Remaining Relative Visa

[Curly]

Hi

Our son is going to be 27 this year. We moved to Aus in 2016 but he didn’t want to come at the time and he would have needed to do his own application anyway so we didn’t push it. 
he came out on a WHV in 2017 and did the work to gain a 2nd year Visa. He went back to the UK last November but has decided now that he would like to come and live back here. 
Has anyone had a similar situation? The only visa I can see at the moment is the remaining relative. He works in hospitality and got offered a sponsorship at the place he was working if he came back. We are not sure this will still be the case with the COVID issue so can’t really count on this anymore. 
Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. 
Thanks

[LindaH27]

I’m sorry but I believe  there’s a very long wait for Remaining relative visa. Possibly up to 50 years!! I hope someone  can come along with a better answer 

[Tulip1]

5 hours ago, Curly said:

Hi

Our son is going to be 27 this year. We moved to Aus in 2016 but he didn’t want to come at the time and he would have needed to do his own application anyway so we didn’t push it. 
he came out on a WHV in 2017 and did the work to gain a 2nd year Visa. He went back to the UK last November but has decided now that he would like to come and live back here. 
Has anyone had a similar situation? The only visa I can see at the moment is the remaining relative. He works in hospitality and got offered a sponsorship at the place he was working if he came back. We are not sure this will still be the case with the COVID issue so can’t really count on this anymore. 
Any help or information would be greatly appreciated. 
Thanks

Assuming he has no other close relatives in the U.K. (is he your only child in the U.K.?) and has no partner (or the partner has no close relatives) then he could possibly get a bridging visa whilst waiting for the visa you mention. He will probably be on that much of his life as the processing time is huge. Being on a bridging visa for so many years can bring a host of problems. I’d speak to a migrant agent if I was you to get a proper understanding of what, it anything, can be done. 

[Marisawright]

Yes, it's not uncommon. Unfortunately there's nothing he can do except apply for his own visa.   There is a Remaining Relative Visa in theory, but it's not worth applying for.  Only a few of them are granted every year, and the queue just gets longer and longer - he'll be in his 60's before he gets it. 

Currently, even with Covid-19, holders of permanent visas are allowed to come to Australia.   So if he can get a permanent visa, he'll be able to move.   If all he can get is a temporary employer-sponsored visa, then it won't be useful until the borders open again, which might not be till next year.

Edited May 11, 2020 by Marisawright

[MikeW1990]

Im in same boat. Parents and siblings all live in Aus and I am here on my own. My intention is to apply for WHV and then when onshore remaining relatives if by that point I have not found a job to sponsor me. If I continue plastering out there I will apply instead for Skill visa whilst onshore. Also if I met someone there then there is the potential for partner visa in the meantime as I am going to be stuck on Bridging Visa forever otherwise. Have you looked at Student option? If he did a degree or even carpentry for instance, once he completes that there are visas he can apply for to work.

Edited May 18, 2020 by MikeW1990

[Tulip1]

15 minutes ago, MikeW1990 said:

Im in same boat. Parents and siblings all live in Aus and I am here on my own. My intention is to apply for WHV and then when onshore remaining relatives if by that point I have not found a job to sponsor me. If I continue plastering out there I will apply instead for Skill visa whilst onshore. Also if I met someone there then there is the potential for partner visa in the meantime as I am going to be stuck on Bridging Visa forever otherwise. Have you looked at Student option? If he did a degree or even carpentry for instance, once he completes that there are visas he can apply for to work.

I’d suggest you take advice from a migrant agent before you do what you’re suggesting. That doesn’t sound like a great plan. Just make sure you are doing it the right way, take advice. 

[MikeW1990]

20 minutes ago, Tulip1 said:

I’d suggest you take advice from a migrant agent before you do what you’re suggesting. That doesn’t sound like a great plan. Just make sure you are doing it the right way, take advice. 

Liasing as we speak. There are a lot of options once there. Can do Student visa as well if needs be. Just need to be with my family

[Quoll]

2 hours ago, MikeW1990 said:

Liasing as we speak. There are a lot of options once there. Can do Student visa as well if needs be. Just need to be with my family

Student visas are short term only - you’re meant to go home when you finish. If you’re going to study it’s cheaper to do it in UK, get your quals and experience then move over permanently.

[Curly]

Thanks for all the advice. It’s a very difficult situation and unfortunately not one where there is any easy solution. We’re hoping that the sponsorship from his old employer may still be valid otherwise the options are limited. He has done the maximum he can on a WHV and has no skills currently on the list. He is currently seeking advice from a migration agency in the UK so hopefully they may know some loopholes or alternative routes in. 

[Marisawright]

12 hours ago, Curly said:

Thanks for all the advice. It’s a very difficult situation and unfortunately not one where there is any easy solution. We’re hoping that the sponsorship from his old employer may still be valid otherwise the options are limited. He has done the maximum he can on a WHV and has no skills currently on the list. He is currently seeking advice from a migration agency in the UK so hopefully they may know some loopholes or alternative routes in. 

Make sure it's a good agency (there are a few shonky operators out there, and they're often the ones who have a high profile - not because they're good but because they pay a lot to promote themselves).   I would advise he consults one of the reputable agents on these forums such as @paulhand.  

Do be careful grabbing at "loopholes".   We see too many sad stories of young people who use loopholes, then somehow manage to stay in Australia for five or ten years before they run out of options.  Then they have no choice but to go back to the UK and re-establish themselves all over again.  If they've been on temporary or bridging visas, chances are they've got nowhere with their career during their time in Australia, so their prospects have suffered as a result. We even had a report of one young man who committed suicide when faced with having to go home. 

Bottom line, if he can't get a decent visa that will allow him to build a new life in Australia, he would be much better accepting that his future is elsewhere.   Perhaps he could look into migrating to New Zealand instead (I have no idea what his prospects would be, but worth checking), so you can see each other more often.

[Curly]

Hi all

I read an article earlier that the Australian government may make a new type of visa to help with getting a visa if there are already close relatives who now call Australia home. 
 

This may hopefully work in our favour for our son to come over if they do. The article mentions that they may also look to add quite a few more jobs on the skills list due to the changing times that will include manufacturing. 

[LindaH27]

It’s difficult to see what other visa could be introduced,  as for close family they already have partner, child, parent and last remaining relative. 

Could you give a link to the source please?

[Marisawright]

1 hour ago, Curly said:

I read an article earlier that the Australian government may make a new type of visa to help with getting a visa if there are already close relatives who now call Australia home. 
...The article mentions that they may also look to add quite a few more jobs on the skills list due to the changing times that will include manufacturing. 

Can you give us a link to the article please?  I've tried Googling and I can't find any sign of such a statement. 

I found one article advocating for more family visas, but that was by a journalist, not a member of the government. 

I find it hard to believe they'll be adding any new visas, considering they're expecting the unemployment rate to be very high after the coronavirus, so there should be plenty of people to fill manufacturing jobs. 

Edited May 24, 2020 by Marisawright

[Curly]

https://apple.news/AqX8xmPJ2RfaiXc7UFmIDPg

see the above link. It goes on about the new skills that may be required but at the bottom of the page mentions a family reunion visa. Our Son did 2 years on a WHV so hopefully this may help him out to return 

[Marisawright]

10 minutes ago, Curly said:

https://apple.news/AqX8xmPJ2RfaiXc7UFmIDPg

see the above link. It goes on about the new skills that may be required but at the bottom of the page mentions a family reunion visa. Our Son did 2 years on a WHV so hopefully this may help him out to return 

It doesn't sound too promising to me.  If you read it carefully, you'll see that the suggestion for a family reunion visa is from a Professor at Western Sydney University, NOT from a government spokesman. 

The government guy (Alan Tudge) just said they needed to review the two-thirds skilled/one-third family allocation - and the way I read it, that could go either way. 

[LindaH27]

My reading of that article is that they are only looking at very talented people capable of earning over $149000 per year so they would have to have very good skills and not sure a WHV would be sufficient!

In general Australia at the moment is rather anti- immigration unless it’s for the people they really do need - and there are plenty of Australians without jobs now who could possibly fill those vacancies. 

[Curly]

Yeah I understand that but there is a mention of the fact they want families to be together. 
 

I am looking at this as a positive and they don’t just make up stories without any information from somewhere. 
 

He will not come here expecting to come straight into work and probably won’t come over until it is totally safe worldwide to be able to travel anyway. 
 

The way I see it is the government want to be able to try and come back out of this on the other side and to do that they need to continue to grow. This would not be a visa for just anyone and I’m sure there will be plenty of things that need to be met. I am just offering some hope that there may be a way after all rather than relying on a bridging visa while you wait 50 years for a visa to be approved 

[Marisawright]

18 minutes ago, Curly said:

Yeah I understand that but there is a mention of the fact they want families to be together. 

No, there isn't.   The quote about families comes from a Professor who used to be a public servant.  It's only his personal opinion.  They also quoted another Professor who said they should go the other way, and prioritise skilled migration. The journalist is just being even-handed, as they're supposed to be, and quoting two experts from opposite sides.   

The government minister said absolutely nothing about wanting family migration, in fact his focus is on bringing in an extra 5,000 highly-skilled migrants.  If the total number of visas stays the same, those 5,000 will have to be cut from somewhere else. 

I understand you want to grasp at straws in your situation but I don't see anything there to offer hope at all.  

Edited May 24, 2020 by Marisawright

[LindaH27]

Yes I also understand what you are saying but..... all of us here want to be with our families and in the parent queue alone there are over 50,000 and the cap each year has been gradually reducing and now only around 6000 are granted per year so the wait times keep increasing. People on the onshore Parent 804 visa are living on bridging visas for up to 30 years and offshore parent visa applicants made now are therefore likely to wait around 8-9. I’ve waited nearly three years and am expecting to wait another 3. 
 

Because of the increasing length of wait times there are parents on here with dependants who by the time they get to processing  the visa find their child is now too old and therefore cannot be given a visa! 

Until I hear from the government itself I’m afraid I won’t be expecting anything sooner - I don’t want to raise false hope  

I do understand that like all of us here you just want to find a way to keep all the family together - but so many of us were told by govt that the wait was around 18- 24 months - and the wait  just keeps getting longer and people’s hopes get dashed. 

[Tulip1]

I agree with the others. I’ve read nothing on that link that suggests the government are going to offer anything new for families. Indeed, the title even says they’re looking for highly skilled people.  Just as LindaH27 says, there are tens of thousands of parents waiting to try and join their grown up children who have made the move. Imagine how many more parents would like to but can’t. The ones that can’t afford it or have poor health. It’s what happens when part of the family move. I appreciate that it must be difficult not having your son there but that’s the way it is. So many want a visa and can’t get one.  As you said yourself, he could only ever go if he got a visa in his own right, nothing has changed and I doubt it will. 

Edited May 24, 2020 by Tulip1

[kimboslice]

Can someone clarify that when entering Australia (143 visa holder) and have to self isolate for 2 weeks, who foots the bill, I’m sure I read on here that we have to pay the bill (2,500 dollars), but when I google it says the Australian government foots the bill. 

[Nemesis]

9 hours ago, kimboslice said:

Can someone clarify that when entering Australia (143 visa holder) and have to self isolate for 2 weeks, who foots the bill, I’m sure I read on here that we have to pay the bill (2,500 dollars), but when I google it says the Australian government foots the bill. 

At the moment except for the NT, the government foots the bill for accom and food.

Check the official websites for the States/Territories  for any changes - don't rely on social media.