RachelH-B Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 Our daughter and partner are living in Brisbane on a 190 visa that they got this year. Our other daughter is hoping to move to Australia as a police officer with a state organised visa in the next year or so. What are the pathways for myself and my husband to join them? We are both early sixties and retired. Anything considered.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, RachelH-B said: Our daughter and partner are living in Brisbane on a 190 visa that they got this year. Our other daughter is hoping to move to Australia as a police officer with a state organised visa in the next year or so. What are the pathways for myself and my husband to join them? We are both early sixties and retired. Anything considered.... Very very difficult. If you apply today, you'll be waiting at least 12 years for the visa to be granted (if you apply for the very expensive Contributory Visa) or over 30 years if you apply for the Non-contributory one. If you''re not willing to wait that long, then your only choice is to come to Australia on a tourist visa, then apply for a parent visa while you're here. You'll then be allowed to stay in Australia until your parent visa is granted, even though it's going to take years. If that sounds too good to be true, then you're right because it has several downsides. You'll be in a kind of limbo for all those years, because you won't be a permanent resident of Australia, but you'll lose your residency in the UK too. For instance: your UK govt pension will be frozen at whatever the rate is on the day you leave. You'll never get any increases, but you won't be entitled to any support from the Australian government either. If you want to buy a home in Australia, you'll have to apply for special permission from FIRB because you're a foreigner, and you'll pay a hefty surcharge on the purchase. Every time you want to go overseas even for a holiday, you'll need to apply for another visa (a BVB) and justify your reasons for travel. If you travel without a valid BVB, you won't be allowed back in the country, even if you've moved all your worldly goods here. When Immigration finally gets around to processing your visa, which won't be till you're in your 70s or 80s, you will have to pass a medical. If you fail the medical, you'll be denied the visa and you will lose all right to remain in Australia. So you need to consider the implications of possibly having to uproot yourself and return to the UK in old age. There is a medical visa you can apply for if you are denied, but that's not a guarantee either, so it's wise to acknowledge the risk that it could happen. The good news is that assuming you're currently living in the UK, you'll be entitled to full Medicare (equivalent of the NHS) here. However, I'm sure your daughter will explain that Medicare doesn't cover as much as the NHS does. It doesn't cover dentists or spectacles at all, and they cost hundreds of dollars here. It also doesn't cover the full cost of prescriptions. Because you'll no longer be resident in the UK, you'll lose access to the NHS, so you won't be able to pop back to the UK and get new specs there, either (being a citizen makes no difference). As you can see, it's not something to be undertaken lightly. The bottom line is that the Australian government doesn't want migrants to bring their parents, because they've done the research, and discovered that elderly parents cost the government vast amounts in medical and aged care costs. It's only logical, because we all need more medical care as we age (I know, I'm turning 70) -- and we are all going to die of something. There are some migrants in Australia who are lobbying for change, threatening to leave the country if they can't bring their parents. Personally I think it's unlikely that will have much impact. Every year, Australia accepts only a small percentage of the thousands of people who apply to migrate to Australia. Of course Australia doesn't want to lose a skilled migrant, but there's a tide of new applicants eager to take their place and many of them have no desire to bring parents or family. Edited July 17, 2023 by Marisawright 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RachelH-B Posted July 17, 2023 Author Share Posted July 17, 2023 Marisa thank you so much for your detailed reply. That is all so helpful, but also very disheartened. We've got a lot to think about! I've already phoned my daughter with the bad news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tulip1 Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 3 hours ago, RachelH-B said: Marisa thank you so much for your detailed reply. That is all so helpful, but also very disheartened. We've got a lot to think about! I've already phoned my daughter with the bad news! To apply for the aged parent visa that allows you to stay onshore on a bridging visa you have to be 67 or over. You could look at a 870 visa that is just like a long tourist visa. It’s not cheap but allows you to be in Australia for either 3 of 5 years. You say you’re early 60’s so they would tide you over or a least nearly. It’s possible that those aged parent bridging visas will stop being given. There’s been various reviews about them recently but who knows. You may want to look at a 143 parent visa which at least gets you in a queue and then look to do a few 5 year 870 visas that will take the edge off the 12 year wait. Unfortunately I expect that 12 year wait will grow in size. More apply every year than the annual quota of visas available which makes the queue grow longer. I assume your two daughters you mention are your only children? I ask as you have to meet a balance of family test criteria. I applied for a parent visa in early 2017 when the queue times were under 3 years. In the end the queue over doubled and I finally received my visa in May for this year. I feel very lucky I have been given it and sad for those looking into it now as it’s a very long road. I do understand why there’s a cap on how many are given out each year. As Marisa says, as people age they become expensive. Good luck. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raul Senise Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 12 hours ago, RachelH-B said: Our daughter and partner are living in Brisbane on a 190 visa that they got this year. Our other daughter is hoping to move to Australia as a police officer with a state organised visa in the next year or so. What are the pathways for myself and my husband to join them? We are both early sixties and retired. Anything considered.... As the waiting times are long you need to plan your strategy well, as there are a number of options depending on specific circumstances including age and financial position. It would be best to have your specific situation assessed. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted July 17, 2023 Share Posted July 17, 2023 (edited) 9 hours ago, RachelH-B said: Marisa thank you so much for your detailed reply. That is all so helpful, but also very disheartened. We've got a lot to think about! I've already phoned my daughter with the bad news! I have to apologise, because I'm afraid it is even more disheartening than I suggested. Since your daughter has only been in Australia for a year, she's not eligible to sponsor you yet. She has to be "settled" here, which I believe means she has to have been living here for four years. So you can't use the strategy I suggested. There is not much point in planning what visa you'll apply for in four years' time, because the government makes changes to visa requirements every year -- so by 2027, it could all be completely different. Your best bet is to make regular visits in the meantime, then as the time gets closer, book a consultation with a good agent (like Raul, who posted above) to find out what the situation is. Besides, it would be wise to wait until you're sure your daughters are going to stay in Australia long-term. You don't want to uproot your whole lives to Australia, and then find that the girls want to go home or move on somewhere else! British people tend to have a golden view of what Australia is like, but it's not a paradise. It's a foreign country where people just happen to speak English, and migrants are sometimes surprised at how hard it is to fit in, make new friends and get used to the different culture. Edited July 17, 2023 by Marisawright 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LindaH27 Posted July 18, 2023 Share Posted July 18, 2023 On 17/07/2023 at 10:31, RachelH-B said: Our daughter and partner are living in Brisbane on a 190 visa that they got this year. Our other daughter is hoping to move to Australia as a police officer with a state organised visa in the next year or so. What are the pathways for myself and my husband to join them? We are both early sixties and retired. Anything considered.... Your daughter needs to be considered as PR and being “settled” Immi usually say it’s 2 years or 4 years for the long term 870 visitor visa and would need to be earning $84k to be accepted as your sponsor. . You are too young for the onshore visa as one of you has to be aged 67 years. The offshore 143 is currently taking 12 years. Only 6800 grants per year and already around 84k in the queue The Australian govt commissioned a review into all parent visas and the report is now available. It makes very depressing reading. They may move to a lottery system or stop permanent visas altogether in favour of temporary visas. . They will decide “later this year” apparently. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiner Posted July 19, 2023 Share Posted July 19, 2023 A fairly recent report which puts things in perspective relating to visa timesacles. TSMIT and new PR Pathways | Changes to Skilled Migration - FAQ's (interstaff.com.au) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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