Only child wanting parents to migrate . Anyone had experience ?

[fitnesstasha]

Hello !

 

We are all being well emigrating next year , I have no brothers and sisters and would love it if my parents one day decided to settle in oz . I've. Ern researching Internet but still can't get clear answer of the costs involved . Has anyone had Any experience ? How much do my parents need ? We would be looking at 2 year bond , how much is this ? And does it get returned to them ? Do I have to prove my savings etc ? Questions questions !!!! Thanks in advance x

[Guest Cathwotherspoon]

Hi

I am a parent in the process of moving to be with my daughter and family. You have to be settled in Australia for at least two years before they can apply. They can do the 103 which takes 10-15 years and is virtually free, or the alternative is contributory parent visa 143 which at current waiting times can be anything from 12-18 months. a 173 (temporary for 2 years) and then they would have to get a 143 which would be permanent. The cost of this can be split if doing the 173 first but going for the 143 to begin with is approx $40K. You also need to provice assurance of support approx $14K. Very expensive but its what has to be done if we want to be with our families. Check out these visas on the immigration site for loads more details and information.

Cath

[Candygirl]

Hi fitnesstasha, I am an only child too. How did your parents take the news?

 

My Mum was very upset to begin with, but has been absolutely amazing and if I have had a wobble, she has given me a poke up the backside. I too would also like them to move out with me eventually, but they want to wait and see how we get on first before making any decisions.

[fitnesstasha]

Hi fitnesstasha, I am an only child too. How did your parents take the news?

 

My Mum was very upset to begin with, but has been absolutely amazing and if I have had a wobble, she has given me a poke up the backside. I too would also like them to move out with me eventually, but they want to wait and see how we get on first before making any decisions.

Hey ! Well we told them a long time ago now prob bout 5 years ago , we both went back to college to retrain to get us on , so I thought I should give my parents an explanation as to why we were doing that ! We are in our final part of our plan now so I'm not sure if my paents realise that . It's lovely that your mum is being supportive ! Makes ur life easier xxxx

​

[fitnesstasha]

Hi

I am a parent in the process of moving to be with my daughter and family. You have to be settled in Australia for at least two years before they can apply. They can do the 103 which takes 10-15 years and is virtually free, or the alternative is contributory parent visa 143 which at current waiting times can be anything from 12-18 months. a 173 (temporary for 2 years) and then they would have to get a 143 which would be permanent. The cost of this can be split if doing the 173 first but going for the 143 to begin with is approx $40K. You also need to provice assurance of support approx $14K. Very expensive but its what has to be done if we want to be with our families. Check out these visas on the immigration site for loads more details and information.

Cath

Thanls so much for ur reply ! How exciting for u ! Bet ur daughter is thrilled !! That 40k ... Do u get it back ?? And the 15k is that something I have to prove to be able to support ?

​Tx

[purpleal]

Hi,

It is about 40k per parent with a $14,000 bond. The bond is returned after 10 years minus any deductions for medical etc. The 40k per parent is the visa 'fee' and is non returnable. All in all, if you are looking at bringing both your parents in, you are looking at a total of close to $100,000 for the contributory parent visa.

Hope this helps,

Purpleal

[Incata]

I'd pay $100k to make sure my in-laws didn't come out here :wink:

[Quoll]

Will your parents want to give up their lives to move to a foreign country where they may well be financially disadvantaged and may end up being dependent upon you? I certainly wouldnt chase my kids around the world. Im an only and made the move without giving my olds a second's thought - they could have come to live in Aus, they visited for 6 months of every year for 15 years. In the end they decided that their lives were better in UK - their established social networks, their siblings, their finances, their home. They dont regret that and neither do I. They have one grandkid who lives in UK now and since the wheels have fallen off their wagon we now live here with them which is a bonus for me.

 

I think it is naive to assume that parents are going to want to chase their kids all over - some do, of course, and I have had many pms from parents who have done just that and discovered that it was a real mistake because the older we get the more inclined we are to go back to our roots. I dont think Australia is particularly kind to the elderly TBH and social circles are very hard to break into.

 

Perhaps your parents might do the best of both worlds thing and do 6 months here 6 months there and retain their independence for longer. Cheaper than a CPV and they keep all their options open

[pacticenurse]

I didn't realise it was so expensive.. Maybe a 3m holiday / visit will be just suffice !! :-).

[Fisher1]

Can I just say to fitnesstasha and Candygirl that if you want to find out more about this you could look on the parents thread on this site. Everyone is different and I think that for every parent who would want to move out to Oz, there is a parent who would say 'no thanks!'

 

I am the mum of an only who is very happy in oz and I wouldnt want her to move back here since I know she has a life that suits her now. Not a 'better' life - every one is different, but a life that suits her.

 

My OH and I would love to join her but I have an elderly mum, so we have applied for a 103 (for full visa info plus application forms you can download and print yourself go to the Aus gov. site. Google Australia parents visa and you'll find it.)

 

I cant stress enough the expense of it all. In addition to the (I would say very accurate) $100,000 for visa and bond, you have the costs of medicals and actually moving. Also NB that the UK state pension, although payable to UK expats in Australia, is not adjusted for rises in the cost of living as it would be if they lived here. Over the years this can really reduce the value of the state pension.

 

All this means that we parents need to think very carefully before we take that leap. Certainly you would want to make sure you really were staying there!! Again, it all depends on the individual and their financial resources.

 

I think its a lot easier than it used to be, with skype, email, etc etc. It's still a big stress though so dont be surprised if your mum gets a bit weird before you leave. My daughter reckons I'm always really touchy and bad tempered during the last couple of days of our holidays with her - understandable though so we treat it like PMT and ignore it. If you are close you'll find ways to stay close. Good luck with it all and I hope you'll be as happy there as my daughter is.

[Candygirl]

Thanks Fisher1.

 

My husband looked into it whilst I was making my decision to go. The Wrinklies plan to come at least once a year (they are retired and are comfortable). We will see how it goes with the journey for them. My Mum was quite worried in case anything happened to my Dad and she was left in the UK and her family were the other side of the world, which is understandable. I have promised the Wrinklies that we won't leave one of them behind if anything happened and we would do everything we could to get them over. My Dad said as the money they have will be mine eventually, it was only my money I would be spending anyway:biggrin:

 

The Wrinklies have quite a few friends whose children are in Oz and they all cope very well, visiting as much as they can and skyping. The Wrinklies may find it a bit easier as I have lived outside of the UK for 8 years so are used to not seeing us on a regular basis.

[AJ]

Have you tried asking them what they want, seems like its all what you want

[Fisher1]

Just a thought, nothing to do with anything really .... I really hope that one day in the future someone refers to you frequently and consistently as a wrinkly. :arghh:

[Freesia]

haha you just beat me to that thought- just read this & was thinking I wouldn't be visiting mine if they referred to me like that :frown: sounds awful!

 

btw Fitnesstasha are you shocked at the costs like the rest of us?

[Petals]

I think its very hard to move from the pond when we are older, I would not want to leave mine. Even to move to another suburb would be a big move for me now. I also do not want to spend every waking moment as an unpaid baby sitter. When I had my children my Mum did look after mine for a couple of days a week for a while but I made sure I paid her the going rate. However it did not last long as they had heir own lives and as it should be they had done their time.

 

We spend so much time thinking family, family, family but there are so many other things we miss if we are older, the people we nod to down the road, acquaintances, the person in the chemist who knows us as we take loads of meds these days, doctors receptionist. Shop keepers, neighbours. The list goes on of things we take for granted and do not realise they are part of our lives. My children have their own lives, one lives in the City one lives in the Country, we see them from time to time and speak on the phone but we are not in each other's pockets as they have their own friends.

 

Keep in touch, visit if we can or they can, but if they wanted to move overseas tomorrow we would not be going. Its also a burden on the children because if we are unhappy and out of our pond we rely too much on them and they are at a time when family and friends are very much their own family and friends.

 

It sounds wonderful but the reality is probably not.

[Fisher1]

Good point Petals. One of the reasons we are on the long waiting list is because i dont want to leave my mum, but it also gives us a good long period to consider all aspects of a move! We are lucky in that we have travelled about a lot and have only been back in the UK ourselves for four years but you are right - you shouldnt underestimate the effort involved in meeting (and retaining!) new friends. It's not easy!

[Guest Cathwotherspoon]

Thanls so much for ur reply ! How exciting for u ! Bet ur daughter is thrilled !! That 40k ... Do u get it back ?? And the 15k is that something I have to prove to be able to support ?

​Tx

Hopefully I will get my CO in the next few months then I will have to start dishing out the cash to the Oz government. The only thing you get back is the 14K AOS which, supposedly is paid to them by the sponsor, presumably that will be you or your hubby, and you have to prove that you are earning enough to support your parents. After 5 years my daughter is looking forward to me moving over......can't wait, Cath

[Fisher1]

Hi Cath,

 

how long till you get the 14k AOS back - is it ten years?

 

Kath with a K :-)

[Guest Cathwotherspoon]

Hi Cath,

 

how long till you get the 14k AOS back - is it ten years?

 

Kath with a K :-)

 

Hi Kath - I believe it is 10 years and apparently they pay interest on it but at what rate I don't know. Still better than nothing. Cath

[Candygirl]

Just a thought, nothing to do with anything really .... I really hope that one day in the future someone refers to you frequently and consistently as a wrinkly. :arghh:

 

 

Unfortunately, you haven't got the sense of humour that my Mum & Dad have got then. They refer to themselves as the Wrinklies.

[Paul1Perth]

Unfortunately, you haven't got the sense of humour that my Mum & Dad have got then. They refer to themselves as the Wrinklies.

 

When my youngest talks about times when we were younger he always starts with "in the olden days":biggrin:

[Quoll]

When my youngest talks about times when we were younger he always starts with "in the olden days":biggrin:

 

​..... When dinosaurs roamed the earth! LOL

[Guest hels]

Hiya

Ive lived over here now 2 years and my parents are thinking very seroiusly about moving to be with me and to have someone to care for them when they get old old(they are 70 now) we looked at both visas but 100k was just to big a chunk out of their savings and niether would be working so it seems silly to spead that amount of money. So we settled on the ages parent visa as the option, it has draw backs, 15 years until the visa will be granted and they are on a briding visa for that whole time so cannot then leave the country (you apply onshore in aus) so trapping you in the country as it were, but it does cost 2k in comparision.

Its a strange feeling to think that my choice 4 years ago to come here has such repercusuions for the rest of my family. Honestly if they move here it will make my life perfect and i dont think ill ever return to the Uk, i have no reason too.

Good luck with your parents visa

 

:chatterbox:

[ramot]

Moving to another country when you are " more mature" depends a lot on your attitude of mind and health.

We retired to OZ 10 years ago, and love it, but we had moved most of our working loves and lived in Asia for 9 years before retiring, and we were up for more experiences.

it might well be harder for parents who have lived in one place most of their lives.

we retired to OZ with all of our 3 in UK, it was easier then, but the visa we came on no longer exists. We are self funded retirees.

2 of our children have followed us here, so we don't fit the norm.

we have had no problem settling here, we have been made so welcome, and had no problems with the health system, had very good treatment when needed, but like anywhere areas vary and we have lucky where we chose to live.

We don't necessarily have a better life than our friends in UK , but it is different and we are warmer! I say that as we have been in UK for 8 weeks, and have struggled with the cold!

I might be wrong, but my understanding of the high cost of the parent visa, is to cover lack of contributions to the health care system, as most moving here are elderly and haven't contributed, but more than likely will need medical back up and are entitled to medicare. Sorry if I have that wrong.

I think there is a new 5 year visa that allows stays of up to one year at a time? If I'm right parents could come for a while to give them an idea of the life here, before committing to a permanent move. Again apologise if that is wrong information.

if you do come here a bit older, then as long as you have interests and are prepared to join in, from our experience you should be OK, but like anywhere you have to make the effort.

[starlight7]

You can emigrate successfully in old age. My darling Dad came when he was 80 after Mum died and he absolutely loved it here for the last 5 years of his life. He just regretted that he hadn't come with Mum years earlier. He was a fairly shy type but he still managed to make some new friends and he joined a walking group for weekly walks.