The Brand New PIO Parents Visa thread

[Sheila2010]

Lovely to see someone else with very similar queries - i am reading the thread with interest. I too was 'excited' by the thought of an on shore aged application with a bridge (should my Mum arrive on hols and decide that maybe she would like to stay) - the 2010 developments have put me off a bit and I am now heading towards contrib - that being said - should a scenario occur where an aged parent on a 676 decides that they would like to look into staying and on calling the PVC are advised Aged Parent on shore is a possibilty do you HAVE to stay on a bridging visa or can you put in the app then return to UK and come back again on a Bridging visa once you have 'tidied' your UK affairs and remain in Aus on the bridging visa until decision time? Are bridging Visa's automatic or is there a risk here that even with an on shore app if you return to UK during processing you would not be able to return to Aus until the decision is made? Hope that makes sense!

I too am looking into this - my brother is now an Australian Citizen, and we have finally got our 175 - we all know what an expensive and stressful route that is! If we go, my parents will have all their children and grandchildren in Australia. If they want to go, they have to wait 20 years - ridiculous, or pay an extortionate amount - outrageous. They have been to Australia most years for the last 15 years, and this is how they are treated. Something needs to be done about this. Now I am in a dilemma - stay or go.

[Guest Gollywobbler]

I too am looking into this - my brother is now an Australian Citizen, and we have finally got our 175 - we all know what an expensive and stressful route that is! If we go, my parents will have all their children and grandchildren in Australia. If they want to go, they have to wait 20 years - ridiculous, or pay an extortionate amount - outrageous. They have been to Australia most years for the last 15 years, and this is how they are treated. Something needs to be done about this. Now I am in a dilemma - stay or go.

 

Hi Sheila

 

You can count on the idea that nothing will be done to help the Parents of immigrants to Oz. Here is a copy of my reply to Posh Slice on another thread, earlier today. If you follow the links in that reply, you will see why I am saying that nothing that will help the Parents will happen.

 

Hi Pam

 

The theory behind the idea of the Contributory Parent Scheme is that elderly people living in Oz make a higher use, per capita, of the services provided by Medicare and Social Services than do younger people in Australia.

 

Where an ageing person is a new immigrant, that person has not been paying tax in Oz prior to becoming retired and ageing. John Howard came up with the idea that Parents s who are able to contribute a significant proportion of the likely future costs of their care in Oz should be able to move to Oz fairly promptly.

 

The idea hit many a hurdle and Howard had a hell of a job to force the idea onto the statute book. One of his methods for forcing the Opposition to accept his central idea was to slash the annual intake of Parent visa immigrants:

 

http://www.ppilaw.com.au/parent.pdf

 

The Australian Government Actuary was more or less told what to say once the Howard Government and the then Opposition (now the Government) had agreed on various proposals and amendments that both sides could live with. The AGA was told that a Contributory Parent should shell out 12.5% of the predicted likely costs for his/her care and the Aussie taxpayer would contribute the remaining 87.5% during the remainder of the Contributory Parent's lifetime. The AGA was told that non-contributory Parents are only expected to contribute 0.5% of the likely future costs of these two elements.

 

The AGA was instructed to ignore the potential benefits that grandparents, in particular, can bring to Australia. You know the various benefits that you and your OH would provide for your own children and grandchildren. However the official Model treats all Parents as a burden to Australia because the Model does not consider anything except cost to Australia. In the original 2002 Report, the AGA muttered (Clause 5.9) that the Model does not provide a full, balanced picture of the situation but the Australian Government Actuary is employed by the Australian Government, so the AGA obediently produced a lop-sided Report:

 

http://www.aga.gov.au/publications/downloads/dimia.pdf

 

Eventually the CPV scheme was launched in July 2003. Six or seven years later, the AGA has been told to re-evaluate the scheme. This particular Government is very keen to encourage cash cows:

 

http://www.aga.gov.au/publications/c...PVCI_Final.pdf

 

According to the new Report, Contributory Parents have so far proven to be an unusually healthy bunch compared to Aussies of similar ages. However the cost of medical care per capita has risen sharply in the last 6 or 7 years, so that has justified milking the cash cows for an extra 10% during the 2010/2011 visa year anyway.

 

I think that the Gillard Government will attack non-contributory Parents if it gets half a chance. I think that they might well do so by Capping & Killing their visa applications.

 

Parliament of Australia: Senate: Committees: Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee: Migration Amendment (Visa Capping) Bill 2010

 

Parliament of Australia: Senate: Committees: Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee: Migration Amendment (Visa Capping) Bill 2010 : Submissions Received

 

My own submission to the Senate Inquiry about the proposed new Bill is #562 and can be accessed via the link immediately above this sentence if you want to read it. I have stuck up for non-contributory Parents and I hope that the members of the Inquiry have listened.

 

The Bill has been killed off for the moment but the Gillard Government has every intention of reviving it after the forthcoming General Election. I am hoping that the other Senators will have the decency to insist that all applicants for non-contributory Parent visas must be ring-fenced and protected against the possible implications of the new Bill. I don't think it is necessary to stick up for cash cows (applicants for Contributory Parent visas) in the same way because the Gillard Government is not stupid enough to do anything to a cash cow except milk it, I reckon.

 

I concentrated on Parents in my own Submission because everybody else already opposes the Bill as far as skilled immigration to Oz is concerned. Parents, on the other hand, are a stark and scary example of the fact that Evans wants to be able to invent the rules as he goes along, and to cause those rules to work retrospectively if it suits him to do so. The scope of the proposals contained in the Bill are terrifying and that sort of power should never be placed in the hands of one person alone, in my view.

 

Sod the Parents who might have their visa applications killed off as a result of this proposal for a fundamental change to Australia's Immigration policy. The promised refunds would pay for their coffins, presumably.....

 

Anybody who would trust the Gillard Government with some of the most vulnerable visa applicants in existence is in urgent need of psychiatric assistance according to me.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

 

The Aussie Government is unrepentant about the idea that the Parents of immigrants can do one of three things. Those things are:

1. Pay up;

2. Suffer for years;

3. Stay in their countries of origin, preferably for good.

 

The UK is just as bad, though, and arguably the UK is worse about Parents than Oz is:

 

UK Border Agency | Elderly dependent relatives

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Generalis]

Hi Gill

 

Do you mind if I ask you when we are about to start the application if you know if anything has changed?

Sam

[Sheila2010]

Hi Sheila

 

You can count on the idea that nothing will be done to help the Parents of immigrants to Oz. Here is a copy of my reply to Posh Slice on another thread, earlier today. If you follow the links in that reply, you will see why I am saying that nothing that will help the Parents will happen.

 

 

 

The Aussie Government is unrepentant about the idea that the Parents of immigrants can do one of three things. Those things are:

1. Pay up;

2. Suffer for years;

3. Stay in their countries of origin, preferably for good.

 

The UK is just as bad, though, and arguably the UK is worse about Parents than Oz is:

 

UK Border Agency | Elderly dependent relatives

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

Maybe I missed something, but for Elderly Australians to live in the U.K. costs £1640 and the visa takes a max. of 4 months to obtain!!!:swoon:

[Guest Sayma]

Hi Kate

 

I think I have made a blunder with this. As you know, Sayma started a new thread about CAPVs and APVs. You replied to her one and only post. I decided to move Sayma's original post and your reply into this thread, since we are trying to keep all the Parents visa information in the same place.

 

Your post has moved into the new thread with no problem but I can't find Sayma's original post at the moment. Can you remember when it was posted by any chance? Is it a post from several days ago and you happened to notice that nobody had responded?

 

If push comes to shove, I'll have to ask Cerberus1 to find Sayma's post and put it into this thread. I think that the forum software does automatic back-ups so if I have lost the post, I hope (fingers crossed) that Cerberus1 (Site Admin for those who don't know) can find it for me. :cry: PiO does not go around trashing members' contributions. :cry:

 

I'll keep hunting for now, but I thought I would let you know about the problem because your own post doesn't make any sense on its own!

 

Cheers

 

Gill

Thanks to Kate, Gill and Joanne for sorting out my query! I'm still not sure how all this works!..I kept getting e-mails from PIO saying I had received a reply but I couldn't find the replies nor my original post! Now is all clear. Apart from I am still not sure how to trace my queries and replies. As you can see, I am an oldie (62) and have never chatted (posted?) on a forum before.

 

I will now follow the link and maybe attempt more questions... I still work (from home) so am not always able to come to the forum for long or on a regular basis.

 

Many thanks again everyone.

 

Sayma

[Guest Sayma]

Hi Sayma (at last!)

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

I'm terribly sorry that your queries have been ignored until today when Kate (moving2melbourne) spotted your thread and replied to it earlier today. I then faffed about with trying to move your post into this thread and got myself into a muddle with trying to do that. I do remember that when the idea of having a moderators team was first created, Site Admin absolutely assured all the prospective mods that the forum software had been set up in such a way that none of us would ever be able to do anything moronically stupid without Site Admin being able to find and correct the mistake. A mod has more controls than an ordinary member but Site Admin has a full set of controls, looks after the forum maintenance and so forth. (I don't know any of the details - working the front end of the forum is difficult enough for me, sometimes. There is something called the "back end" as well, which is all the technical stuff. I haven't got a clue what Site Admin and the forum's software do in the background and I don't want to know. I'm not curious about computers, cyber space and how it all works!)

 

Never mind, though, because with some sterling help from Joanne, it is now sorted out and your questions have not been lost!

 

I think that the easiest way to deal with your queries is to give you some general information, and then leave you to ask more questions later. I started a thread on Poms in Adelaide some time ago, which I think deals with most of your questions. The thread is below:

 

Cheap Parent Visas Part I - Poms In Adelaide

 

You say that you have an elderly Mum in the UK and that you want to be able to keep an eye on her. Once your Parent visas are granted (no matter which one you choose) you are free to come and go from Oz as much as you like during the first 5 years after the grant of the visas. Once this 5-year "travel period" expires, you can apply for Resident Return Visas, which last for another 5 years at a time, unless you are able to obtain Aussie Citizenship at any stage and you decide that you would rather get Citizenship than muck about with RRVs.

 

Five Year Resident Return Visa (Subclass 155)

 

Do this reply and the PiA thread between them deal with all of your queries at this stage?

 

If not, please sing out. Between us, the other parents and I can answer any questions that you might have.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

Thank you very much Gill - I thought I was going doolally - but now all is explained. However, I'm not very good at finding my way around the forum. Your reply has been very helpful and I'm sure I will have more questions soon.

 

Thanks

Sayma

[frizzy1]

Hi,

 

Just wanted to let you know that my parents have been granted their visa!

 

A huge thank you to Gollywobbler (Gill) for your help and advice along the way.

 

They are moving out to Sydney around October time and after they have settled their for a few months I will be applying for the last remaining relative visa.

 

So, with my Sis and her hubbie already living their, if all goes well, it shouldnt be too long now before we can all be in Oz together!.

 

:biggrin:

[Guest TheHendersons]

Hi this is my first post. Hope this is in the right place. This forum is brilliant and I would be grateful for any advice on bringing my Mum out to Australia with us. We are coming out to Sydney on a temp 457 visa and my Mum who is 55 wants to come too to be close to her two grandchildren aged 2 and 1.

 

We know we cannot sponsor her until we are settled permanent residents which generally would be at least 2 years. We are going to see how things go for a year and my husband's employer have said they would support a permanent visa request once we are out there. In the meantime, we are renting out our home in UK and making use of the living away from home allowances his employer have offered.

 

We had been planning on bringing Mum out on a 12 month tourist visa and possibly extending this by a year by visiting NZ and coming back to Sydney before 12 months up to gain another year? How risky is this idea? I have also seen that condition 8503 can be imposed which means you can't apply for another visa while in Australia? If this happened could she go home to the UK for 2 months and reapply for another tourist visa? She has sufficient funds and will have full travel insurance to cover any medical expenses but i don't want to push our luck with immigration. She works as a support worker for people with learning disabilities and is taking a career break to come over. What would the chances be of her gaining employer sponsorship as she is over 45?

 

My worry is we all love it out in Sydney and want to be permanent residents and we can't keep Mum there. I can't see past this great opportunity we have for the fear this would happen in all likelihood from what I have read.

 

Can we apply for contributory parent visa and get bridging visas for her so that she would not have to come back to the UK and be separated from us ? Seems to me this is only an option if she was over 65 and aged parent visa application made on shore?

 

We were planning on applying on-line for a tourist visa ( we have applied for the on-line 457) then speaking to a migration agent in Australia if we all want to stay after a year? Should we consider a migration agent now for Mum?

 

Grateful for any advice you can give me. I can't sleep at night for worrying about my Mum! Thanks for reading.

[yomvard]

At last, we have a Case Officer and have 49 days to get all info to them..ah..

So excited I cant think straight .:arghh:

[MikenSueNW3]

We had been planning on bringing Mum out on a 12 month tourist visa and possibly extending this by a year by visiting NZ and coming back to Sydney before 12 months up to gain another year?

1. How risky is this idea?

2. I have also seen that condition 8503 can be imposed which means you can't apply for another visa while in Australia?

3. If this happened could she go home to the UK for 2 months and reapply for another tourist visa? She has sufficient funds and will have full travel insurance to cover any medical expenses but i don't want to push our luck with immigration.

4. Can we apply for contributory parent visa and get bridging visas for her so that she would not have to come back to the UK and be separated from us ?

5. Seems to me this is only an option if she was over 65 and aged parent visa application made on shore?

6. Should we consider a migration agent now for Mum?

 

Grateful for any advice you can give me. I can't sleep at night for worrying about my Mum! Thanks for reading.

 

HI and welcome; you'll get plenty of info on here, especially from Gill (Gollywobbler) – to whom we're all indebted!

 

1. We have regularly done this on shorter (3-month) ETA or eVisitor visas. The only risk I can see is that of DIAC getting sniffy if you do it too often, and in relation to an application for a permanent visa.

 

2. This apparently can only happen on 676 tourist visas, not ETAs/eVisitors. But, yes, if it is there you can't apply for another – whether tourist-type or parent – visa within Oz.

 

3. Others may disagree but I wonder, why wait 2 months? Even, why return to the UK? – could be done from NZ.

 

4. Yes onshore, but only if your mother doesn't have a "no further stay" restriction on the tourist visa. If offshore, no bridging visa available, but she can still visit as a tourist.

 

5. Yes, if onshore. So at 55 best to return to UK, apply for visa, then visit as tourist until the visa arrives.

 

6. Most people on thus forum would, I think, say that there is no need for an agent as long as you don't mind handling the paperwork – which looks more daunting than it really is, so long as you have a reasonably tidy mind!

 

Finally, you are right to bear in mind the "settled" requirement on yourselves, before applying for a parent visa – usually taken to mean two years, and probably best if you have permanent residence yourselves. But can be less if you've established firm roots and links with employer, school, etc, I believe.

 

Best of luck, Mike

[sandch]

..................

Can we apply for contributory parent visa and get bridging visas for her so that she would not have to come back to the UK and be separated from us ? Seems to me this is only an option if she was over 65 and aged parent visa application made on shore?

 

We were planning on applying on-line for a tourist visa ( we have applied for the on-line 457) then speaking to a migration agent in Australia if we all want to stay after a year? Should we consider a migration agent now for Mum?

 

Grateful for any advice you can give me. I can't sleep at night for worrying about my Mum! Thanks for reading.

 

You sound very understandably excited; it's quite infectious. But planning for the CPV and a migration agent is premature (the process is not complex by the way just boring). Stick with getting yourselves settled - I'm sure Mum will be able to spend extended visits over there to be with you.

 

Are you OK on the balance of family test? Worth checking that first. She can only submit a CPV application (offshore) when her sponsor (you) is deemed to be a settled permanent resident.

 

Best of luck and stay enthusiastic!

 

Cheers

Steve

[Stellathedog]

At last, we have a Case Officer and have 49 days to get all info to them..ah..

So excited I cant think straight .:arghh:

 

Congratulations!

 

I can imagine the state you are in, glad you found time to share your good news though. Thankyou!

 

Sure you'll manage the 49 days limit, no problem!

 

Cheers

 

An envious Pam

[Guest TheHendersons]

Thank you so much for your kind replies. Yes, we do pass the balance of family test (thank goodness!) and I guess it is a case of trying things out and see how we go on getting permanent residency for us first if this is what we decide.

 

It is just so difficult thinking of getting/being settled without a plan for Mum iykwim?

 

Guess I am thinking too far ahead jumping to the next stage and worrying as usual!

 

Thanks again

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Gill

 

Do you mind if I ask you when we are about to start the application if you know if anything has changed?

Sam

 

Hi Sam

 

Of course I don't mind, hun! Please ask as many questions as you feel like asking, whenever you want to ask them. If there are any changes I will report them in the Poms in Adelaide thread and probably on here as well.

 

Please let me know what your Mum thinks about Oz when she goes to visit you later this year, won't you?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

xx

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Maybe I missed something, but for Elderly Australians to live in the U.K. costs £1640 and the visa takes a max. of 4 months to obtain!!!:swoon:

 

Hi Sheila

 

I can't say that I have read the UK Border Agency stuff especially closely. However the things that leapt out at me are:

 

1. All the children have to live in the UK, whereas Australia only demands 50% in the Balance of Family Test; and

 

2. The Parents have to be destitute in their country of origin, with nobody providing financial assistance for them apart from their children in the UK, apparently.

 

These two factors are very much tougher than Australia demands, it seems to me.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Thanks to Kate, Gill and Joanne for sorting out my query! I'm still not sure how all this works!..I kept getting e-mails from PIO saying I had received a reply but I couldn't find the replies nor my original post! Now is all clear. Apart from I am still not sure how to trace my queries and replies. As you can see, I am an oldie (62) and have never chatted (posted?) on a forum before.

 

I will now follow the link and maybe attempt more questions... I still work (from home) so am not always able to come to the forum for long or on a regular basis.

 

Many thanks again everyone.

 

Sayma

 

Hi Sayma

 

Very many thanks for your reply.

 

You will get e-mails every time anyone adds anything to this thread. You can disable this e-mail feature if you wish. Please let us know, on this thread, if you would like to disable the feature and somebody will explain how to do it. (However I insist that you ask for instructions if you need them! I'm not simply going to tell you how to do it in this post because you will never get the hang of the software that works these forums unless you use it and thereby get some practice with it, my girl!!)

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi,

 

Just wanted to let you know that my parents have been granted their visa!

 

A huge thank you to Gollywobbler (Gill) for your help and advice along the way.

 

They are moving out to Sydney around October time and after they have settled their for a few months I will be applying for the last remaining relative visa.

 

So, with my Sis and her hubbie already living their, if all goes well, it shouldnt be too long now before we can all be in Oz together!.

 

:biggrin:

 

Hi Frizzy

 

I'm delighted to hear that your Parents now have their visas! Two down (them) and one to go (you!)

 

I am puzzled by your assertion that your Parents will need to have lived in Oz for some months before you can apply for a Remaining Relly visa. Who has acted as the Sponsor for your Parents, please? Is your sister their Sponsor? If she is, she can sponsor you as well, you know. Your Parents would merely have to prove that they are "lawfully and permanently resident" in Oz. They need not have become "settled" in the same way as the Sponsor has to be settled.

 

Who has provided the Assurance of Support for your Parents? If your sister is their Assurer as well as their Sponsor, she can still Sponsor you but she cannot act as your Assurer as well. However, any Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident can act as an Assurer of Support as long as s/he can meet the income requirements. Also, up to three people can club together to provide an AoS between them.

 

Since the AoS only lasts for 2 years with a Remaining Relly visa, it is not a particularly onerous obligation. I know Parents where friends of the child in Oz have provided a 10 year AoS for the Parents, so a friend of your sister's could Assure you if necessay, and there is nothing to stop your family from entering into a back-to-back Agreement with the Assurer, which would protect the Assurer.

 

I am concerned about recent reports that the Minister is said to have reduced the quota of Remaining Relly visas by 70%. He has a theory (not proven, in my opinion) that where you have a skilled immigrant who is sponsored for their visa by a family member, allegedly such an immigrant tends to have a poorer migration outcome than other immigrants. In other words, the Minister believes that skilled brothers and sisters tend to accept any old job in Oz, regardless of the skill which got them into Oz, in order to stay close to other family members.

 

If you take that theory one step further, you get to the Remaining Relly - whose skills are not tested and who might not have any skills to speak of, and who might not even be able to speak English to the Minister's satisfaction. He has spent the last 18 months making life as difficult as possible for Family sponsored skilled applicants, so I don't trust him not to Cap & Kill applicants for Remaining Relly visas, frankly. He has already said that he intends to "simplify" the number of visas on offer. I don't trust that man. I think he will find excuses for scrapping many of the visas that Australia currently offers.

 

My inclination is not to let the grass grow under your family's feet but to apply for your Remaining Relly visa as soon as you possibly can, hun.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Gollywobbler]

At last, we have a Case Officer and have 49 days to get all info to them..ah..

So excited I cant think straight .:arghh:

 

Hi yomvard

 

This is fantastic news! If your Assurer is well organised (which I am sure he is) then 49 days is plenty of time to complete the final stages and get your visas granted, never mind merely providing the stuff that the CO has requested at this stage. You'll be fine. You just have to stay calm and plod through it all - but the plodding in the final stages is nowhere near as bad as the plodding needed to get the visa application ready to go and despatched to Oz in the first place.

 

You and Colin will be Permanent Residents of Oz before Christmas, hun. Then the visa hassles will all be out of the way and you can plan for a future in VIC with your sons and their families.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi this is my first post. Hope this is in the right place. This forum is brilliant and I would be grateful for any advice on bringing my Mum out to Australia with us. We are coming out to Sydney on a temp 457 visa and my Mum who is 55 wants to come too to be close to her two grandchildren aged 2 and 1.

 

We know we cannot sponsor her until we are settled permanent residents which generally would be at least 2 years. We are going to see how things go for a year and my husband's employer have said they would support a permanent visa request once we are out there. In the meantime, we are renting out our home in UK and making use of the living away from home allowances his employer have offered.

 

We had been planning on bringing Mum out on a 12 month tourist visa and possibly extending this by a year by visiting NZ and coming back to Sydney before 12 months up to gain another year? How risky is this idea? I have also seen that condition 8503 can be imposed which means you can't apply for another visa while in Australia? If this happened could she go home to the UK for 2 months and reapply for another tourist visa? She has sufficient funds and will have full travel insurance to cover any medical expenses but i don't want to push our luck with immigration. She works as a support worker for people with learning disabilities and is taking a career break to come over. What would the chances be of her gaining employer sponsorship as she is over 45?

 

My worry is we all love it out in Sydney and want to be permanent residents and we can't keep Mum there. I can't see past this great opportunity we have for the fear this would happen in all likelihood from what I have read.

 

Can we apply for contributory parent visa and get bridging visas for her so that she would not have to come back to the UK and be separated from us ? Seems to me this is only an option if she was over 65 and aged parent visa application made on shore?

 

We were planning on applying on-line for a tourist visa ( we have applied for the on-line 457) then speaking to a migration agent in Australia if we all want to stay after a year? Should we consider a migration agent now for Mum?

 

Grateful for any advice you can give me. I can't sleep at night for worrying about my Mum! Thanks for reading.

 

Hi The Hendersons

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

We know we cannot sponsor her until we are settled permanent residents which generally would be at least 2 years.

You MUST be a Permanent Resident of Australia before you can sponsor your Mum for a CPV. However you do NOT necessarily have to have lived in Oz for 2 years. Your lifestyle merely has to have become "settled" before you can sponsor your Mum. The time you spend in Oz on a 457 visa will count towards demonstrating that your lifestyle has become settled.

 

We had been planning on bringing Mum out on a 12 month tourist visa and possibly extending this by a year by visiting NZ and coming back to Sydney before 12 months up to gain another year?

Whether this will be possible depends on the terms of the Tourist visa once that is granted. So please wait and see what the cloth looks like before you try to cut it, hun!

 

How risky is this idea?

It is not risky but you have to wait and see what the terms of the sc 676 visa are before you can make any other plans for your Mum.

 

I have also seen that condition 8503 can be imposed which means you can't apply for another visa while in Australia?

Correct, but imposing this Condition is discretionary, not mandatory, so wait and see what DIAC actually grant before you worry about this, please.

 

She has sufficient funds and will have full travel insurance to cover any medical expenses but i don't want to push our luck with immigration.

Immigration won't let you push your luck with them, so don't worry about that bit!

 

She works as a support worker for people with learning disabilities and is taking a career break to come over. What would the chances be of her gaining employer sponsorship as she is over 45?

Her chances are almost certainly nil in any case. Even if the chances were better it still wouldn't be a good idea in your particular situation. The job that your Mum does counts as being semi-skilled in Oz rather than fully-skilled. Therefore your mother would have to find an Aged Care provider in Oz who has entered into a Labour Agreement with DIAC. That in itself is very unlikely and the employers who have entered into such Labour Agreements with DIAC are looking for Aged Care workers who are willing to work in the Backofbeyondup - I've heard of one such employer in the far north of QLD somewhere but that is not convenient when the family lives in Sydney!

 

Further, although the Aged Care homes in Oz do need staff, the workers being taken into Oz on Labour Agreements are actually fully qualified and experienced Nurses in their own countries. They merely can't get good enough grades in the IELTS (International English Language Testing System) to get them into Oz except via a Labour Agreement.

 

The people who run some of the Aged Care homes are more than happy with this arrangement because although staff are hard to find in Backofbeyondup anyway, the main problem is the insurance for the Aged Care home. Every shift has to have at least one member of staff who is in overall charge. Ideally, that person is a Registered Nurse because the person in charge has to know about CPR etc, without which the insurance cover is negated. The Nurses whose English is not up to scratch do at least know about CPR and whatever other, similar, requirements are imposed by the Care Home's insurers.

 

I think it is very unlikely that a Briton would be able to get in with the relevant Aged Care providers in the first place and the Backofbeyondup would not be convenient for your family in any case, hence I think that the idea is a non-starter.

 

All that said, does your mother intend to continue to work in Aged Care once she has Permanent Residency in Australia? If she does, she could easily find work in Sydney once she is a Permanent Resident but the employers do tend to ask for PR in a place like Sydney - where the employers have no need for the sort of compromise arrangements going on in Backofbeyondup.

 

We were planning on applying on-line for a tourist visa ( we have applied for the on-line 457) then speaking to a migration agent in Australia if we all want to stay after a year? Should we consider a migration agent now for Mum?

Hmmmm. Opinion varies about this. If all that you intend to do would be to apply for one or more Tourist visas followed by a CPV, a migration agent can't actually do anythingg for you that you would not be able to do by yourselves.

 

However if you want to explore a more sophisticated idea then I would definitely suggest a word with George Lombard in Sydney, to see what he thinks:

 

Profile | George Lombard Consultancy Pty. Ltd.

 

George is one of the most astute, experienced Registered Migration Agents around. Also, his ideas are very sophisticated if that would be the best option for his client. If you are determined that Mum should go to Oz either with you or soon after you get there and that she should then stay in Oz, a possibility does arise that a Student Visa might be the answer for her. If she enrols for a course that would last for, say, two years, the Student visa would run for about 2 years and six months, with no need to leave Oz during that time and a further Student visa/course is possible at the end of the two years.

 

Some parents have chosen this route, with a Contributory Parent Visa at the end of it.

 

TAFE NSW has pioneered a course in Aged Care. (TAFE is pronounced "Tayf" by the way, not "Taffy".) I think that the course leads to a Diploma in Aged Care. I think that International Students can do the course but I am not sure. Also, TAFE NSW has lots of different campuses.

 

https://www.tafensw.edu.au/library/studylinks/health/aged.htm

 

http://www.newengland.tafensw.edu.au/external_studies/files/18168_Course_Information_Sem1_2010.pdf

 

George lives in Sydney and he does keep both ears pinned to the ground. He would know which part of Sydney you plan to move to (ie he would know the area) could tell you if the Bloggs Campus of TAFE NSW is miles away and he could also say whether he thinks that such a course would actually prove to have been worthwhile once your mother has PR in Oz. The tuition fees for such a course would not be less than $15,000 AUD per year and might be more. Your Mum would be able to work for 20 hours a week during term-time if she does such a course and she would be able to work for unlimited hours during the College vacations. Realistically, this is the only way she is likely to come across an employer who might consider a standard sc 457 visa for her.

 

However all the rules changed on 1st July 2010 as far as which occupations can attract sc 457 visas are concerned, and I don't know the minutiae - I only know what I've told you.

 

I think that George could definitely help you and Mum to decide on the best course of action for Mum but I think that he might also say that the best thing is to wait till you and Mum are both in Sydney, and that the two of you should then make an appointment to go and see George if you are interested in the possibility of a Student visa for Mum.

 

Maybe e-mail him and see what he thinks?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Cakey]

Hi Gill!

 

I was really interested to read the advice you gave to Frizzy about the last remaining relative and wondered if you would help me. We have applied for CPVs. Our daughter and son in law and grandchildren live in Queensland. They are our sponsors. We just have our daughter in Australia and our son who lives with us. He is forty and still lives at home and we want to claim him as the last remaining relative. Can he just go with us? We need to sell our home so he would be homeless and need to rent somewhere. What kind of visa would he need to apply for and when would he be able to work in Australia? Our applications were acknowledged in February this year so it will probably be early next year before we get a case officer. Any advice you can give is would be wonderful, thank you for reading this.

Cakey

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Gill!

 

I was really interested to read the advice you gave to Frizzy about the last remaining relative and wondered if you would help me. We have applied for CPVs. Our daughter and son in law and grandchildren live in Queensland. They are our sponsors. We just have our daughter in Australia and our son who lives with us. He is forty and still lives at home and we want to claim him as the last remaining relative. Can he just go with us? We need to sell our home so he would be homeless and need to rent somewhere. What kind of visa would he need to apply for and when would he be able to work in Australia? Our applications were acknowledged in February this year so it will probably be early next year before we get a case officer. Any advice you can give is would be wonderful, thank you for reading this.

Cakey

 

Hi Cakey

 

The only way to include your son in your CPV application would be if you can prove either that he is financially dependent on you, wholly or substantially, or that he is unable to work for some reason - because, for example, he has a disability.

 

What does he do for a living, please? I'm wondering whether he could secure immigration to Oz based on his own skills?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest TheHendersons]

Thank you so much Gill for your detailed and informative reply. I really appreciate the time taken. I will talk to my Mum and then drop George an email as you have advised. The student visa does sound like a real possibility and it is good to have more options. I am going to keep hoping it all works to plan! My husband is so keen to go to Australia and my Mum is delighted to go on an adventure with her little granddaughters. It seems I am the one doing all the worrying.

 

Thank you

[Guest Cakey]

Hi Gill!

 

Thank you so much for your good advice.

 

We didn't want to include our son in our CPV, when it has been granted we want to go to australia and claim him as the last remaining relative. He isn't dependant on us financially and he works as an assistant manager at a sports arena, but his job isn't on any skills list so that wouldn't be an option for him.

 

We had heard that the last relative visa takes about six months. He will be living with us in Australia and sharing the cost of renting, or buying, so we wondered what visa he would need until his visa was granted.

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to answer me, And for all the help you give on this forum.

[frizzy1]

Hi Frizzy

 

I'm delighted to hear that your Parents now have their visas! Two down (them) and one to go (you!)

 

I am puzzled by your assertion that your Parents will need to have lived in Oz for some months before you can apply for a Remaining Relly visa. Who has acted as the Sponsor for your Parents, please? Is your sister their Sponsor? If she is, she can sponsor you as well, you know. Your Parents would merely have to prove that they are "lawfully and permanently resident" in Oz. They need not have become "settled" in the same way as the Sponsor has to be settled.

 

Who has provided the Assurance of Support for your Parents? If your sister is their Assurer as well as their Sponsor, she can still Sponsor you but she cannot act as your Assurer as well. However, any Australian Citizen or Permanent Resident can act as an Assurer of Support as long as s/he can meet the income requirements. Also, up to three people can club together to provide an AoS between them.

 

Since the AoS only lasts for 2 years with a Remaining Relly visa, it is not a particularly onerous obligation. I know Parents where friends of the child in Oz have provided a 10 year AoS for the Parents, so a friend of your sister's could Assure you if necessay, and there is nothing to stop your family from entering into a back-to-back Agreement with the Assurer, which would protect the Assurer.

 

I am concerned about recent reports that the Minister is said to have reduced the quota of Remaining Relly visas by 70%. He has a theory (not proven, in my opinion) that where you have a skilled immigrant who is sponsored for their visa by a family member, allegedly such an immigrant tends to have a poorer migration outcome than other immigrants. In other words, the Minister believes that skilled brothers and sisters tend to accept any old job in Oz, regardless of the skill which got them into Oz, in order to stay close to other family members.

 

If you take that theory one step further, you get to the Remaining Relly - whose skills are not tested and who might not have any skills to speak of, and who might not even be able to speak English to the Minister's satisfaction. He has spent the last 18 months making life as difficult as possible for Family sponsored skilled applicants, so I don't trust him not to Cap & Kill applicants for Remaining Relly visas, frankly. He has already said that he intends to "simplify" the number of visas on offer. I don't trust that man. I think he will find excuses for scrapping many of the visas that Australia currently offers.

 

My inclination is not to let the grass grow under your family's feet but to apply for your Remaining Relly visa as soon as you possibly can, hun.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

Hi Gill

 

Thanks for this.

 

My Sister would sponsor me and her husband is eligible to provide the AOS (my sister sponsored and provided the AOS for my parents).

 

I was advised by Ian Harrop's team that I should really wait for my parents to have lived in Oz for a couple of months before applying although this wasnt quoted as a necessity but more of a preference. My parents are planning to move over in October. However from what you said, maybe I should apply the minute they have landed in Oz!

 

I am now very concerned that the LRR visa's may have already been cut given the post below - maybe this is a reality rather than a rumour; and even more concerned that there may be a real possibility of the LRR visa being withdrawn altogether.

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/91705-family-visa-number-reduction.html#post821743

 

I guess the earliest I can apply is in October when my parents fly out and get a flat to prove they are living there.

 

After patiently waiting for 18 months for my parents to get their visa in order to get my visa plan in action, paying out a third of the staggering £65k for them to get it (we split the cost between me, my parents and my sister), we will be gutted if I can no longer apply for the LRR. I cannot get in on the skilled visa so this was my only hope.

 

If you do hear anything or have any other advice in the meantime, please let me know.

 

It would be good to find out 100% IF the LRR visa's have actually been cut or if they are just being put on hold pending the elections. And what will happen after the election i.e is the plan to cut them anyway???

 

Just one thought, if I was to apply onshore (having entered on a tourist visa) would they give me a bridging visa to stay and allow me to work until my LRR visa was approved? Probably not but thought I would double check!!

 

Just when you think you are getting there, another hurdle pops up - at least it keeps life interesting!!

 

Thanks again.

 

Kirsti

[yomvard]

Can Gill, Steve or someone help with a form please !! :confused:

 

I have been asked by the CO to send the form 956. I do not have a migration agent as we are doing this ourselves. How do I fill in this form when it asks about changing agents etc. I have got to part 6 and ticked the third box which then tells me to go to part E and promptly asks for details of migration agent or exempt agent or authorised recipient details. Do I put my own details:arghh: in again ?