Visa pathways for adult daughter and family?

[InnerVoice]

I have a daughter in her early 30s, married with two daughters of her own (2 and 3). She has never expressed any interest in moving to Australia before and has always been happy in the UK, then out of the blue she's just told me that her and her husband are giving serious consideration to migrating here. They have become very disillusioned with UK life in the last few years, and they think their girls would have a better life here. This isn't something I thought was ever likely to happen, so is there anything I can do with me already being an Australian citizen to support this? My daughter wasn't included in any way on my original visa application. Thanks in advance.

[wrussell]

May I suggest that you consult one of the registered migration agents who posts on this forum for a case assessment?

[Marisawright]

2 hours ago, InnerVoice said:

I have a daughter in her early 30s, married with two daughters of her own (2 and 3). She has never expressed any interest in moving to Australia before and has always been happy in the UK, then out of the blue she's just told me that her and her husband are giving serious consideration to migrating here...... is there anything I can do with me already being an Australian citizen to support this? My daughter wasn't included in any way on my original visa application. Thanks in advance.

Their only option is one of the skilled visas (189, 190, 491).  Either she or her husband must have an occupation that's on the list, AND all the qualifications and experience specified in the requirements.  If not, they can't migrate, and there's nothing you can do to assist.

If one of them does qualify, then they may be able to claim some extra points because they have family in the state.  However the first thing to do, is to establish whether they qualify.

 

[Ausvisitor]

Your first concern should be do either of them have a career/job on the skills list - as Marisa says, if they don't it's pretty much a dead in the water case.

Let's assume they do...

How much do they really want to move. The process is pretty intrusive nowadays - generally at least a year of paper shuffling before you get the green light (if you do) and by then with fees, agents, exams assesments, medical and police checks, a family of 4 will easily be in the hole to about $15k

 

Once they get here (unless you have room for them to live) it's basically another $5k a month in short term rentals and living costs (unless they can get a job straightaway).

Migration isn't a cheap thing anymore and if their only impetus is the "UK ain't what it used to be" that probably won't be enough to make them feel the huge outlay was worth it. 

That said AUS is a great place to bring up kids (as our adult kid who was brought up in the UK keep telling us) and she went to the very best private schools and had an idyllic childhood compared to mine, so maybe it will be worth it for the OP after all...

[InnerVoice]

3 hours ago, Marisawright said:

Their only option is one of the skilled visas (189, 190, 491).  Either she or her husband must have an occupation that's on the list, AND all the qualifications and experience specified in the requirements.  If not, they can't migrate, and there's nothing you can do to assist.

If one of them does qualify, then they may be able to claim some extra points because they have family in the state.  However the first thing to do, is to establish whether they qualify.

Thanks for clarifying, Marisa. I was wondering if there was a family visa option as there is for retired parents who wish to join their children settled in Australia, but evidently there isn't.

My daughter is a retail manager, which is on the list, although I'm not sure exactly what her husband does. I'll suggest that she consults a migration agent, as @wrussell has advised.

[Marisawright]

4 minutes ago, InnerVoice said:

Thanks for clarifying, Marisa. I was wondering if there was a family visa option as there is for retired parents who wish to join their children settled in Australia, but evidently there isn't.

Even if there were, it probably wouldn't help much.  As you may know, the waiting list for all the permanent family visas is very long, because they grant only a small quota each year.   Currently even the contributory parent visa, which costs thousands of pounds, has a waiting period of at least 10 years. 

[InnerVoice]

1 hour ago, Ausvisitor said:

Migration isn't a cheap thing anymore and if their only impetus is the "UK ain't what it used to be" that probably won't be enough to make them feel the huge outlay was worth it. 

That said AUS is a great place to bring up kids (as our adult kid who was brought up in the UK keep telling us) and she went to the very best private schools and had an idyllic childhood compared to mine, so maybe it will be worth it for the OP after all...

She's never visited Australia before or shown any interest and was fairly disparaging about the place at one point, but that was when she YF&S and living the high life in London. Whereas I spent almost a year here backpacking, back in the mid-90s. I pretty much started filling out the visa application forms the moment I got off the plane in Heathrow, I loved it here that much!

Glad you daughter loves it too, as it must be a difficult age to bring out children who are almost adults.