Fail Balance of Family test

[Guest kieronandkristi]

Hi,

I was hoping someone could help me?

 

I am an Australian Citizen and my wife is a UK citizen with permanent residency in Australia. We are trying to get my mother and father in law over here permanently but my wife has 2 brothers back in the UK, so my in laws do not pass the balance of family test. I was wondering whether anyone knows if a child who is in prison is excluded from the balance of family test and if not, whether there is any other option for my in laws to migrate out here?

 

They don't have a lot of money. Selling their house would probably give them $500,000 but I've read that they need double that for the investment visa. My father in law is 63 and mother in law is 60. Both are retired.

 

Thanks in advance,

Kieron

[_shel 281]

No a relative being in prison is not excluded from the test. I've seen Gill (Gollywobbler) post about how she does not meet the test due to a step sister who she does not know or even like. All family members are taken into account regardless.

 

I dont know about other options for parents, there are lots of people on here with knowledge and experience in that area though, including Gill.

[rammygirl 2,255]

I know somewhere there are threads about parents coming out on student visas as a route to PR. The balance of family test means they don't qualify for a parent visa but there could be others. Might be worth a quick word with an agent to be sure.

[Les Mighalls 1,521]

Hi Kieron,

 

Is there any possibility of getting one of the brothers to migrate to Australia?

 

Cheers,

 

Les

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Kieron

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

Unfortunately one of the brothers in the UK being in prison does not make him a "non-person" in DIAC's eyes. As you say, your in-laws do not meet the Balance of Family Test. As Les Mighalls has said, what are the chances of one of your wife's brothers migrating to Oz?

 

(I'm not in exactly the same situation as your wife, by the way. I have a full sister in Australia and a half-sister in the UK, where I also live. Mum is a widow and the half-sister was my late Father's child with his first wife. My half-sister prevents me from being a Remaining Relative but her existence (since 1999 when the law was changed unintemtionally) no longer has any impact on my Mum for the Balance of Family Test. Mum was Dad's second wife and Mum only has two children - my full sister and I so the balance is 50/50 between us. My 70 year old half-sister has everything to do with me as far as Aussie visas are concerned but she has nothing to do with Mum, who has a Contributory Parent 143 visa, granted in 2006.)

 

Unfortunately the Aussies love their Balance of Family Test. It has been on the Aussie statute books since the mid 1980s and I don't think it will ever be altered so making the Test come right depends on one of the brothers either migrating to Oz or dying and obviously we hope for the former.

 

If it is any consolation to Father in Law, even if he could afford the extra for the Investor Retirement subclass 405 visa, that is not a good visa to go for unless the Parents are so rolling in money that they wouldn't be moving all their assets to Oz in order to come up with the money needed for the 405 visa. The 405 visa really works for some Britons because the Temporary Residency that it confers in Australia can be tax-advantageous for some Parents but not many because the majority of British Parents are not wealthy enough for it, including my mother.

 

Rammygirl has mentioned that some Britons in your parents-in-law's situation have used Student Visas. These give both of them the right to work for up to 20 hours a week during term time and the Student can work for unlimited hours during the college or university holidays. The work can defray some of the costs but the main advantage is the lack of travel - if one of the Parents gets a Student Visa for, say, a 3 year University Degree it gives about 3.5 unbroken years in Oz I believe.

 

A Srudent Visa is very useful for some Parents because the ability to allow the Parent to continue to work (eg as a Project Administrator) can lead to an RSMS visa later for example. However you say that your in laws have retired and probably don't want to go back to work any more?

 

Another approach is that DIAC in London are usually pretty good about letting British Parents visit Australia for up to a year at a time on the long stay tourist visa:

 

Tourist Visa (Subclass 676)

 

The travelling is not that expensive and if it is spaced apart it is not that tiring either considering that your in-laws are still fairly young. Your in laws would not be able to use this visa as a means of "living" in Australia all the time but it does make extended visits possible for some of the time.

 

Another way to do this is for the Parents only to visit Oz for six months at a time in order to keep them in perpetual Summer - which given the freezing weather in the UK right now might be quite an attractive option!

 

A different way to go about the whole thing works very well for some British Parents. The Parents don't head for Australia at all. They head for Malaysia instead on the MM2H option:

 

Malaysia My Second Home - MM2H - Programme Requirements

 

Sabah, in East Malaysia, is still pretty cheap and the climate is tropical plus it is very close to Australia. Other Parents prefer West Malaysia and again the cost of living is not particularly high, plus Air Asia X now does very cheap (albeit cattle class) flights from KL to most of the main cities in Oz. If your in laws wanted to consider this option there is loads about MM2H on the web nowadays.

 

One of the reasons why the Investor Retirement visa for Oz is so expensive compared to the MM2H option is because the cost of living is very much higher in Oz than in Malaysia.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest kieronandkristi]

Thanks for all your replies. It truly is appreciated.

 

There is very little chance that either brother will migrate to Australia. One has a young family and the other can't enter Oz on the basis of his criminal record. My parents in law basically want to escape their sons and move to be with their daughter in their retirement, but it's looking like the Balance of Family test means that we will have to move back to the UK just so we can take care of them in their old age. They don't have the money for the investment visa and unfortunately doing 12 month stays isn't really an option either.

 

Does anyone know how DIAC determine the country where the family members reside when conducting the test? The brother that isn't in jail has a French work visa and he earns most of his income in France (he works for a construction contractor). Is it simply based on the country of citizenship? I'm just wondering whether we could argue that he resides in France, seeing as he works there for months every year.

 

Thanks again,

Kieron

[Les Mighalls 1,521]

I'm just wondering whether we could argue that he resides in France, seeing as he works there for months every year.

 

That wouldn't work, Kieron.

 

Roughly paraphrased the Balance of Family Test means that there must be more children usually resident in Australia than any other country.

 

For a full table to tell you how it works go to Page 25 on Booklet 3. That booklet also explains parent migration quite well.

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1129.pdf

 

Cheers,

 

Les

[Guest kieronandkristi]

Thanks Les,

 

I hadn't seen that booklet but it explains everything pretty clearly. I had thought that they only needed to have the same number of children in australia as any other SINGLE country rather than a total of other countries.

 

Its looking more and more like Australian Immigration rules will force us to move back to the UK to support and care for her parents in their old age which is pretty sad. The sadest part is that Australian immigration red tape means that two people can't move here to simply retire, spend their retirement money and hang out with their grandchildren.

 

Perhaps I should suggest that my in-laws come here on a 15 foot dingy and tell immigration they are seeking asylum when they get picked up by port security. Seems to work for everyone else that tries it! :smile:

 

Thanks again for all your advice.

Kieron

[wrussell 2,296]

Hi,

I was hoping someone could help me?

 

I am an Australian Citizen and my wife is a UK citizen with permanent residency in Australia. We are trying to get my mother and father in law over here permanently but my wife has 2 brothers back in the UK, so my in laws do not pass the balance of family test. I was wondering whether anyone knows if a child who is in prison is excluded from the balance of family test and if not, whether there is any other option for my in laws to migrate out here?

 

They don't have a lot of money. Selling their house would probably give them $500,000 but I've read that they need double that for the investment visa. My father in law is 63 and mother in law is 60. Both are retired.

 

Thanks in advance,

Kieron

 

From what you have posted if the child who is not a guest of Her Majesty relocates to a different country then your parents would pass the 'balance of family' test. I suggest you take professional advice about whether (for example) Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland and/or countries within the EU are counted different countries for balance of family puorposes.