KatyM Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 Looking to move to Australia in 2021. My daughter has lived there for 11 years and my brother for 30 years. I am 65 years of age. My concern is would I be able to live comfortably. My house here in the UK is valued at £160,00.00 and I have a private pension and will be getting my state pension in October 2020. Advice greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted August 3, 2019 Share Posted August 3, 2019 It's not as simple as that, I'm afraid. You will need to apply for a parent visa, which is several thousand pounds. There is a waiting period of at least 5 years to get the visa. If you move to Australia, your state pension will be frozen at whatever rate you're receiving when you move. You will never get any increases for the rest of your life. You don't say where your daughter is living, but you need to check property prices there, to see if you could afford to buy a home - especially as you'll have to use such a large chunk of your equity to pay for the visa. I'm sure someone will suggest that you can travel to Australia on a tourist visa, then once you've arrived, you can "decide" you want to stay, and apply for a cheaper, non-contributory visa. But be careful, as there are major snags. The waiting time for that visa is 30 years, which means you'd spend the rest of your life in Australia in limbo, classed as a visitor even though you're living permanently. You'd have to get special permission to buy a house (and be charged tens of thousands in extra duties if you do), you'd not be eligible for any benefits such as aged care, and have limited access to public health care. If you think all of that sounds unreasonable, bear in mind that an Australian mother, wanting to join her daughter in Britain, simply wouldn't be able to - there is no visa available. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaH27 Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 (edited) Having paid many visits to Australia whilst waiting for my visa I’ve spent time with my daughter visiting houses as she’s moved house twice. I’m afraid £160,000 wouldn’t go very far in buying a house in most areas of Australia - obviously rural area are cheaper but there’s been a huge rise in house prices there for the last few years.! You would also need to pay around £30,000 for a parent visa and applicants applying now are likely to have an 8-10 year wait as the the queue for parents applying for visas is now over 50000 and only 6000 a year are granted! Your UK pension will stay at what it was when you leave UK. You would have to have private health insurance if you didn’t have a contributory visa as you would not be “fully “ covered by Medicare without full PR (permanent resident) rights from a visa. The costs of living in Australia are also higher than in the UK including medicines etc I think you need to really think about this as you can’t just move over there! There’s plenty of information the Australian immigration website ahttps://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/ and obviously consulting an immigration agent would further help but you would have to pay for this. Edited August 4, 2019 by LindaH27 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip1 Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 Agree with what everyone else has put also, so you have any other children? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip1 Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 38 minutes ago, Tulip1 said: Agree with what everyone else has put also, so you have any other children? Sorry, that should read do you have other children Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KatyM Posted August 4, 2019 Author Share Posted August 4, 2019 Thank you for replying. Your very honest remarks have made me accept that this is not going to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaH27 Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 I’m sorry Katy. It’s a very hard thing to accept. The people just getting their visas now actually applied in 2015!! They were told a wait of 18- 24 months and they’ve waited nearly 4 years already. I applied 2017 and was told around 2 years or so wait!! It’s looking now more like another 3-4 years on top of the 2 I’ve already waited. there’s also the balance of family test. You have to have either the same amount of children in UK as in Australia or more in Australia. Maybe you can go over for lots of long visits once you’ve retired? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 Does the 'sole remaining relative clause' still exist? I think some used to get over here that way in the past. Also, it used to be possible to 'buy your way in' which is what my Dad did- he had to have total medical insurance and about half a million dollars but that was quite a few years ago now. It is all a bit cruel really though I suppose I can see their point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaH27 Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 Remaining. Relative visas now have a wait list of over 50 years - not joking! Buy your way in visas otherwise known as 405 and 410 visas retirement or investment visas also no longer exist for new applicants. Australia is looking at ways of reducing 99 different visas to just 10 and anti immigration feeling is rising in Australia in the bigger cities especially as well as for older people who may cost Australia tax payers a lot of money in later life. Sounds harsh but it’s the truth!! Immigration is being cut year on year at present. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janette Posted August 4, 2019 Share Posted August 4, 2019 Hi katie you could consider renting instead of buying a house then you would have some savings to fall back on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted August 7, 2019 Share Posted August 7, 2019 It used to be that the Australian taxpayers paid nothing because the very high insurance covered all the health costs and all medications were full cost, too. Presumably they have stopped this? The would be residents bought houses and brought cash in and invested that way. Many Chinese people came in like this, Europeans would be in a minority. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaH27 Posted August 7, 2019 Share Posted August 7, 2019 (edited) Yes all 405 and 410 applicants paid very high private health charges. As I said earlier those visas have now ended for new applicants. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/repealed-visas/investor-retirement-visa-subclass-405 https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/repealed-visas/subclass-410 It doesn’t appear that the original poster had funds like that so wouldn’t help her Edited August 7, 2019 by LindaH27 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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