on public transport! I am normally a pessimistic sort but I don't think we have any medical issues.  But hey, if we fail them then there will be something seriously wrong so we will have a massive holiday, to hell with the cost, and go back to the UK if and when we absolutely have to!

Funnily enough I have tried to book our medicals today but the site seems to be playing up with dates. I'll try again later.

No home, Job or car!

Too scary for me, you're either very brave or bonkers.

Probably the former, and I am sure you will have a new home and visas very soon.

I do think the question of passing the medical is a concern for many parents, especially if considering selling up in the uk, pre visa grant. I wonder if anyone has done a pre-medical medical? I hear you can have a human MOT with full scan and blood tests for about £220.  Anyone know anything about these? I suppose this could help all the 'less brave' like me.

3 hours ago, MICHELLENGUYEN said:

Dear Alan,

Yes 143. I will wait for another 2 weeks to come back to my solicitor. 

Thanks Alan. 

Sounds like your parents will not have too long to wait now, very exiting!

As Alan says, IMMI works in strange ways so probably nothing to worry about. But don’t be too relaxed with your solicitor, don’t forget you’re paying for a service and if it was me, I would be calling them 3 times a day.

Please keep us posted with your progress, as it is very useful to gauge how quickly (or slowly) visas are currently taking.

7 hours ago, gafuk said:

Next question ( theres a million more flashing through my mind)

" IF " we sell our house say October and are homeless, is it feasible for us to"holiday" in Australia awaiting payment of 2nd vac and eventual issuing of Visa? I know we might have to then suffer a short break in Bali or somewhere to activate the visa but that's life. Otherwise we have to move in with family here or commit to a 6 months rental.

What would you do ?

I hope you don’t mind me butting into your conversation.

We also keep considering our options for a ‘holiday’ in the final stages of this process, but we have a few concerns.

What if something goes wrong? Like failing the medical? Or some major change to the visa criteria or cost?  I’m not sure if we could sell-up and pack-up until we have our visa signed and sealed. (I am normally very optimistic, but it’s a big decision to get wrong)

I suppose we could still have six months holiday and keep the house until our visa is granted.

Not sure if this is helping to answer your question, I guess everyone is different and the holiday route seems to have worked well for many CPVers.

Looks like you will not have too long to wait now and I would expect you to have your visas by October. 

3 hours ago, Catlady2014 said:

Hmmm. .... i've been waiting much longer than that (see my timeline). 

Just echoing nyorksgrannie, you must be only a day or two from hearing good news. I’m mentally willing you out of the waiting room (in the nicest possible way).

Noticed on your timeline you have ‘Medical 21.2.17 (with DIBP 24.2.17)’, can I ask what is the DIBP bit?

46 minutes ago, Kpnuts said:

My date of lodgement for a 143 was 1st Dec 2014. I have just got an email from PVC to get police checks, medicals and AOS documents prepared.

No assignment to a Case Officer yet but this is the best news after such a long time.



Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

That's great news!

I think NanaJan has the same lodgement date, any news there?

We should see IMMI spring back into action this week, with the beginning of a new immigration year.

Fingers crossed for everyone who is close and please keep the rest of us updated.

1 hour ago, Rosiejaq said:

Hi, my aunt and uncle have lived in Sunbury for 30+ years and love it, and it's easy to go into Melbourne on the train, and also explore around the area.  It wasn't too cold when I was there some years ago...but there has been a lot of unseasonal weather recently.

Not yet been to Sunbury, but the name sounds promising, and it also looks good for access to Melbourne city (and airport). We did view online, many ‘new builds’ nearby at Diggers Rest, which looked like a possibility for us.

I see you’re heading for “North NSW Coast”, would you mind me asking where?

We’re just a little too old for the surfing lifestyle, but we still love Byron Bay and that part of the coast. I could easily see myself living a very relaxed and balanced life up there.

My old hippy husband thinks Nimbin is heaven (I don’t, but each to their own).

Our son and DIL moved down from Sydney to Melbourne last year for a career opportunity. When visiting last Nov, we were taken aback by how cold it was. They keep telling me we were just unfortunate with unseasonal weather, and is will be hot when we move out.

Clearly, beautiful weather is not our primary reason for emigrating, but it would be nice not to be too cold.

We have travelled, fairly extensively around Australia over a number of trips. And would definitely choose to live on the Sunshine Coast, if it was a little closer to family. (and we have considered it with only a 2.5 hour flight to MEL)

But realistically, I now think we will be somewhere within 1 hour of Melbourne centre. Mornington peninsular was special and very liveable, but maybe a little too far out of the city. (nearly 2 hours I think?)

Any suggestions would be welcome, any thoughts on Point Cook? (we have been told we must not live there) but it look looked OK when driving around the area.

How cold was Melbourne this weekend?

Looking and the news from the UK, temps of 0.5 degrees and images of frost. Is it really that cold?

3 hours ago, Alan Collett said:

Hi SusieRoo.

This appears to be an unchanged web page.

What changes are you seeing?

Best regards.

Hi Alan,

Sounds like I maybe behind the times. I'm seeing the whole page for the first time. 

I am curious to know if we could use a new temp visa, while waiting for our CPV to be processed.

Kind regards

IMMI have published more info for the new parent visa

http://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visi/temporary-sponsored-visa-parents