Britgirl29

I wonder if this is a new change though as aligning the on and off shore visas timing was mentioned in Go Matilda's blog from Feb 2018 https://www.gm-parent-visas.com/subclass-864-visa-applications-going-nowhere-fast/ Since I started checking the test email at the start of the year 143 has progressed from July 2015 to December 2015 (6 months) and 864 from October 2016 to January 2017 (4 months) so if there has been no recent change and it's just Immigration now deciding to inform people, it could just be that they have been slowing down the processing of 864 visas over the last year rather than stopping processing them entirely. That might just be my wishful thinking though! It would be great to hear from some of the migration agents on this forum on whether this is a new or old change

This document on the home affairs website gives the number of lodgements and finalisations for each visa type. The number of 864 visa lodgements was 911 for 2016-2017 and 803 for 2017-2018, which as a portion of the 143 visa lodgements for those years was 4.6% and 7.8% respectively https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/foi/files/2018/fa180700438-document-released.PDF For both of the years given the number of 864 visas finalised each year was c.400 so the trend seems to be lodgements are double the number of finalisations for the 864 visa. This other document says that at the end of Feb 2019, for the 864 there was 1,979 applicants in the queue, compared to 46,339 applicants for the 143 visa so the 864 visa represents 4% of the total combined 143 and 864 applicants. https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/foi/files/2019/fa190101309-document-released.PDF

I'm not an expert but hopefully my parents experience of applying for an 864 may be helpful. They are from the UK and both over 65 They applied for an 864 in Australia in June 2017 and once their 3 month tourist visa expired they moved onto a bridging visa. Medicare gave them a blue interim medicare card which enables them to get top level medical insurance at similar prices to an Aussie PR. There is generally a 12 month waiting period for most treatments, but after that had passed my mum was able to have a double knee replacement in a private hospital with private rehab afterwards and only a small amount of out of pocket expenses. She was really pleased with the quality of the care. As medicare holders they are also entitled to go to a bulk bill doctor. They are not able to get a seniors card yet as they are not PR which means they pay full fare on public transport. They haven't bought a home over here and have no intention to do so as they prefer renting. The UK pension being fixed at the rate they came over is annoying, but they have a private pension too which does increase each year. It does fluctuate with exchange rates though. Having to apply for a visa to leave the country hasn't been an issue for them as they don't have a strong desire to travel outside Australia. It used to be that the 864 was processed quicker than the offshore visas however there has been talk on this forum of an intentional slow down by immigration to bring the visas into line. I don't believe there has been any official announcement on this and there is still movement in what the auto email response from immigration is now showing with the visa assessment date now showing as January 2017. I think what you decide to do will depend on your personal circumstances. In my case my parents were eager to come out here and would prefer to wait for the visa here rather than the UK even if there is a risk they may be sent back. I think it's more likely that any changes to the visa will be tweaks rather than getting rid of it entirely and we are comfortably over the AOS limit which they have talked about increasing in the past. Whatever you do I would suggest applying as soon as you can as even a few months delay can cause over a wait time of over a year for the visa.

I'm not an expert but hopefully my parents experience of applying for an 864 may be helpful. They are from the UK and both over 65 They applied for an 864 in Australia in June 2017 and once their 3 month tourist visa expired they moved onto a bridging visa. Medicare gave them a blue interim medicare card which enables them to get top level medical insurance at similar prices to an Aussie PR. There is generally a 12 month waiting period for most treatments, but after that had passed my mum was able to have a double knee replacement in a private hospital with private rehab afterwards and only a small amount of out of pocket expenses. She was really pleased with the quality of the care. As medicare holders they are also entitled to go to a bulk bill doctor. They are not able to get a seniors card yet as they are not PR which means they pay full fare on public transport. They haven't bought a home over here and have no intention to do so as they prefer renting. The UK pension being fixed at the rate they came over is annoying, but they have a private pension too which does increase each year. It does fluctuate with exchange rates though. My parents have been very glad they have come over now rather than waiting for an offshore visa back in the UK. As with any visa there is always a risk that the visa won't be granted, but this way they have at least enjoyed 2+ years living in Australia with their family. Whatever decision you make I suggest you make it soon as with the way things are at the moment with processing times waiting a few months can seem to equate to a year added to visa grant which increases the risk of visas not being granted.

@ramot Thanks! That's reassuring to hear

Although immigration is continually a hot topic with the Australian government and the media, the government has struggled to get any recent changes through parliament and the senate due to their slim majority. Both the increases to AOS for the parent visa, and the changes in citizenship got withdrawn as they weren't going to get the required votes in the senate, and the new parent visa took a long while to get through and only after significant changes. An election is due to be held in May and current indications are that the Labour party is likely to win. They tend to be more immigration friendly so it's doubtful they will introduce any anti immigration changes, particularly as they've criticised the new parent visa for being anti immigration. https://www.sbs.com.au/yourlanguage/punjabi/en/article/2019/02/12/labor-government-will-replace-new-sponsored-parent-visa. Rather than cancelling any visas which requires to go through parliament, I think it's more likely the government will continue to reduce the number of grants as that's not a legal change. So hopefully it's just a matter of time before everyone gets their visas! It's interesting that the number of CPV applicants in the 17/18 year dropped significantly, I wonder if it's because with the longer wait times people have decided if they are going to wait might as well do the 804 visa. On medicare my parents are on a BVA for an 864 visa. They were granted an interim medicare card so can access similar medicare to an Australian permanent resident

I was also surprised when I checked with my parents and saw it was an interim card (although very relieved!) To get their medicare card they needed to show their passports and bridging visa letter to the Medicare centre. They went to the main one in Sydney which I would imagine would do it correctly but you never know with medicare! It would be interesting to hear if other UK residents on on shore parent visas have also got interim cards. I did find this article online which suggests that others have also had medicare cards with full rights https://www.gm-parent-visas.com/medicare-while-on-a-bridging-visa/

@ramot if you could that would be great, my parents are in good health generally so that's the main thing that concerned me @MarisawrightI did some more research as I was worried my parents had the wrong health insurance and had claimed incorrectly. According to the Private Health Insurance Ombudsman website, you can purchase Australian resident's private health insurance if you have an interim or full medicare card. My parents are currently on an interim one so thankfully they meet this criteria - I was worried there was a big bill coming back their way! https://www.privatehealth.gov.au/healthinsurance/overseas/

@ramot you mentioned that they asked about hip and knee replacement in the medical. Was their concern around whether it would need to be done in the future or whether it had been done in the past? My mum has recently had a double knee replacement but has recovered well and shouldn't need any further treatment

Ah that's interesting! I know they told the HCF store staff they were on bridging visas, but I think that a lot of people (myself included), don't know the intricacies of what that means. Even at our local medicare centre my parents were incorrectly told they didn't get reciprocal medicare, it was only when they went into the main Sydney one they were able to grant it. @Suzie Wambui I'd suggest having a look at the different health care providers to see what they cover as they often differ. You should bear in mind though most have a 12 -24 month waiting period before you can access the more expensive services

My parents (67 and 68) are in Australia on a bridging visa after applying for an 864 visa. They have couples health insurance with HCF with gold hospital cover (top one) and silver extras cover for around $350 a month. Recently it covered my mum having a knee replacement in a private hospital and private rehab centre with minimum out of pocket expenses. They were very pleased with how much it covered. Because they got it within a year of being in Australia they didn't have to pay the lifetime loading charge for private healthcare I believe (but best to check with a health fund) that visitor health insurance is for when you are on a visitors visa. Being on a bridging visa allows you to access more choices of health cover. If you or family are already in Australia I'd suggest going into an HCF store and speaking to someone about your options

Latest update from the department, 864 has moved forward another month - soon be in 2017 103 804 143 173 864 884 Temporary to Permanent Acknowledge New Applications February 2019 Queue Assessment Lodged Jun 2017 Lodged Sept 2016 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Visa Assessment Date Queued Aug 2010 Date Queued May 2012 Lodged Jul 2015 Lodged Jul 2015 Lodged Dec 2016 Lodged Dec 2016 May 2018 *Updated 06/03/2019

My understanding is that 864 is an onshore visa while 143 is an offshore visa and so you don't get a bridging visa My parents applied for the 864 visa as they met the aged criteria and wanted to be in Australia right away. As UK citizens they can access reciprocal medicare but they also have private health insurance too. They would need a bridging visa to leave the country and I understand that's reasonably easy to get, but at this time they don't need to. The main benefit is that now visas are taking 4+ years to be granted it means they can live here rather than waiting in the UK. The downside is that if the visa is refused then they would have to leave. We decided that hopefully small risk is worth it

I imagine their issue is if she didn't need ICAEW membership to do her job then was her role really a chartered accountant role. For most people (myself included) even working in industry it was a requirement of my role that I had to be an ICAEW member. Have you spoken to the Chartered Accountants of Australia and NZ? They do the assessment so may be able to give you advice

Which accountancy industry body did she do her exams with? Maybe they do a conversion program to the ICAEW?