Lulu Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 My husband & I would like to start the process to get his mom to Oz (she's widowed), currently living in Scotland. Financially its up to us; the contributory visa is not an option (she has all three her children here, 2 are Oz Citizens, and 5 grandchildren). She is 67 (retired) Reading through the immigration website's visa options it seems we could either apply for the Remaining Relative (115) or the Aged Parent Visa (804) - with a $4k application fee we want to make sure we apply for the right one. Any advice or feedback from anyone going through the process would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Some of the visas you are looking at have a wait time of 50 years. Yes, five zero. The contributory would be the best. Though, you should be aware even that is going to take 5 to 8 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lulu Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 2 minutes ago, VERYSTORMY said: Some of the visas you are looking at have a wait time of 50 years. Yes, five zero. The contributory would be the best. Though, you should be aware even that is going to take 5 to 8 years e understand that we will be responsible for her financially and wait times are lengthy. With a young child we don't have the funds available for the contributory. Have you gone through the process of a parent visa? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, Lulu said: Reading through the immigration website's visa options it seems we could either apply for the Remaining Relative (115) or the Aged Parent Visa (804) - with a $4k application fee we want to make sure we apply for the right one. Any advice or feedback from anyone going through the process would be greatly appreciated! If the $4k application is a lot of money for you, then please research the visa carefully, because there are a lot of hidden costs as the years go by. Your MIL will arrive on a tourist visa, apply for the 804 visa onshore, then she'll be on a bridging visa - possibly for the rest of her life, because the waiting time is up to 30 years. What that means is that although she'll be physically resident in Australia, legally she won't be. That means she won't be entitled to any government benefits at all, even if she is in financial difficulties. At the same time, her UK govt. pension will be frozen at the amount it is today - she'll never get any increases, so her income won't keep up with inflation. She will be covered by Medicare but only for "essential care", not elective surgery. So say, for instance, she needs a hip replacement. That's elective, so she can't get it done on Medicare. However, she can't pop back to the UK to get it done either, because once she's no longer resident in the UK, she's not eligible for the NHS either. That's why you'll need to budget for health insurance. However, she can't get the usual health insurance because that's only for residents. She'll have to get "overseas visitor" cover which is more expensive - I saw someone mention $12,000 per year somewhere. The final problem to consider is what happens if her visa is rejected in the end. Like I said, they are quoting wait times of "up to" 30 years for the 804 visa, but it's possible the wait could be shorter. Let's say her visa finally comes through in 15 years, when she's 82. At that point, before the visa is granted, she'll have to pass a medical (which, at that age, might be difficult). If she fails the medical, her application will be rejected and she'll have to leave the country. That will mean returning to the UK where she will have to re-establish residency before being able to access NHS and other benefits. I'm almost your MIL's age, and I'm not sure I'd want to give up my home and dispose of my possessions to move to a foreign country where my income will steadily decline, and where I might get thrown out at any time. I know being close to grandchildren and family is a powerful pull, but do make sure you understand the pitfalls before you decide whether to proceed. When you consider the loss of income and benefits, and the cost of health insurance, it could actually be cheaper for her to visit you every year for three to six months, than to make the permanent move. Edited January 28, 2019 by Marisawright 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rammygirl Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Remaining relative visa is not applicable to parents. You as a sponsor would need to be the parent or sibling of the remaining relative. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lulu Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 32 minutes ago, Marisawright said: If the $4k application is a lot of money for you, then please research the visa carefully, because there are a lot of hidden costs as the years go by. Your MIL will arrive on a tourist visa, apply for the 804 visa onshore, then she'll be on a bridging visa - possibly for the rest of her life, because the waiting time is up to 30 years. What that means is that although she'll be physically resident in Australia, legally she won't be. That means she won't be entitled to any government benefits at all, even if she is in financial difficulties. At the same time, her UK govt. pension will be frozen at the amount it is today - she'll never get any increases, so her income won't keep up with inflation. She will be covered by Medicare but only for "essential care", not elective surgery. So say, for instance, she needs a hip replacement. That's elective, so she can't get it done on Medicare. However, she can't pop back to the UK to get it done either, because once she's no longer resident in the UK, she's not eligible for the NHS either. That's why you'll need to budget for health insurance. However, she can't get the usual health insurance because that's only for residents. She'll have to get "overseas visitor" cover which is more expensive - I saw someone mention $12,000 per year somewhere. The final problem to consider is what happens if her visa is rejected in the end. Like I said, they are quoting wait times of "up to" 30 years for the 804 visa, but it's possible the wait could be shorter. Let's say her visa finally comes through in 15 years, when she's 82. At that point, before the visa is granted, she'll have to pass a medical (which, at that age, might be difficult). If she fails the medical, her application will be rejected and she'll have to leave the country. That will mean returning to the UK where she will have to re-establish residency before being able to access NHS and other benefits. I'm almost your MIL's age, and I'm not sure I'd want to give up my home and dispose of my possessions to move to a foreign country where my income will steadily decline, and where I might get thrown out at any time. I know being close to grandchildren and family is a powerful pull, but do make sure you understand the pitfalls before you decide whether to proceed. When you consider the loss of income and benefits, and the cost of health insurance, it could actually be cheaper for her to visit you every year for three to six months, than to make the permanent move. Thank you Marisa, really appreciate your feedback. Much of what you've shared we've been considering and also understand the massive financial impact on ourselves as a young family and on her leaving the UK (which she feels she's happy to do). Such a difficult decision as the contributory visa definitely seems a better option in the long run, just very costly so much to think about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lulu Posted January 28, 2019 Author Share Posted January 28, 2019 9 minutes ago, rammygirl said: Remaining relative visa is not applicable to parents. You as a sponsor would need to be the parent or sibling of the remaining relative. Didn't know that - thank you for sharing. Looks like we only have two options really - 804 / 864 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 9 hours ago, Marisawright said: If the $4k application is a lot of money for you, then please research the visa carefully, because there are a lot of hidden costs as the years go by. Your MIL will arrive on a tourist visa, apply for the 804 visa onshore, then she'll be on a bridging visa - possibly for the rest of her life, because the waiting time is up to 30 years. What that means is that although she'll be physically resident in Australia, legally she won't be. That means she won't be entitled to any government benefits at all, even if she is in financial difficulties. At the same time, her UK govt. pension will be frozen at the amount it is today - she'll never get any increases, so her income won't keep up with inflation. She will be covered by Medicare but only for "essential care", not elective surgery. So say, for instance, she needs a hip replacement. That's elective, so she can't get it done on Medicare. However, she can't pop back to the UK to get it done either, because once she's no longer resident in the UK, she's not eligible for the NHS either. That's why you'll need to budget for health insurance. However, she can't get the usual health insurance because that's only for residents. She'll have to get "overseas visitor" cover which is more expensive - I saw someone mention $12,000 per year somewhere. The final problem to consider is what happens if her visa is rejected in the end. Like I said, they are quoting wait times of "up to" 30 years for the 804 visa, but it's possible the wait could be shorter. Let's say her visa finally comes through in 15 years, when she's 82. At that point, before the visa is granted, she'll have to pass a medical (which, at that age, might be difficult). If she fails the medical, her application will be rejected and she'll have to leave the country. That will mean returning to the UK where she will have to re-establish residency before being able to access NHS and other benefits. I'm almost your MIL's age, and I'm not sure I'd want to give up my home and dispose of my possessions to move to a foreign country where my income will steadily decline, and where I might get thrown out at any time. I know being close to grandchildren and family is a powerful pull, but do make sure you understand the pitfalls before you decide whether to proceed. When you consider the loss of income and benefits, and the cost of health insurance, it could actually be cheaper for her to visit you every year for three to six months, than to make the permanent move. $12,000 health insurance cost is for 2 of us, and we do have the highest overseas visitors top cover available. Also on the point of being possibly sent home in the event of not passing the medical, Alan Collet has mentioned in a previous post that there is a visa that can be applied for in those circumstances, but I have no knowledge of this only that I remember Alan mentioning it. I do agree this is potentially a risky move, health becomes more of a problem as we age, and costly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 23 minutes ago, ramot said: $12,000 health insurance cost is for 2 of us, and we do have the highest overseas visitors top cover available. Also on the point of being possibly sent home in the event of not passing the medical, Alan Collet has mentioned in a previous post that there is a visa that can be applied for in those circumstances, but I have no knowledge of this only that I remember Alan mentioning it. I do agree this is potentially a risky move, health becomes more of a problem as we age, and costly. Yes I’m not saying they shouldn’t do it, but it’s vital they understand it’s not a low cost option 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted January 28, 2019 Share Posted January 28, 2019 22 minutes ago, ramot said: $12,000 health insurance cost is for 2 of us, and we do have the highest overseas visitors top cover available. Also on the point of being possibly sent home in the event of not passing the medical, Alan Collet has mentioned in a previous post that there is a visa that can be applied for in those circumstances, but I have no knowledge of this only that I remember Alan mentioning it. I do agree this is potentially a risky move, health becomes more of a problem as we age, and costly. I also suggest you post on only one section of the family/partner thread, as you end up asking a similar question in two different sections. The parent visa thread is the best one to use for the parent visa questions. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrussell Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 subclass 838?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 6 hours ago, wrussell said: subclass 838?? How would a UK resident prove the financial dependency needed for that visa when they have a UK pension etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrussell Posted January 31, 2019 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Depends on the circumstances of the case. In the extreme case, abandon the pension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nemesis Posted February 1, 2019 Share Posted February 1, 2019 11 hours ago, wrussell said: Depends on the circumstances of the case. In the extreme case, abandon the pension. Interesting. Didn't know you could do that with a UK State pension. I know if you try and claim the Oz one but are entitled to the UK one they make you claim the UK one first. Begs the question though as to why more people don't just abandon their UK pension and go for this visa! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaH27 Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 Surely Immi would want to know why someone would give up something they were entitled to!! In the UK it would be classed as deprivation in order to claim benefit and would result in an application for said benefit being refused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrussell Posted February 2, 2019 Share Posted February 2, 2019 An applicant could donate a pension to for a period charity or repay a loan to a relative or some other party. This sort of stunt is legally possible, but is likely to cost more than than borrowing the money for a contributory visa in the first place, with no assurance of success. and Are there Australian relatives other than children to enliven 838? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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