The Brand New PIO Parents Visa thread

[Kathss56]

Just now, SusieRoo said:

That sound perfect, I wonder if the rules have been tightened. Also when on the phone, I asked Westpac about a branch in London, and was told they only had corporate offices there. But when you look on the internet it is saying they have a retail branch on Camomile St. I'm always a bit dubious about any information from big business call centres.

My son is over from Australia on a three-day visit next month (don’t ask) and we are in London then, so I will see if we can walk-in and open an account.

How is the house sale and packing going? I had to giggle at your posts about storing the daughter’s things. We had a room full of son’s stuff for seven years, then on a visit home I asked him to see if he still needed to keep anything. He came out with one small carrier bag!

I have asked my daughter who worked for Westpac - you can open account when you go for a visit to Oz before yr visa granted 

when she gets back later tonight will see if they know re London. As they both are financial advisors for them you'd think they would. Lol 

[SusieRoo]

14 minutes ago, Kathss56 said:

I have asked my daughter who worked for Westpac - you can open account when you go for a visit to Oz before yr visa granted 

when she gets back later tonight will see if they know re London. As they both are financial advisors for them you'd think they would. Lol 

Thanks Kathss56. It would be useful to get an account sorted now and have one less thing to do later. Hope you are enjoying having your daughter home.

[Kathss56]

Just now, SusieRoo said:

Thanks Kathss56. It would be useful to get an account sorted now and have one less thing to do later. Hope you are enjoying having your daughter home.

Yes thank you although they have done Germany and Iceland so not seen them much. 5 days together now! ?

[Pertenhall]

14 hours ago, SusieRoo said:

That sound perfect, I wonder if the rules have been tightened. Also when on the phone, I asked Westpac about a branch in London, and was told they only had corporate offices there. But when you look on the internet it is saying they have a retail branch on Camomile St. I'm always a bit dubious about any information from big business call centres.

My son is over from Australia on a three-day visit next month (don’t ask) and we are in London then, so I will see if we can walk-in and open an account.

How is the house sale and packing going? I had to giggle at your posts about storing the daughter’s things. We had a room full of son’s stuff for seven years, then on a visit home I asked him to see if he still needed to keep anything. He came out with one small carrier bag!

There is definitely a branch of Westpac in London.  We went there and opened our account in late 2015 when we thought that we would be in Oz within the year.  However we are still here but there has been no comeback on the account.  We took in passports and various other items of ID which they required and it was really easy and they were very helpful.  Hope you get it sorted one way or another.

[Fisher1]

1 hour ago, Pertenhall said:

There is definitely a branch of Westpac in London.  We went there and opened our account in late 2015 when we thought that we would be in Oz within the year.  However we are still here but there has been no comeback on the account.  We took in passports and various other items of ID which they required and it was really easy and they were very helpful.  Hope you get it sorted one way or another.

Yes there definitely is. We were in London in January 2016 and walked in without prior arrangement and asked to see someone about our account (we wanted info about paying the second vac while in Australia the following month. Saw someone within ten minutes and got sorted. Also offered currency exchange and gave us contact details for the London branch. I don't trust those big call centres either, since someone told me on one occasion years ago that Sheffield railway station closed at 5p.m.... causing me to book a totally unnecessary hotel ...     the bank is on the ground floor of a building in ... I think it's Cayenne street but it's certainly the name of a spice.

[Fisher1]

15 hours ago, SusieRoo said:

That sound perfect, I wonder if the rules have been tightened. Also when on the phone, I asked Westpac about a branch in London, and was told they only had corporate offices there. But when you look on the internet it is saying they have a retail branch on Camomile St. I'm always a bit dubious about any information from big business call centres.

My son is over from Australia on a three-day visit next month (don’t ask) and we are in London then, so I will see if we can walk-in and open an account.

How is the house sale and packing going? I had to giggle at your posts about storing the daughter’s things. We had a room full of son’s stuff for seven years, then on a visit home I asked him to see if he still needed to keep anything. He came out with one small carrier bag!

We have finally signed the contracts and are waiting for the deposit to be paid so we can (hopefully) exchange contracts on Monday. Can't believe it seems to be actually happening. All sorts of old friends visiting, which is sad. My sister is trying to take over and organise me ... some things never change :-) 

[BrendaM]

Processing times seem to have reverted back to 33-35months! Good news or an error?

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/143-

[Amytran1]

1 hour ago, BrendaM said:

Processing times seem to have reverted back to 33-35months! Good news or an error?

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/143-

Well im 31 months now nearly to 32 months and havent heard anything yet from them. Hope this is true so i can get this over and done lol

[Amytran1]

Hi can anyone please help me with this 

We applied for 173 visa my sistet was 19 years old, the process took longer than ee expected now she 21 by the time she get her visa and come to australia she will turn 22 at the moment she still dependent on my parents

So my question is when we apply for 143 visa she prob will be 23 and by the time visa get approve she will be 24 to 25 will she still eligible and did she still have to be dependent on my parent as well

Also if my parent come and get wotk can they be their own guarantor . 

Thank you

[SusieRoo]

4 hours ago, BrendaM said:

Processing times seem to have reverted back to 33-35months! Good news or an error?

https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/143-

This is good news for 143s and even better news for 173s who now have no queue!

Do we start packing today? (if only this were true)

[tabitha10]

What about 173 to 143 ive been waiting 8 months now !!!

 

i dont seem to be getting anything from the "test" emails either...

[SusieRoo]

24 minutes ago, tabitha10 said:

What about 173 to 143 ive been waiting 8 months now !!!

 

i dont seem to be getting anything from the "test" emails either...

8 months is a mere blink of the eye for immi, so you don't even get a category. You lucky thing. (big sigh!)

[SusieRoo]

3 hours ago, Amytran1 said:

Hi can anyone please help me with this 

We applied for 173 visa my sistet was 19 years old, the process took longer than ee expected now she 21 by the time she get her visa and come to australia she will turn 22 at the moment she still dependent on my parents

So my question is when we apply for 143 visa she prob will be 23 and by the time visa get approve she will be 24 to 25 will she still eligible and did she still have to be dependent on my parent as well

Also if my parent come and get wotk can they be their own guarantor . 

Thank you

I'm no expert, but I don't think your sister will not now be eligible as a dependent. Anyway she should be supporting Mum and Dad now at her age, I guess she could try for a student visa. Also I don't see how your parent can be their own guarantor when they get a job, I think that's called putting the cart before the horse. It's normal for the child to be the sponsor of the emigrating parent.

[tabitha10]

35 minutes ago, SusieRoo said:

8 months is a mere blink of the eye for immi, so you don't even get a category. You lucky thing. (big sigh!)

Ha....it used to be a few months to go from 173 to 143..back in the day, well 2 years ago!!

[Suzyq]

An update on our situation if it helps anyone! 

Firstly our bank account - we applied to our own bank, HSBC, as we thought it might be easier after being told in Australia at NAB that we couldn't have an account without having a visa (we only had e-visitor). After much question answering and many phone calls, checks and double checks we got a daily account set up! We validated our cards in Australia a couple of weeks ago on holiday. All works fine.

Unfortunately our hopes of transferring cash at the beautifully high rate of £1.75 in May were dashed by the fact we didn't have an account set up at the right time and our bickering ministers are ensuring sterling is still unstable! In order to transfer we've opened up accounts with Moneycorp, XE and FairFX and will use whichever will give us the best rate when we do transfer. Easy to set up and no fees.

We looked into buying a property close to our son and found that in order to buy an existing property you must have a visa enabling to you to be continuously resident for more than 12 months and you must apply for FIRB approval.

This is where we have a problem! Although I now have a 600 Friends and Family Visa, one of the conditions is to stay onshore only 12 months in every 18. My 'safe' view on this is that I don't fit the criteria. We want to stay on the right side of any rules and regulations, unless anyone has degrees in law and can tell me different!

We also looked into the 'Bare Trust' option and were frightened off by two different solicitors - neither recommended it.

As our belongings are being packed up by leatherbarrows today and tomorrow ready for storage and shipping towards the end of the year, we really need to be able to buy! We don't want to rent, it's just too much upheaval again, and as I feel we've moved from pillar to post enough as it is, I just don't want to!

Our only option now is to for me to apply for the new temporary 3 year visa, as I'm sure this will mean we fit the criteria to buy an existing property. I see there's been some more information on the visa, but has anyone any other snippets on it? Anyone else going to apply for it?

I plan to go early in December, have the dogs sent over as I leave so I can be settled there for their arrival and then have our belongings sent on. We've made our bed now, we need to lie on it! I'm so pleased we've made our decision and can't wait until our things are wrapped and gone tomorrow!

[SusieRoo]

1 hour ago, Suzyq said:

An update on our situation if it helps anyone! 

Firstly our bank account - we applied to our own bank, HSBC, as we thought it might be easier after being told in Australia at NAB that we couldn't have an account without having a visa (we only had e-visitor). After much question answering and many phone calls, checks and double checks we got a daily account set up! We validated our cards in Australia a couple of weeks ago on holiday. All works fine.

Unfortunately our hopes of transferring cash at the beautifully high rate of £1.75 in May were dashed by the fact we didn't have an account set up at the right time and our bickering ministers are ensuring sterling is still unstable! In order to transfer we've opened up accounts with Moneycorp, XE and FairFX and will use whichever will give us the best rate when we do transfer. Easy to set up and no fees.

We looked into buying a property close to our son and found that in order to buy an existing property you must have a visa enabling to you to be continuously resident for more than 12 months and you must apply for FIRB approval.

This is where we have a problem! Although I now have a 600 Friends and Family Visa, one of the conditions is to stay onshore only 12 months in every 18. My 'safe' view on this is that I don't fit the criteria. We want to stay on the right side of any rules and regulations, unless anyone has degrees in law and can tell me different!

We also looked into the 'Bare Trust' option and were frightened off by two different solicitors - neither recommended it.

As our belongings are being packed up by leatherbarrows today and tomorrow ready for storage and shipping towards the end of the year, we really need to be able to buy! We don't want to rent, it's just too much upheaval again, and as I feel we've moved from pillar to post enough as it is, I just don't want to!

Our only option now is to for me to apply for the new temporary 3 year visa, as I'm sure this will mean we fit the criteria to buy an existing property. I see there's been some more information on the visa, but has anyone any other snippets on it? Anyone else going to apply for it?

I plan to go early in December, have the dogs sent over as I leave so I can be settled there for their arrival and then have our belongings sent on. We've made our bed now, we need to lie on it! I'm so pleased we've made our decision and can't wait until our things are wrapped and gone tomorrow!

Wow! You have a lot going on and a many things to consider.

I definitely think the new visa will be a better option while waiting for your CPV. It will give you less stress compared to renewing the 600 and having to go offshore etc. There is still not much detail from immi about the new visas but you would expect it to have the scope to buy a property.

There was a post from ramot last week recommending TransferWise for money exchange, which I think is worth considering. We may be in for a many ups and downs in the next 18 months with the exchange rate. So having your accounts set up and a proven exchange system ready, is the way to go.

I know we are all different and I can understand your desire not to rent, but you should not rule it out for a short spell. It would give you a little more time to get everything in place when you first arrive. I’m sure you’ll be in Australia for many happy years, so maybe not too much need for urgency now.

On the new visa, there is going to be 15,000 places each year and because there isn’t a ‘balance of family test’, it is highly likely there will be a rush for places in November. Your sponsor needs to get approval before you can apply, so it may be worth getting everything ready before November and act swiftly. Apparently everything is going to be completed online and I guess the first few applications will be processed very quickly.

Sounds like your in for a busy few months, so best wishes with everything and please give yourselves a little time to chill-out (as my son would say) and also a glass of wine or two wouldn’t do any harm.

[Geoffandgill]

2 hours ago, Suzyq said:

An update on our situation if it helps anyone! 

Firstly our bank account - we applied to our own bank, HSBC, as we thought it might be easier after being told in Australia at NAB that we couldn't have an account without having a visa (we only had e-visitor). After much question answering and many phone calls, checks and double checks we got a daily account set up! We validated our cards in Australia a couple of weeks ago on holiday. All works fine.

Unfortunately our hopes of transferring cash at the beautifully high rate of £1.75 in May were dashed by the fact we didn't have an account set up at the right time and our bickering ministers are ensuring sterling is still unstable! In order to transfer we've opened up accounts with Moneycorp, XE and FairFX and will use whichever will give us the best rate when we do transfer. Easy to set up and no fees.

We looked into buying a property close to our son and found that in order to buy an existing property you must have a visa enabling to you to be continuously resident for more than 12 months and you must apply for FIRB approval.

This is where we have a problem! Although I now have a 600 Friends and Family Visa, one of the conditions is to stay onshore only 12 months in every 18. My 'safe' view on this is that I don't fit the criteria. We want to stay on the right side of any rules and regulations, unless anyone has degrees in law and can tell me different!

We also looked into the 'Bare Trust' option and were frightened off by two different solicitors - neither recommended it.

As our belongings are being packed up by leatherbarrows today and tomorrow ready for storage and shipping towards the end of the year, we really need to be able to buy! We don't want to rent, it's just too much upheaval again, and as I feel we've moved from pillar to post enough as it is, I just don't want to!

Our only option now is to for me to apply for the new temporary 3 year visa, as I'm sure this will mean we fit the criteria to buy an existing property. I see there's been some more information on the visa, but has anyone any other snippets on it? Anyone else going to apply for it?

I plan to go early in December, have the dogs sent over as I leave so I can be settled there for their arrival and then have our belongings sent on. We've made our bed now, we need to lie on it! I'm so pleased we've made our decision and can't wait until our things are wrapped and gone tomorrow!

We may be wrong, but I think that you are only allowed FRIB approval ( ours cost $5000) to buy residential building land off plan, to be built on within 4years. Don't think you're allowed to purchase existing property at all until you have residency. Make sure you check with FRIB/ATO first, as estate agents / conveyances are not well versed with the rules

Geoff & Gill

[Suzyq]

Thanks Susieroo and GeoffandGill. 

Renting may well have to be the route we take initially, and you're right, we have lots of time ahead of us. We moved out of our house early January and have been living at my sisters house whilst they've been away in Spain, back home now as its too hot out there for them! I just want to be in our own home...so however it may end up, we will be early next year with luck!

Regarding FIRB, so long as you're a temporary resident (and have a visa allowing you to remain on shore in excess of 12 months), you can obtain 1 exemption certificate, lasting for 6 months, to allow you to purchase an established dwelling, so long as it's your primary residence and don't rent out etc. The fee is $5500 I believe.

[harmitraj]

Hi

I have submitted my 143 parent visa on 23 June 2017 via courier and it reached Perth Parent Visa Processing Dept on 28 June 2017.  I am just a little anxious that they still have not deducted the application fees from my credit card.  Does anyone has any idea on how long it usually takes please. 

By the way I would like to thank all of you for the very informative posts.

[SusieRoo]

6 hours ago, harmitraj said:

Hi

I have submitted my 143 parent visa on 23 June 2017 via courier and it reached Perth Parent Visa Processing Dept on 28 June 2017.  I am just a little anxious that they still have not deducted the application fees from my credit card.  Does anyone has any idea on how long it usually takes please. 

By the way I would like to thank all of you for the very informative posts.

Below is a statement from IMMI published on 30/06/2017

"We have received a very large number of applications recently. Please allow up to six to eight weeks from when you posted your application for it to be receipted and registered. If you lodged your application before the 11 May 2017 and have not received your acknowledgment letter please check your junk mail folder. Yahoo, Hotmail and Gmail have a tendency to place our messages in your junk mail folder. Please ensure you make our email address parents@border.gov.au a trusted address. If you still cannot find a letter from us please contact us WITH THE FULL NAME, DATE OF BIRTH AND PASSPORT DETAILS OF THE MAIN APPLICANT."

I hope this helps and I think you may have to wait a few more weeks before you receive the conformation email.

[Fisher1]

10 hours ago, harmitraj said:

Hi

I have submitted my 143 parent visa on 23 June 2017 via courier and it reached Perth Parent Visa Processing Dept on 28 June 2017.  I am just a little anxious that they still have not deducted the application fees from my credit card.  Does anyone has any idea on how long it usually takes please. 

By the way I would like to thank all of you for the very informative posts.

I think they do take a long time sometimes ... we applied for a 103 visa in February 2013 and it was May before they acknowledged. I remember being very jumpy about it at the time.

[Fisher1]

We exchanged contracts on our house this afternoon. Can book our flights. Looks like we are actually going to move. At last!!! 

[juliew1499]

13 minutes ago, Fisher1 said:

We exchanged contracts on our house this afternoon. Can book our flights. Looks like we are actually going to move. At last!!! 

Congratulations Fisher, at long last you are on your way.

Julie

[Sadge]

5 hours ago, Fisher1 said:

We exchanged contracts on our house this afternoon. Can book our flights. Looks like we are actually going to move. At last!!! 

Congratulations!  Hope all proceeds smoothly.  

[Fisher1]

Thanks for the good wishes and to everyone who has helped me on my way with info during the last few years. I'll carry on adding my bit where I can.  Love this site.