Arti

On 11/02/2023 at 20:43, LindaH27 said:

Don’t think so. I read it as the 143 quota needs to be increased as the wait time for newer applicants has exceeded the 10 years that 870 allows. No point in increasing the number of 870s if they stick at the 10 year mark. So either increase the 143 quota or lengthen the maximum time allowed in Australia on 870

Right! It's all a bit too daunting at the moment and the uncertainty does not help anyone especially when parents aren't reverse aging

I'm quite upset at how the waiting times published on the immigration website have historically been wrong. We planned based on 2 years waiting period, it's sad how it's just blown way out of proportion.

(Sorry just venting, I'm annoyed with myself for not preparing for the worst case scenario)

On 02/01/2023 at 18:34, LindaH27 said:

It’s info acquired by @Alan Collett as a freedom of information Request to home affairs. I believe there may be a later update in numbers but am unable to find it at present. The  info I used is here  

https://www.gm-parent-visas.com/contributory-parent-visa-application-numbers-updated/

I'm really hoping a whole lot of those 9000 applications were made in panic with the steep increase in visa fees and hence might get withdrawn

On 13/01/2023 at 10:45, Alan Collett said:

The Government will need to markedly increase the annual visa allocation to parents if subclass 870 visa holders don't use up their 10 years before their 143 visas are granted.

Best regards.

That's interesting insight, but they'd increase the 870 allocation and not 143, right?

Is the 12 years for applications already in queue or for new applications?

https://www.9news.com.au/national/qantas-delays-international-flights-slow-vaccine-rollout-australia-overseas-travel/4d78ec56-022b-4f12-ae10-8ece389a4229

I think there will be a considerable push for an earlier opening from airlines and other business sectors that are impacted by the closure of the international borders. A sensible gove would initiate a stagewise re-opening, establishing bubbles with those countries that have vaccinated well over 80% of their population and then move on to rest.

Pushing 100% blanket opening to mid-next year is just a political gimmick that could very well backfire as the frustration amongst those stuck inside continues to grow.

Every time i come on here its just bad news about ever increasing wait times

They need to have a better 870 option - perhaps a visa for 10 years at a stretch?And then again renewable for another 10 years?

2 hours ago, Marisawright said:

That's true, but consider that some of those arrived with their parents.  Some will be old themselves already and past the point of bringing parents out.  Some will have already lost their parents.  Then, many will have brothers and sisters still in their home country, so their parents have no desire to move.  And then there are the ones who came to Australia to escape difficult parents (it does happen - we've seen examples on these forums).  My oh and I are good examples. He was born overseas and arrived with his parents as a refugee.  I was born overseas and migrated as an adult, but my parents would never have considered moving because I have 3 siblings still in the UK.  

Add all those together, and I wonder how many of that 1/3rd have any interest in parent visas?  

No, this is completely different. This is re the restrictions for visitor parents who have no intention to move but definitely would want to meet their children once in a year?

11 minutes ago, LindaH27 said:

There  is a road map in their view. They are telling us that migration won’t really start till mid 2022 and that it’s still low caps. 
Im in the same situation. It will be 4 years next month in the queue and no nearer my goal for another few years. 
They won’t allow just visitors - there have been cases of PR and citizens testing negative before flying but testing positive after arrival so they won’t allow visitors in yet. That doesn’t affects just parents but all visitors tourists etc. 
I get where you’re coming from, I really do I want to get there too but I have to accept the realities. In their eyes they are keeping their citizens safe. UK should perhaps have also closed its borders last year - they didn’t so they had devastating numbers of deaths. 

But they aren't allowing citizens to leave either! I don't know of any democracy that's ever done that. There are some heart-wrenching stories out there of people who have been time and again refused exemptions to go meet their sick family members. It's completely unconstitutional in my opinion and I'm surprised at the apathy. It's high time they relax some of these rules really if not for inbound at least the outbound movements.

31 minutes ago, LindaH27 said:

I really do understand but a third of Australians born  overseas wanting their parents here will not win against two thirds of Australians who don’t want the borders open. They’ve seen the devastation around the world and want no part in it. The govt see that as backing their policies of reducing migration. I believe the election isn’t till next year? The general consensus in the Australia media that I’ve read is that the budget is aimed at winning the election

The odds are against us. But when it's about elections 1/3rd can make for a considerable force. The government started the border shut down as a temporary measure to get everything else up to speed example the quarantine system, healthcare facilities, etc to prepare for covid - but we haven't seen much progress on that front in the last year or so. The virus is here to stay. The borders cannot remain shut forever. They keep extending the timelines - all we are asking for is a roadmap. A plan as to when can people simply start going in and out to visit their families. The whole policy is entirely lacking any empathy or compassion. Also, a lot of the parents are fully vaccinated! Surely we can ask for the government to start letting them in.

17 minutes ago, LindaH27 said:

I did try that group a while ago but left as it was too “noisy” and upsetting and previous petitions ( which I and my daughter in Australia signed)  got nowhere. The budget today shows them having to spend a lot of extra money on aged care and a doubling of the two year period to four years for some migrants and families  before they have  access to any government benefits - not 143 though as that’s already 10 years!.

Its unlikely therefore that by  making migrants  wait longer for benefits and having to spend more money on an ageing population means that the government would look favourably on allowing more old people in. They made mention of being more along the lines of attracting global talent. A mention was also made that the borders would likely remain closed till at least 2022. No mention of any caps for this year either as far as I can see  It’s also possible that they would only let parents in from low Covid/ nearly fully vaccinated countries as they have done with New Zealand, so that would also impact on whether parents could get in. They’re looking at it being mid 2022 before they repatriate most stranded Australians as well.  

There is also a senate enquiry into all parent visas going on which will report in August -  it’s fair to say they will wait to see what that says  

Only my interpretation!  Hopefully there may be a more definitive explanation of the budget by others on the forum? . .    
 

I do really wish you all well as I’m obviously in the same situation but the wait has  made me more realistic and pessimistic about the chances of getting to Australia any time soon. The majority of Australians do not want the borders open as they are living a relatively normal life unlike the rest of the world. 

Yes, the emotions are always running high on that group but I'm hopeful. Elections are around the corner and the government better listen up. 1/3rd of Australians are born overseas and all we need is to have more Aussies join the cause. 2022 is too far off and I trust a lot of us will have lost patience by this year-end

On 07/05/2021 at 21:11, BargeUK said:

I quite agree.  Not a single one of us has any family member more immediate than their own mother!

There is a group on facebook - Parents are immediate family - it's a great support system and we are making a lot of noise on a lot of social media platforms to push for things to start moving on this front. There is a petition doing the rounds too to allow parents of Aussies to be exempted from the travel ban. It has 30,000 signatures already and it closes on 19th May so please get your signatures in!

https://www.aph.gov.au/e-petitions/petition/EN2535

For those wanting to be heard regarding the current situation where parents are not considered immediate family.

1 minute ago, Sherlock said:

 

@Arti - 10+ years would only be for any new applicants. Since your application is from July 2018, it will be earlier for sure (same as mine - mine was Nov 2018). So don't lose hope yet. 

In fact note the comment from the dept in my post above - they are 'assessing' the application from June 2018 right now, so you may here something (about the assessment only) soon. Fingers crossed !

Hope is all there is. Fingers crossed!

18 hours ago, Sherlock said:

Link to the response that I received to the FOI request I had lodged with the department recently - https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/foi/files/2021/fa-210200253-document-released.PDF

Summary - 

1 - More than 56K applications are on-hand currently (See part 3). So any new applications going forward will easily take more than 10-12 years (and not 6 years as claimed on the dept website)

2 - Part 1 shows the (slow) pace of processing the applications - number of applications processed every month.

3 - (see the small note at the end of the document) - The Department is currently assessing for a place in the queue, Contributory Parent (Permanent) (subclass 143) and Contributory Parent (Temporary) (subclass 173) visa applications that were lodged in June 2018 and is releasing from the queue for final processing applications that were lodged in May 2016.

10 to 12 years!!!!

I SO wish I had got my parents' applications in earlier. We planned it ALL based on the 2.5 years timeline at that time.

A lot of people out there relying on the immigration website information would be planning their visas right now based on the 6-year timeline which is wrong again.

This is absolutely not done. I feel like crying.

Hi All

I have applied for the 870 visa for my mum. However with the border restrictions and the capping of 870 visas not sure what the processing time is going to look like. I want to bring her to Australia as soon as borders open up which brings me to my question - can I apply for a 600 visitor visa as well whilst the 870 is still being processed? Just wanting to cover all bases given the uncertainty around all visas.

The most unfortunate bit of it all is we are talking about parents here. They are a vulnerable section of the society that need to be with their families the most through their last years. I'm not sure there'd be many parents out there willing to jump all the different visa hoops there are and go through the exponentially increased wait times willingly anymore. It's a sad reality and one can only hope things get better from here.

On 17/01/2021 at 09:03, Sherlock said:

/Sorry for posting this note on both threads - but not sure if everybody checks both the threads or not.

Just checking - Has anybody raised these issues (ridiculous wait-times for contributory visas and fake timelines on Govt website ) to any ministers or MPs? I haven't had a chance to go through the whole forum, but just wondering if it has been done before.

I have recently spoken to (and also written to ) a certain MP, and I sincerely hope that they will respond. All I'm hoping for is for them to take cognisance of this problem.

I know how terrible all politicians are, but this issue needs to be raised with them often - otherwise all of us will wait forever, and any Govt will continue to not act on it. 

Yes I agree, everyone needs to rally around this and make some noise so we get heard. How does one go about this, do you send your local MP an email?

9 minutes ago, LindaH27 said:

Just to remind you the 870 is “supposed” to be applied for offshore! However I think you can ask for that to be waived?. 
 

I believe processing times for 870 are around 4 months but who knows in these strange times ! You as sponsor would have to be apply first which takes a while then parents have to apply within 6 months of you being approved so I don’t know how allthat would work with the limited time they may still have in Australia  

 

870s are being granted way faster for onshore applicants. All you need to do is ask for applying onshore in your sponsorship application.

Jun 16 could actually come up for processing any time now - BUT you never know! 

4 hours ago, GOAT said:

Hello Everyone, I understand that we are all asking the same question but here I go. 

We started gaining our family sponsor visa for my mom( in UK) in August. that was approved within a couple of weeks, then she started her visa application, the 870 on the 22nd September. I totally understand the delay at the moment but was just wondering if anyone else had had any movement. I saw further down the chat that someone knew they were 200o in the queue ( im sure it s a joke) but is there a way to find out wait times or do we just have to be patient.

 

                       cheers for listening. Hope you are all well.

The wait is not due to a certain # of applicants in queue its owing to no temporary visa grants being issued due to covid. 

20 hours ago, Juniper said:

143 and 870 Visas:

We are also applying for an 870. Our 143 was lodged 31st October 2016. We hope to get away with a 3year 870 but are worried it won’t be long enough. Opinions please?

 

 

3 years should def be enough in your case

2 hours ago, Kathss56 said:

Hopefully they will have relatives abroad. NZ for 3 months wouldnt be too bad it’s just the cost, as with everything else to do with this visa.

The gap will be more than 3 months. You can only apply after the lapse of 3 months, so add the 870 processing time to it for both sponsor and applicant. 1 year easy. And it''ll be extremely difficult for parents to adjust and readjust to these changing circumstances all the time.

2 minutes ago, Kathss56 said:

Would you consider the 870 temp parent visa. I would have gone for that had it been around for me 

Yep - I'm in the process of applying for it..

Just need to rant. Excerpt from the immigration website -

Quote

However, based on current planning levels, we estimate new Contributory Parent visa applications lodged that meet the criteria to be queued are likely to take approximately at least 58 months to be released for final processing.

Unquote

We are talking about parents here who aren't getting any younger unfortunately and these guys can't get their math right. They might as well just remove this statement altogether. No information is better than wrong information.

1 hour ago, Scotjules said:

Today my daughter in Australia received confirmation that she has been approved to sponsor us for our 870 visa . Her e mail says we have 6 months to apply . Has anybody else on here recently had sponsorship approved and applied?  As no temp visas getting granted was surprised she got approval as thought it would not get processed until borders opened again hopefully next year 

Just out of curiosity - what was the processing time for your sponsorship application?

1 hour ago, Scotjules said:

Today my daughter in Australia received confirmation that she has been approved to sponsor us for our 870 visa . Her e mail says we have 6 months to apply . Has anybody else on here recently had sponsorship approved and applied?  As no temp visas getting granted was surprised she got approval as thought it would not get processed until borders opened again hopefully next year 

We got the sponsorship approval in August this year. From what I know they are not processing any offshore 870s at the moment. But you'll need to apply for it nonetheless within the stipulated 6 months.