The Brand New PIO Parents Visa thread

[Guest Maha]

Hi

 

My in-laws are both on on a subclass 173 visa. They arrived in Aus Jan 2010 and in May 2010 left Aus and went back home and are still there. Does anyone know if their visit home affects their visa in any way, I have searched but can't find anything. If anyone could shed any light on this it would be a great help.

 

Thanks

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi

 

My in-laws are both on on a subclass 173 visa. They arrived in Aus Jan 2010 and in May 2010 left Aus and went back home and are still there. Does anyone know if their visit home affects their visa in any way, I have searched but can't find anything. If anyone could shed any light on this it would be a great help.

 

Thanks

 

Hi Maha

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

Your in laws are free to come and go from Australia as much as they please. There is absolutely no problem with them going home. They can upgrade to the sc 143 visa regardless of where they are in the world when they apply to upgrade and it does not matter where they are at the time when their sc 143 visa is granted.

 

I have moved your query into the main Parents thread in the sticky section because we are trying to keep all of the questions about Parent migration in the same place. Hopefully, other people can then read the sticky thread and find the answers they are looking for.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[king of duck]

Hi guys,

 

Stress news for me.

My mom've just told me that immigration officer in Thailand won't let her stay up to 12 months after her applied CPV. They don't think it is possible and since my mom has just applied for CPV last month, it is unlikely for her to get a long stay (she applied tourist visa last week).

I have seen the same post about this problem before but I couldn't find it. Can anyone give me the link please?

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi guys,

 

Stress news for me.

My mom've just told me that immigration officer in Thailand won't let her stay up to 12 months after her applied CPV. They don't think it is possible and since my mom has just applied for CPV last month, it is unlikely for her to get a long stay (she applied tourist visa last week).

I have seen the same post about this problem before but I couldn't find it. Can anyone give me the link please?

 

Hi King of Duck

 

Since you are in Australia, is it possible for you to access Legend via going to your local State Library or one of the University Libraries that has a subscription to Legend? Please see the link below:

 

LEGENDcom

 

Not all of the University Libraries have access to Legend, so check the list carefully before you waste any time running about! If you find a Library on the list, please phone the Library and ask them how long they would allow you to spend on one of their computers.

 

DIAC rely on some documents called the PAMs. These are the Policy Advice Manuals. The UK and New Zealand both make all of their own policy documents freely available on-line, via the UK's Border Agency website and the one that the New Zealand Government operates.

 

DIAC does not make its own Policy information available except via Legend or LexisNexis, but Legend is said to be "better." (That is, a solicitor friend of mine who is also a Registered Migration Agent says that Legend is absolutely terrible and that the Aussie Government would do much better job if they gave the PAMs to one of the legal publishers - such as Butterworths or Sweet & Maxwell. She reckons that these companies - which have been publishing legal documents for years, both on paper and on-line - would make a much, much better job of it all.)

 

I've asked DIAC why the PAMs are not available via the main DIAC website - as is the case in the UK or NZ? The reply was that to do that, DIAC would have to make the DIAC website bigger than it already is, which would cost squillions of AUD to achieve. Apparently they have no desire to hide the PAMs and it is simply a question of cost.

 

A few years ago, a Registered Migration Agent copied an extract out of the PAMs and sent it to me. However that was about 4 years ago now. The extract clearly said that if an applicant for a Parent sc 103 visa had been placed in the official Queue for that particular visa then an application to visit Australia for a visit of up to 12 months should be granted.

 

Tony Kidd, who sent the extract to me, used to be the Chief Solicitor at the Migration Review Tribunal in Melbourne. Tony said that the above piece of Policy was worded the way it was (ie the Parent must be in the Queue) was because the Parent had to produce medicals and police checks and to pass those before s/he could be placed in the Queue. f the Parent is OK health-wise and doesn't have an alarming criminal record either, there is no reason to prevent the Parent from visiting Oz for a lengthy spell during the inordinately long wait.

 

There is no Queue for Contributory Parent visas and Contributory Parent applicants are not required to do their meds etc more than once, shortly before the visa is granted. Tony said that the interpretation that DIAC were giving to the guidance in the PAM was that a Contributory Parent applicant should be allowed to visit Oz for up to 12 months as soon as the visa application shows up on the computer system. Since you have had the acknowledgement letter, your mother's application now shows up on the DIAC computer.

 

Did your mother send a copy of the acknowledgement letter for her CPV application when she applied for her tourist visa? If not, sending that letter in to the Aussie Embassy in Bangkok might swing it.

 

If you have time, you might be able to find the relevant part of the PAMS via searching Legend, but I have no idea how to search Legend or find the part that you would be looking for. I don't know how long it would take for you to do it by this means - hence it would be worth phoning the Library to ask them how long they would let you spend on one of their computers.

 

If this would be too fiddly for you any Registered Migration Agent would be able to fish through Legend and the current PAMs in order to find the relevant bit. Unless you already have an RMA whom you have consulted in the past and whom you trust, I reckon that it would be sensible to use an RMA who speaks Thai and is used to dealing with the Embassy in Bangkok.

 

Here is the MIA's list of agents who can speak Thai:

 

MIA Search Agent...

 

It is a fact, though, that Thailand is deemed to be a High Risk country, unlike, say, the UK. It could well be that the Embassy in Bangkok has its own policy of being obstructive in a situation like your mother's.

 

However, it might only be that the Case Officer in Bangkok has not bothered to read the PAMs properly and is not aware of the Policy handed down by his/her employer with this matter. It might well be worth asking the Embassy in Bangkok to search for the relevant piece of the PAMs, to send you a copy of the relevant bit (which will ensure that the CO has looked it up) and to explain why they propose to treat your mother differently from the way a British CPV applicant would be treated in the same situation?

 

Please let me know how you get on. I would offer to send you the extract that was sent to me but the e-mail was on my old computer - which dropped dead in mid-2008. I had not done any back-ups of this sort of stuff and it was not worth forking out the money to get the C-drive on the old machine "harvested" so I don't have the e-mail any more.

 

However, please let me know how you get on at your end?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[king of duck]

Hi Gill,

 

Thanks for the reply! :em4600: I am deeply thankful for your help and amaze at what extensive knowledge you have!

 

Khob Khun Kaah ('thank you' in Thai)

 

I've just emailed NSW state library for using LEGENDcom. Tomorrow, I will contact some of the agents I known and see if any of them will have LEGEND account or LexisNexis with hope if they can't lend me the account access, they might be able to do a search for PAM for me. (If I have it, will send it to you as well.)

 

Did your mother send a copy of the acknowledgement letter for her CPV application when she applied for her tourist visa? If not, sending that letter in to the Aussie Embassy in Bangkok might swing it.

 

Yes, we did. I wrote a letter explain the situation enclose with the acknowledgment letter. I helped my mom with all the form & documents and I was kind of 98% confident that there should be no problem.

 

Now that her visa application is processing, I wasn't sure what's the chance of giving them additional documents.

The CO assistance who informed my mom about the bad news that mom won't get 12 month said she should not to contact the office while her application is in the process. I thought that's kind of odd instruction and wonder what's the reason behind. [Note that in Thailand, people has to lodge their visa application by paper via an agency - SDP - before forwarded to the embassy.]

If I have to wait until the decision come out, what would be options after? (Apart from get her to fly in and out ever three month which not really healthy choice for her since she has bad lower back pain.)

 

Unfortunately time is what I wish to have more. I would go into my citizenship ceremony on 25th Sep and I just hope she could be here with me on the day (I don't have any family here...).

 

Will let you and everyone know about the progress. :em0400:

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Gill,

 

Thanks for the reply! :em4600: I am deeply thankful for your help and amaze at what extensive knowledge you have!

 

Khob Khun Kaah ('thank you' in Thai)

 

I've just emailed NSW state library for using LEGENDcom. Tomorrow, I will contact some of the agents I known and see if any of them will have LEGEND account or LexisNexis with hope if they can't lend me the account access, they might be able to do a search for PAM for me. (If I have it, will send it to you as well.)

 

 

 

Yes, we did. I wrote a letter explain the situation enclose with the acknowledgment letter. I helped my mom with all the form & documents and I was kind of 98% confident that there should be no problem.

 

Now that her visa application is processing, I wasn't sure what's the chance of giving them additional documents.

The CO assistance who informed my mom about the bad news that mom won't get 12 month said she should not to contact the office while her application is in the process. I thought that's kind of odd instruction and wonder what's the reason behind. [Note that in Thailand, people has to lodge their visa application by paper via an agency - SDP - before forwarded to the embassy.]

If I have to wait until the decision come out, what would be options after? (Apart from get her to fly in and out ever three month which not really healthy choice for her since she has bad lower back pain.)

 

Unfortunately time is what I wish to have more. I would go into my citizenship ceremony on 25th Sep and I just hope she could be here with me on the day (I don't have any family here...).

 

Will let you and everyone know about the progress. :em0400:

 

Hi KoD

 

The trouble with the Citizenship ceremony is that it is only for one day! One can't really use that as a viable lever to get co-operation.

 

I've heard of DIAC being really difficult when the Parent is from Sri Lanka or India. My sister Elaine lives in Perth, where she has an Indian friend called Marie. Marie and her husband Gavin are both Indian.

 

Marie's Mum lives in India, is a widow and Marie is her only child. A few years ago, they got a tourist visa that enabled Marie's Mum to spend a year in Oz. Gavin is an accountant, very successful and very persistent. Apparently it took many months and Gavin had to put up a Bond of $6,000 AUD for his mother in law but eventually he managed to get a stay of 12 months in Oz for her. It put him right off the idea of encouraging visits because it took him so long - and took up so much of his time - to cut all the bureaucratic red tape. Nowadays, he just sends Marie and their children to India instead.

 

I don't think that the average migration agent would take any notice of being ordered not to contact the CO. Given that sort of order, a good migration agent would probably simply contact the Principal Migration Officer in Bangkok instead, I suspect. (The PMO is always an Aussie but some of the Embassies employ quite a few local staff as well - or they use agencies, who sound like a nightmare to me.)

 

It might be that a migration agent who is used to dealing with Bangkok might be able to get a better result for you than you could get by yourself, you know.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Linday]

Does anyone know what the minimum earnings level is for the CPV sponsor? I thought I read somewhere around $40,000. Is this for one person? My daughter is sponsoring us initially on a 173, and as both she and her husband fortunately have quite well paid jobs we didn't consider this a problem. My daughter has now indicated that they are thinking of starting a family next year and so she may not be working when we apply to upgrade to the the 143.

 

Would they accept her still as sponsor if she provided evidence of earnings from her husband? Or would it be necessary for us to ask her husband to sponsor us? The Assurance of Support is not a problem as my brother will be doing this for us.

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Does anyone know what the minimum earnings level is for the CPV sponsor? I thought I read somewhere around $40,000. Is this for one person? My daughter is sponsoring us initially on a 173, and as both she and her husband fortunately have quite well paid jobs we didn't consider this a problem. My daughter has now indicated that they are thinking of starting a family next year and so she may not be working when we apply to upgrade to the the 143.

 

Would they accept her still as sponsor if she provided evidence of earnings from her husband? Or would it be necessary for us to ask her husband to sponsor us? The Assurance of Support is not a problem as my brother will be doing this for us.

 

 

Hi Linday

 

The sponsor does not have to be earning any particular amount. Indeed there is no requirement for the sponsor to be working at all.

 

The Assurer of Support is means-tested but the Assurer is the only person who is.

 

DIAC don't mind if your daughter's husband is the sponsor but logic is that the child with the blood tie is the more usual sponsor.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Sandy

 

I've been wondering about your 2nd Instalment all this week and wondering whether I should suggest giving your CO a nudge about it.

 

I see from the tracker that something happened on 31st August. Is that when the CO requested the payment or the date when you paid the money?

 

You should get your visas pretty soon after the money has been paid. I'm getting excited for you now because you are so nearly there......

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[yomvard]

Hi Sandy

 

I've been wondering about your 2nd Instalment all this week and wondering whether I should suggest giving your CO a nudge about it.

 

I see from the tracker that something happened on 31st August. Is that when the CO requested the payment or the date when you paid the money?

 

You should get your visas pretty soon after the money has been paid. I'm getting excited for you now because you are so nearly there......

 

Cheers

 

Gill

Hi Gill,

I followed your advice and gave the CO a nudge and she came back on the 27th Aug. asking for 2nd Vac. I am going with HIFX but the annoying part is that when I talked to chappie about setting this up for them to send the back draft to CO, it turns out that they dont do that now although when I enquired a few weeks back, they did. Anyway they send the draft to me and I have to get it to CO. Something about it takes 8 weeks to reissue a draft and they wont take the responsibility of it getting lost. So. I asked, what about getting it to me....they use Royal Mail snail mail and it is still my responsibility again. We didn't fancy using credit cards as no control over rate so HiFX it is. I got a rate of $1.7320 which wasnt bad, so went with it. Of course it takes 4 days to get money over to them which should have been finished on 31st Aug. Still waiting for confirmation that they have cleared funds and they will issue bank draft and then I wait for a week for it!!!!! I cannot believe that there isn't an easier way of doing this without loosing out on exchange rate. :arghh:

I will let you know when the magical visa is granted. I cant believe it is happening as when I put the original thread on PIO and you answered, that it was not possible. The boys send their grateful thanks to you.

regards

Sandy

[MikenSueNW3]

I got a rate of $1.7320 which wasnt bad, so went with it.

regards

Sandy

 

Not bad when at this moment the rate on the Beeb's FX page is just below $1.70!

 

Mike

[Les Avalook]

Not bad when at this moment the rate on the Beeb's FX page is just below $1.70!

 

Mike

 

Even better as you would only 'get' $1.68 for your hard earned £. :sad:

[yomvard]

Hi Gill,

 

I will let you know when the magical visa is granted. I cant believe it is happening as when I put the original thread on PIO and you answered, that it was not possible. The boys send their grateful thanks to you.

regards

Sandy

Oh Gill,

I didn't read back what I had written. I meant, of course that it was us who thought we wouldn't get a visa, it was you who said we could and gave us the knowledge and confidence to do it. Hope you understood what I meant. Enjoy the lovely sailing weather....or you are probably working hard.

regards

Sandy

[Linday]

Hi Linday

 

The sponsor does not have to be earning any particular amount. Indeed there is no requirement for the sponsor to be working at all.

 

The Assurer of Support is means-tested but the Assurer is the only person who is.

 

DIAC don't mind if your daughter's husband is the sponsor but logic is that the child with the blood tie is the more usual sponsor.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

 

Thanks Gill

 

That's reassuring. I was just wondering how they can judge whether the sponsor is in a position to offer you financial support for 2 years.

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Gill,

I followed your advice and gave the CO a nudge and she came back on the 27th Aug. asking for 2nd Vac. I am going with HIFX but the annoying part is that when I talked to chappie about setting this up for them to send the back draft to CO, it turns out that they dont do that now although when I enquired a few weeks back, they did. Anyway they send the draft to me and I have to get it to CO. Something about it takes 8 weeks to reissue a draft and they wont take the responsibility of it getting lost. So. I asked, what about getting it to me....they use Royal Mail snail mail and it is still my responsibility again. We didn't fancy using credit cards as no control over rate so HiFX it is. I got a rate of $1.7320 which wasnt bad, so went with it. Of course it takes 4 days to get money over to them which should have been finished on 31st Aug. Still waiting for confirmation that they have cleared funds and they will issue bank draft and then I wait for a week for it!!!!! I cannot believe that there isn't an easier way of doing this without loosing out on exchange rate. :arghh:

 

regards

Sandy

 

Hi Sandy

 

Ya know something, hon? The route to the village green via the moon is never the easiest route to the village green.....

 

Why didn't you just ask HIFX to wire the money to one of your sons instead of asking HIFX to send you a bankers draft in AUD?

 

Puzzled.

 

Gill

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Thanks Gill

 

That's reassuring. I was just wondering how they can judge whether the sponsor is in a position to offer you financial support for 2 years.

 

Hi Linday

 

The sponsor merely undertakes that if you fall on hard times during your first two years in Oz, the sponsor will provide you with adequate food, clothing and shelter. As long as the sponsor isn't a backpacker roaming round Oz with a one-man bivouac, this bit is not too difficult to achieve. The Aussie Government will not have to house you and you will not end up in soup-kitchens etc in order to get a bite to eat. If your clothes are in danger of becoming indecent rags, newer clothes can be bought cheaply in op shops (charity shops in the UK.) The Government is merely concerned to prevent you from having no food, no clothes and having to sleep in a shop doorway - because these things are not acceptable in a developed country.

 

As far as providing you with enough cash to buy other essentials is concerned - eg pay the electricity bill - if your sponsor does not help out with all that then you may be entitled to Special Benefit, paid through Centrelink. However if Centrelink have to pay Special Benefit, they can recover the amount paid from your Bond in the first instance and from your Assurer of Support if the Bond should prove to be insufficient. Hence they want to means-test the Assurer.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[sandch]

Hi Sandy

 

Ya know something, hon? The route to the village green via the moon is never the easiest route to the village green.....

 

Why didn't you just ask HIFX to wire the money to one of your sons instead of asking HIFX to send you a bankers draft in AUD?

 

Puzzled.

 

Gill

 

They might've spent it, accidental like, on something very useful Gill. Much as we love them, sometimes our youngsters seem to have a slightly more refreshing (cavalier) attitude towards hard-earned cash.

 

I have also known someone with a large overdraft arrangement to make an equally large deposit only to find that the bank removed the facility (with a corporate sigh of relief presumably) pronto. Cash gone!

 

Not that any of this applies to Sandy, but sometimes you think that the round the solar system route is the safest....

 

Cheers

 

Steve

[Les Avalook]

They might've spent it, accidental like, on something very useful Gill. Much as we love them, sometimes our youngsters seem to have a slightly more refreshing (cavalier) attitude towards hard-earned cash.

 

I have also known someone with a large overdraft arrangement to make an equally large deposit only to find that the bank removed the facility (with a corporate sigh of relief presumably) pronto. Cash gone!

 

Not that any of this applies to Sandy, but sometimes you think that the round the solar system route is the safest....

 

Cheers

 

Steve

 

The safest route would be for Perth to wake to to the 21st century and give a sort code and account number so the Forex draft could be sent direct to them, Simples.:idea:

[yomvard]

Hi Sandy

 

Ya know something, hon? The route to the village green via the moon is never the easiest route to the village green.....

 

Why didn't you just ask HIFX to wire the money to one of your sons instead of asking HIFX to send you a bankers draft in AUD?

 

Puzzled.

 

Gill

Hi Gill,

Tell me about it, but sons still not happy about the tax implication. Said to do so if have to, but Nick runs a recruitement company and Rich pays 47 per cent tax already and isnt convinced that he will not be penalised. Thought I would use another way. Will chase HIFX today and chase the bank draft as they have already cleared the funds.

regards

Sandy

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Steve (Sandch)

 

As you can see from yomvard's reply, the problem is that you and I failed to convince her sons that there would be no tax implications if the 2nd Instalment passed through the hands of one of them.

 

It is a great shame that DIAC do not bother to confirm the absence of any tax implications either via their website or via letters sent out by the Parents Visa Centre at the time when they ask for the 2nd Instalment at least - or better still, at the time when they acknowledge receipt of the visa application.

 

Hassle of the type that yomvard is experiencing can and should be avoided. All that the PVC needs to do is to confirm that they have consulted the ATO about sending the 2nd Instalment and the Bond money via one of the children in Oz and that the tax implications of doing this are zero because the money is not treated as a gift or as a payment of income for tax purposes.

 

Do you reckon that this can/should be spelt out on the Gainwave website instead?

 

If Alan Collett of Go Matilda reads this, I hope that he might like to comment as well. Alan - when we did it I trawled through the ATO website and found something which confirmed that the 2nd Instalment would not be treated as gift to my sister for tax purposes if the money passed through her hands. The rationale was that if the [Parent] outside Oz pays money to the [Child] in Oz and the [Child] uses the money to benefit the [Parent] then the ATO consider that no sort of tax event has taken place. This reassurance did not convince my sister - she was too busy worrying! We shut her up by confirming that Mum would reimburse her for any tax payable but there is surely a convincing way of reassuring the child out in Oz? An article in your News section might do the trick, perhaps?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[sandch]

Hello Gill.

 

A gift is an example of a non-assessable receipt for tax purposes. But in a way I can understand the nervousness of individuals because even if the receipt is non-assessable income, it may still be necessary to prove it to the ATO with all the administrative fun that entails. As Les suggests is really is backward not to take these sums of money by bank transfer. It's not as if a bank transfer is a radical new process!

 

I'll be steering well clear of tax advice of any sort on the tracker site by the way Gill; it's just far too risky, but the site is due for an overhaul and needs more information which is easier to get at, especially regarding this final VAC payment process.

 

Cheers for now

 

Steve

[Les Avalook]

Hi Steve (Sandch)

 

As you can see from yomvard's reply, the problem is that you and I failed to convince her sons that there would be no tax implications if the 2nd Instalment passed through the hands of one of them.

 

It is a great shame that DIAC do not bother to confirm the absence of any tax implications either via their website or via letters sent out by the Parents Visa Centre at the time when they ask for the 2nd Instalment at least - or better still, at the time when they acknowledge receipt of the visa application.

 

Hassle of the type that yomvard is experiencing can and should be avoided. All that the PVC needs to do is to confirm that they have consulted the ATO about sending the 2nd Instalment and the Bond money via one of the children in Oz and that the tax implications of doing this are zero because the money is not treated as a gift or as a payment of income for tax purposes.

 

Do you reckon that this can/should be spelt out on the Gainwave website instead?

 

If Alan Collett of Go Matilda reads this, I hope that he might like to comment as well. Alan - when we did it I trawled through the ATO website and found something which confirmed that the 2nd Instalment would not be treated as gift to my sister for tax purposes if the money passed through her hands. The rationale was that if the [Parent] outside Oz pays money to the [Child] in Oz and the [Child] uses the money to benefit the [Parent] then the ATO consider that no sort of tax event has taken place. This reassurance did not convince my sister - she was too busy worrying! We shut her up by confirming that Mum would reimburse her for any tax payable but there is surely a convincing way of reassuring the child out in Oz? An article in your News section might do the trick, perhaps?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

Good idea Gill, however we would still seem to be going round 2 sides of a triangle when if Perth would accept direct transfers the payment would go straight there bypassing any family anxietys.

 

It would only require sort code, account number plus reference number (given by CO?).

 

Maybe when they set up to allow payment by credit card the exchange rate was a lot less volatile and the cost was less. This is not the case now and needs to be revised as the rate can change by 5 cents or more in a few days and for two 2nd vac payments 5 cents can move the total payment by over £1000. That is too much in my view to have to guess the amount to preload on a credit card.

 

As this only happens once to each family I guess no one seems keen in Perth to improve the system, but in the long term it would make it so much simpler.

[MikenSueNW3]

Good idea Gill, however we would still seem to be going round 2 sides of a triangle when if Perth would accept direct transfers the payment would go straight there bypassing any family anxietys.

 

It would only require sort code, account number plus reference number (given by CO?).

 

 

Hear b****y hear! If we can pay council tax, income tax, etc etc etc by direct bank transfer, why on earth not VACs?!

 

Mike

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hear b****y hear! If we can pay council tax, income tax, etc etc etc by direct bank transfer, why on earth VACs?!

 

Mike

 

Hi Mike

 

When I worked for the British Civil Service (for two miserable years) we were only a relatively small Agency. There were about 1,200 staff in total whereas DIAC has about 7,000 staff.

 

The HQ side of the Agency (about 350 people) was divided into loads of different Branches, with maybe 6 people in some and 25 in other Branches. I was in a small, Special Projects, Branch because I was only there for a couple of years to deal with a very specific SP. We did not handle any clients' money ourselves, so I never saw what happened about moneys coming in. Other Branches did accept application fees for various things from the Agency's clients.

 

I never saw exactly what the other Branches did about receiving clients' money but I am pretty sure that none of the Branches were given the details of any of the Agency's bank accounts. There was one Finance Branch. I suspect that any cheques, bank drafts etc were received and logged by the Branch dealing with the actual client, but then the promissory notes went upstairs to Finance to be banked.

 

In the same way, the Parents Visa Centre is only one of the Branches of DIAC's WA State Office in Perth. It is in the same building etc and is a pretty small branch.

 

My guess is that they probably deal with application fees in the same way. The PVC probably logs the receipt and earmarks it for the specific client (the visa applicant) but that there is then a central Finance Branch within the State Office.

 

I suspect that none of these agencies of the central civil service ever make it possible for people to make payments straight into their bank accounts because there would be too much risk of the Finance Branch allocating receipts by the bank to the wrong clients and so forth. If it were me, I'd rather handle a bank draft at Branch level and make certain that I have earmarked it for the right client than allow Finance to interfere with that crucial part of one's job of looking after the client - if I were still a civil servant, that is!

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[MikenSueNW3]

Hi Mike

 

When I worked for the British Civil Service (for two miserable years) we were only a relatively small Agency. There were about 1,200 staff in total whereas DIAC has about 7,000 staff.

 

The HQ side of the Agency (about 350 people) was divided into loads of different Branches, with maybe 6 people in some and 25 in other Branches. I was in a small, Special Projects, Branch because I was only there for a couple of years to deal with a very specific SP. We did not handle any clients' money ourselves, so I never saw what happened about moneys coming in. Other Branches did accept application fees for various things from the Agency's clients.

 

I never saw exactly what the other Branches did about receiving clients' money but I am pretty sure that none of the Branches were given the details of any of the Agency's bank accounts. There was one Finance Branch. I suspect that any cheques, bank drafts etc were received and logged by the Branch dealing with the actual client, but then the promissory notes went upstairs to Finance to be banked.

 

In the same way, the Parents Visa Centre is only one of the Branches of DIAC's WA State Office in Perth. It is in the same building etc and is a pretty small branch.

 

My guess is that they probably deal with application fees in the same way. The PVC probably logs the receipt and earmarks it for the specific client (the visa applicant) but that there is then a central Finance Branch within the State Office.

 

I suspect that none of these agencies of the central civil service ever make it possible for people to make payments straight into their bank accounts because there would be too much risk of the Finance Branch allocating receipts by the bank to the wrong clients and so forth. If it were me, I'd rather handle a bank draft at Branch level and make certain that I have earmarked it for the right client than allow Finance to interfere with that crucial part of one's job of looking after the client - if I were still a civil servant, that is!

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

Hmmm. Not sure I accept that (very unusually for something you say, Gill!).

 

Surely it's not beyond the wit of wo/man to allocate a code number to each applicant, whatever the visa type, and let the system alert the CO when that payment has come in. Of course, there will always be the odd applicant who will make a mistake when filling in the reference number, but...

 

Mike