contributary parent visa

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Liz

 

Re the spouse thing - I have a partner of 15 years I'm leaving behind - not married, not living together. If we decided we couldn't live without each other and decide to get married once I'm settled, do you think the spouse route would be a viable option??

 

 

 

One of the things that makes the split visa strategy viable is that there is no requirement for the CPV holder to become "settled" in Oz before the application for the Spouse visa can be made.

 

I'd be interested to know what the agents make of your query. I have a feeling that if you said the man is your "partner" DIAC might well not query that for the purposes of the CPV. What they would do is check the Balance of Family between you, but beyond that I suspect that they would take your respective words about the relationship.

 

However if you apply for a Spouse/de facto Partner visa later on, they are likely to get hung up about the fact that you have not been living together:

 

Australian Immigration Fact Sheet 35. One-Year Relationship Requirement

 

It seems cock-eyed to me. If I wanted a visa for Oz that badly, no doubt I could put up with an Aussie Godzilla under my roof for a year (sleeping in the spare room!) Joint accounts etc could be arranged if it would help, plus plenty of parading around together pretending to be a genuine couple. Yet where the relationship is genuine, exclusive of all others etc, the lack of cohabitation can scupper the visa application. It simply makes no sense whatsoever to me.

 

Does your OH have any children? If so, add up his children and yours. Would you meet the Balance of Family test if his children were included as well? I am completely guessing here but my guess is that they would kick up about the Spouse visa if they suspected that OH had been left out of the CPV application because of the Balance of Family Test.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[lizg]

Hi Gill,

 

As you will appreciate I am not trying to beat the system - just looking at real life and what might happen in the future.

 

Not all couples who marry live together beforehand but are you saying that they have to live together to qualify?

This is so confusing!

LizG x

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Liz

 

This is the bit I do not understand - the cohabitation idea. As you say, lots of people marry without living together first.

 

It might be that they are less fussy about the cohabitation idea with an older couple though - I don't know.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[Guest Mors]

My Daughter now has her permy visa, which allows her to sponsor us (hubby and me) on a Contributory Parent Visa :yesxmas:

 

I am about to do the application forms. However, can anyone tell me what the difference is between the Temp and the Perm Visa - I know about the costs etc but I am wondering if the Temporary visa is processed quicker than the 1.5 - 2 years at the moment for the Permanent one? We are anxious to get out as soon as possible to be with our daughter.

 

Any information would be extremely welcome.

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Mors

 

The great majority of CPV applicants opt for the CPV 143 from the outset. This was the breakdown for 2007/8:

 

DIAC Newsroom ? Media_releases ? Capping of Contributory Parent category visas&

 

The split is a straightforward reflection of the demand.

 

If you apply for the CPV 173 first then you buy yourself two lots of tedious form-filling and bureaucracy. You might save 8 to 12 weeks on the overall processing time, via not having to put an Assurance of Support into place for the CPV 173. Then again you might only save 3 or 4 weeks because some AoS's are finalised and the visas are then granted very quickly.

 

Perhaps a more compelling reason to consider the two-stage approach is tax. As Temporary Residents in Australia, you would be able to claim full Personal Allowances in the UK and in Australia assuming that you retain assets and/or income in both countries. If you are wealthy enough to need to consider the tax angles then in my view you should consult Alan Collett of Go Matilda, wearing his Accountancy hat:

 

Go Matilda - Your Gateway to Australia - Contact and Feedback

 

One of the arguments against, though, is what happens if the prospective Assurer of Support dies or is made redundant, meaning that potentially four years from now no viable Assurer of Support can be produced? The subclass 143 visa cannot be granted until the AoS is in place.

 

It does sometimes happen that the child in Australia has PR but is not happy and needs more time to consider whether s/he really wants to stay in Australia. In that situation, my feeling would be not to make a CPV application at all but to wait to see how things pan out with and for the child out in Oz.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[Guest june coates]

hi mors,

if you are not yet retired,i would say 173 is ok as you will be working when you have it granted,but if you are retired,as i am,go for the 143 as you dont get any of the senior concessions here untill you have been a permanent resident for 10 yrs.you can't claim first time buyer discount on 173 and don't even get a health care card untill you have been permanent resident for 2 yrs which means paying full wack for prescriptions etc.i would take gills advice,unless you have tax gains to consider.you also need to take into account that the uk state pension is frozen once you get permanent residency so no pension rises for 10 yrs.good luck to you both

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi June

 

If you are 60 or over, you should be able to get a Seniors Card:

 

Welcome to Seniors Card

 

They will normally give these to CPV 173 holders because of the fact that you are committed to upgrading to the CPV 143 sooner or later. It is not the same thing as the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card (which would reduce your prescription charges) but it can still be useful for discounts in shops, cinemas etc, plus the card is free.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[Guest june coates]

hi gill,

thanks for that.i have downloaded the application form and if you look at it,it states that you must be a permanent resident.the 173 is temporary.there is no place to put that i will be upgrading to 143.hope you are bearing up to the cold weather in uk.it's 29 here today ha!ha!i will be waiting till i get my next uk pension increase next april before going for 143.lets hope its a decent increase eh!

[Guest Mors]

Thanks so much for your help. Got another question. I am going to apply for the CPV. However, is there anything to stop me applying for say a Student visa as well....? It won't override my application for the CPV will it?

 

So many questions... so little time :chatterbox:

[Guest joan tobin]

Hi can anybody tell me what contributionary parents are entitled to in oz

[Guest joan tobin]

hi mors,

if you are not yet retired,i would say 173 is ok as you will be working when you have it granted,but if you are retired,as i am,go for the 143 as you dont get any of the senior concessions here untill you have been a permanent resident for 10 yrs.you can't claim first time buyer discount on 173 and don't even get a health care card untill you have been permanent resident for 2 yrs which means paying full wack for prescriptions etc.i would take gills advice,unless you have tax gains to consider.you also need to take into account that the uk state pension is frozen once you get permanent residency so no pension rises for 10 yrs.good luck to you both

 

 

Hi june

im a new member can you tell me what the contributionary parent visa entitles us to

and is it the bare pension we get from the uk :noxmas:

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hello Joan

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

My understanding is as follows:

 

1. If you are 60 or over and you have a CPV 143, you should certainly be able to get a Seniors Card for whichever State you live in and maybe an Inter-State card as well. I reckon that the holders of the temporary CPV173 can probably wangle this as well if they ask nicely.

 

2. After 2 years as a PR then you may become entitled to a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card depending on your income:

 

Concession and Health Care Cards

 

3. After 10 years in Oz then you become entitled to the Age Pension but they work out what an Aussie clone of you would be entitled to and then deduct what the British Government are already giving you so that Australia pays the difference only:

 

Age Pension

 

A CPV holder who falls on hard times would be able to get Special Benefit in extremis:

 

Special Benefit

 

If Special Benefit can be claimed then other Benefits can probably be claimed as well. However Special Benefit is a recoverable debt under the AoS secheme so if it is not repaid before the ApS expires, the amount paid out would be clawed back from the Bond and if the Bond is insufficient then Centrelink can demand the shortfall from the Assurer(s) of Support.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Thanks so much for your help. Got another question. I am going to apply for the CPV. However, is there anything to stop me applying for say a Student visa as well....? It won't override my application for the CPV will it?

 

So many questions... so little time :chatterbox:

 

Hi Mors

 

There is no reason why you can't go to Oz on a Student Visa whilst you wait for your CPV application to be processed. I am told it is quite a popular idea amongst British Parents and if anything I imagine it will become even more popular unless something can be done about reducing the waiting time for CPVs.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[Guest Gollywobbler]

hi gill,

thanks for that.i have downloaded the application form and if you look at it,it states that you must be a permanent resident.the 173 is temporary.there is no place to put that i will be upgrading to 143.hope you are bearing up to the cold weather in uk.it's 29 here today ha!ha!i will be waiting till i get my next uk pension increase next april before going for 143.lets hope its a decent increase eh!

 

Hi June

 

I've heard about a British couple in Adelaide (friends of friends.) They are on a Bridging Visa whilst awaiting the (eventual) grant on a non-contributory Aged Parent visa. I am told that they have Seniors Cards even though they do not have PR.

 

I have also heard of Retirement & Investor Retirement Visa holders who have Seniors Cards. Their visas, unlike yours, can't ever provide a pathway to PR.

 

I gather that the Seniors Card people look at the facts rather than at the visa. If they believe that the card-applicant has made his/her permanent home in Oz then them seem to be willing the let the relevant people have Seniors Cards so I reckon it would be worth asking.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[Guest austibeach]

At long last we are on DIAC's radar, we have been acknowledged. I know it's only a small step, but when you've waited as long as we have, it's pretty damn momentous.

Well at least we can relax for Christmas now, in the knowledge that the Aussie government now have their first pound of flesh, in the form of our AUD 1420 first payment, maybe this time next year I can get excited again.........though probably not ! We are in this for the long haul, however long it takes ; there's a new grandchild on the way next year and we are missing out..............but we are patient ; if nothing else.

 

Eric.

[Guest Gollywobbler]

At long last we are on DIAC's radar, we have been acknowledged. I know it's only a small step, but when you've waited as long as we have, it's pretty damn momentous.

Well at least we can relax for Christmas now, in the knowledge that the Aussie government now have their first pound of flesh, in the form of our AUD 1420 first payment, maybe this time next year I can get excited again.........though probably not ! We are in this for the long haul, however long it takes ; there's a new grandchild on the way next year and we are missing out..............but we are patient ; if nothing else.

 

Eric.

 

WELL DONE, THAT MAN!!!! :biggrinxmas::emoticon-signxmas:

 

Hugz

 

Gill

xx

[lizg]

One small step for man.......

Many congratulations on taking that step.

Can I`ask did you submit Form 80 and if not did they ask for it?

 

Liz x

[Guest austibeach]

Yes I did submit Form 80........and every form I reckoned they could ever ask for........and possibly some they don't want, but they've got them anyway. I've tried to anticipate every thought that a case officer could ever have, but then again I'm living on the assuption that they do actually think. I'm sure I will have forgotten something, I'm not exactly on their wavelength it has to be said.

We are just relieved that all forms have arrived safely thanks to Royal Mail International Signed For, and we can now forget about it all for a while.

 

And for Gill a.k.a. Gollywobbler :hug: your encouragement is always an inspiration.

 

Eric.

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Eric

 

Just a small query. Would you like Steve (sandch) to add you to his CPV tracker file, which is here:

 

CPV key dates tracker

 

If so, you need to contact Steve direct, please:

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/members/sandch.html

 

Personally I think his tracker beats every other method of trying to monitor CPV processing into a cocked hat.

 

Its not much fun being Tail End Charlie on the tracker but more new applicants will come along soon and it is AMAZING how time flies.

 

My friends Claire & Don are on the tracker (28/11/2007.) Theirs is an unusual case because they are a young couple and the whole thing has been described on these boards by Claire so I know she won't mind my mentioning it. This time last year Claire was a newbie on here. She & Don had just had an acknowledgement from the POPC and thought they would soon be on their way to Oz to join Don's then six year old child, an Aussie, whose mother (Don's first wife) is sponsoring Claire & Don.

 

It was obvious from Claire's first post that there was a serious problem so I suggested she should contact the POPC urgently. Sure enough. They had instructed a highly eminent Registered Migration Agent over a year earlier. They had signed Form 47PA in September 2006 and it had taken the Agent a total of 14 further months to get round even to lodging the CPV application for them despite knowing full well that a young child is involved.

 

A situation that looked so bleak a year ago actually looks quite encouraging now on the tracker. The Agent was ditched in a hurry - they could not have trusted him again after his inexcusable negligence. A second RMA (one of the really nice ones) stepped in and I heard from Claire the other day. Since it is now clear that they are too late for CPVs this side of 1st July 2009 they will be going to Oz on a student visa in time for Christmas. An excellent idea because they can both work part time and become a proper part of the local community whilst they wait for the CPVs to be finalised.

 

I felt a warm glow when I looked at their position on the tracker this evening because they are not far behind Sandch so the worst of the long waiting time for a CO is now out of the way.

 

And then my dear friends R&M - who are elderly. They had a dreadful disappointment in 2007 as well because they were all set to leave for Oz (by sea) in Jan 2008 when it emerged that they could not make a CPV application at the time because their daughter (on a spouse visa) did not have PR. Despite every possible effort, nothing could be done except to delay their departure to Oz for a year. Again, it all seemed dreadful at the time but now their CPV application has been lodged, they are moving up the list, the ship leaves in less than a month and I'm (hopefully) in the process of wangling a VIP pass so that they will let me aboard the ship in Southampton Docks. (Luckily I know the Registrar General of Shipping & Seamen, who knows all the head honchos of Carnival Cruises so I am hoping they can swing it for me.)

 

Once I've settled R&M into their cabin and had a tour of the ship, I plan to hurtle down to Weston Shore to take pix as the ship sails past. It'll be dark but the cruise ships look like chandeliers at night as you know. I can wing the pix to their daughter that evening and then we can all track the ship. It will be excellent.

 

So I'd say it is well worth joining Steve's tracker. It is good for morale.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

xx :hug:

[sandch]

At long last we are on DIAC's radar, we have been acknowledged. I know it's only a small step, but when you've waited as long as we have, it's pretty damn momentous.

Well at least we can relax for Christmas now, in the knowledge that the Aussie government now have their first pound of flesh, in the form of our AUD 1420 first payment, maybe this time next year I can get excited again.........though probably not ! We are in this for the long haul, however long it takes ; there's a new grandchild on the way next year and we are missing out..............but we are patient ; if nothing else.

 

Eric.

Well it's a start Eric. It's hard to believe we've been waiting for 13 months now and at least another 7 to go. Our first grandchild was born in Australia in May. We made sure we were at least there for the momentous event, but it's been hard since.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest austibeach]

Well it's a start Eric. It's hard to believe we've been waiting for 13 months now and at least another 7 to go. Our first grandchild was born in Australia in May. We made sure we were at least there for the momentous event, but it's been hard since.

Cheers

Steve

The reality of our situation is that we have waited many years to get to this point. We try not to get too excited about anything to do with the immigration process as we know it's still a long way off. We had our first grandchild born in February last year and are now expecting our second one in June next year. Our target is to be there in Oz before they are at school, but our real wish is for sometime in 2010.

 

I'll have a look at your list that Gill has mentioned, but you are welcome to add us to it.

 

Eric.

[Guest gliddon]

Hi all,

 

We made it here, and are now fully internet-connected, in spite of initial problems. So hello and Happy Christmas.

Arrived Melbourne November 26th, bought house December 4th! Can't believe how easy and quick it was compared with UK, or our luck in finding that the very first house we looked at ticked all our boxes. All the problems with getting the visa seem a long way away now.

Settling down to a new way of life, I don't believe how much I miss proper English cheeses - I feel like Wallace pining for Wensleydale! Also Weetbix will never be an acceptable substitute for Weetabix. But Timtams are a vast improvement on Penguins, so it's swings and roundabouts.

Best wishes for the Christmas holiday to all, whether in Oz or back in the UK.

Mary

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Mary

 

Gosh! You have been busy!

 

Well done for getting everything organised so quickly. Are you waiting for stuff to arrive from the UK or did you not send a container?

 

All the very best to you and your family for Christmas and the New Year.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

:emoticon-signxmas:

[Guest gliddon]

Hi Gill,

 

We're at a sort of half-way point - waiting for some stuff to be shipped from UK, but we didn't have enough for a full container so have to wait for a part load and not sure if it's even left UK yet. But we're in a fully furnished rental (in Mornington) until the beginning of May, and don't get settlement on the new house until beginning of March, so we have plenty of time to get organised without too much pressure. So we can just relax and enjoy the grandchildren over Christmas.

 

Best wishes to you and your family for Christmas and New Year,

Mary

[lizg]

Hi Mary,

 

Lucky you. Well now you are lucky - maybe not so before but I bet it has all been worth it. Sounds fabulous. Can't believe you found a house so quickly.

 

Have a great Christmas with the family - I'm sure you will - and best wishes for the future,

Liz x