juju Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 hi all I am new to this site, but wondering what are benefits of waiting to apply for 864 rather than 143? I understand there are possibilities of being in Australia whilst waiting for the visa to come through, but assume to still access healthcare if needed ( I read somewhere that if you are out of UK for 6 months you lose access to NHS??) , you would need bridging visas to return to UK ever so often and then return to Australia. Does anyone know how the bridging visas work with these 2 visas? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britgirl29 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 My understanding is that 864 is an onshore visa while 143 is an offshore visa and so you don't get a bridging visa My parents applied for the 864 visa as they met the aged criteria and wanted to be in Australia right away. As UK citizens they can access reciprocal medicare but they also have private health insurance too. They would need a bridging visa to leave the country and I understand that's reasonably easy to get, but at this time they don't need to. The main benefit is that now visas are taking 4+ years to be granted it means they can live here rather than waiting in the UK. The downside is that if the visa is refused then they would have to leave. We decided that hopefully small risk is worth it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber Snowball Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 NHS just requires you to be resident in the UK. So if they leave Australia and move back to the UK with a UK address they can access care straight away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juju Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 Thank you both for the helpful comments much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, juju said: I read somewhere that if you are out of UK for 6 months you lose access to NHS Amber is right to say that IF you can show proof of a UK residential address, you will be covered under the NHS immediately. However, if you have moved to Australia and sold up your house, then you won't be able to show a UK residential address - and you won't be eligible for treatment until you can. That rule has been introduced to stop "medical tourism", in particular where Brits who have retired to Spain etc, and then want to pop back to the UK for major medical treatment instead of paying for treatment in Spain. It should be noted that someone on a bridging visa is stuck in Australia - if they want to leave the country, then they need to go through another application process to get a BVB, which will give them the right to travel for a short period. To get a BVB, they must show a strong reason why they need to travel, they can't just say they want to visit relatives or have a holiday. Edited March 5, 2019 by Marisawright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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