angelicuprising Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Hi - My husband are I are coming to Sydney in October and just sorting our 457 sponsored visa (my employer is sponsoring me). They have asked me to put private health insurance in place to meet 457 requirements for my visa application. However- we are on a 2 week visit from this Friday and I wondered if I might be able to go and register with Medicare (UK reciprical) on our 2 week trip and then this would cover us for the 457 requirements? It seems that Medicare (UK reciprical) is sufficient for 457 requirements - the problem seems to be that you have to be on the ground in Australia in order to register with Medicare. Just wondering if we can be a bit clever and register with Medicare on the basis of our ETA / eVisitor visas (valid for 1 year but clearly we're only on a 2 week visit). Would they let us register for 1 year (lifetime of ETA visa) or just the 2 weeks we're in Sydney do you know?? Sorry. Really random question. I have tried searching for answers but no success so far. Thank you SO much to any Medicare / Visa experts out there!! Libby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 This question as has come up a lot, as far as I know, everyone that is applying for 457, has to apply for private insurance. Not medicare, as that is not private insurance. You do not need to maintain the private cover once you get here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blossom Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 I don't believe so. When I was on a bridging visa they would only issue me Medicare card valid for two months at a time (I spent 18 months on the bridging visa). Some people have used the health insurance part of their credit card travel insurance successfully. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeepsMelb Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 I used medicare on a 457 Visa. I came over on a WHV and just had travel insurance covering medical, but used medicare on 457 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 I used medicare on a 457 Visa. I came over on a WHV and just had travel insurance covering medical, but used medicare on 457 The question is not about whether Medicare can be used on a 457 visa. The subtle difference is about the medical cover that needs to be in place before the 457 is granted. Your WHV travel insurance would have covered it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
websie Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 We were advised by Medicare that if you leave Australia your reciprocal card becomes invalid and you have to reapply when you return. (This was a couple of years ago though) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VeepsMelb Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 The question is not about whether Medicare can be used on a 457 visa. The subtle difference is about the medical cover that needs to be in place before the 457 is granted. Your WHV travel insurance would have covered it. The Question is about whether they can use medicare on a 457..... "we are on a 2 week visit from this Friday and I wondered if I might be able to go and register with Medicare (UK reciprical) on our 2 week trip and then this would cover us for the 457 requirements?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bungo Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 The Question is about whether they can use medicare on a 457...."we are on a 2 week visit from this Friday and I wondered if I might be able to go and register with Medicare (UK reciprical) on our 2 week trip and then this would cover us for the 457 requirements?" you have to read the whole post, not just pick out a sentence without the surrounding context. And I have understood their question, sounds like you haven't got a clue what they are getting at. They want to know about the private health cover which needs to be in place before a visa can be granted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LouDYorkie Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 As far as I can remember (18 months ago), we only had to ensure that we had 'sufficient cover' in place and could prove it to Immi. That could have been a suitable travel insurance policy, private medical or reciprocal Medicare. They were pretty specific about the suitability of travel insurance policies and we didn't travel to Australia in advance of moving here on our 457 so we couldn't have applied for Medicare. When we did arrive and apply for Medicare, they wanted evidence of our visa so that they could 'end date' the reciprocal arrangement appropriately. Therefore we only had to pay for one month (approx) of Private Health. I am unsure though whether Immi will accept you have Medicare (and whether you actually still do) once you have returned to the UK and are therefore applying offshore for a 457 visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieMay24 Posted May 12, 2015 Share Posted May 12, 2015 From what I've read from other posters in the same situation, they've taken out the necessary private coverage and then cancelled it once they had registered for Medicare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dexterdog Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Hi there. Can I pick your brains as you describe a similar situation to ours. We moved to Gold Coast a couple of months ago on 457 visa and we took bupa health insurance as needed health insurance as condition of visa, and actually it says on our to maintain health insurance? Anyway, now we are here do we also qualify for Medicare and how do we go about that?? I am need in to make a doctors appointment for some regular (non urgent) medication I got at home and no idea how I do that, whether I pay for an appointment etc. I see lots of health care centres but do you need to join like you would a gp practice at home? Any info specific to Queensland would be great!! Thanks guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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