The Brand New PIO Parents Visa thread

[LindaH27]

7 minutes ago, Simon888 said:

Thanks Linda for your detailed explanation. Looks like we will have a lot to think about. 18 years wait is unimaginable. 

Yes it is. Ive already waited nearly 5 years and looks like another 5! The reason it’s so much longer for newer applications is because there was a huge surge in May/June 2017. 9000 applied and at only 3600 grants per year it will take 2.5 years just to get through those two months - and people are still applying! You can see the numbers here https://www.gm-parent-visas.com/contributory-parent-visa-application-numbers-updated/  But obviously there’s been more since 

Edited February 28, 2022 by LindaH27

[Marisawright]

On 28/02/2022 at 01:10, Simon888 said:

And shall I mention that this CPV scheme and its punishing wait time is inhumane and insulting to hardworking, taxpaying migrants who only wish to reunite with their family members. I struggle to comprehend how badly the Australian Govt treats its citizens and permanent residents.

I agree 100% that the department issues wilfully misleading information about parent visas.  They should be honest and upfront about waiting times.  It's disgraceful.  But it's the lies that are disgraceful, not the existence of the limits on parent  visas.

The fact is that the Australian government did not separate our families.  We chose to migrate and leave our parents behind.  If we want to be reunited with them, we always have the choice to return to our homeland.  

You might say, "but we are so valuable to Australia, they should recognise that it's worth bringing our parents in order to keep our talent".  That was true once upon a time, when Australia was struggling to attract migrants.  It 's not true today.  For every migrant who chooses to go home to be with parents, there are a dozen migrants falling over themselves to take their place, most of whom will have no desire to bring parents or other family with them.  

The Australian government has done its research and discovered that an elderly parent costs the taxpayer far, far more in medical and aged care than the 143 fee. The solution, which would allow parents to enter Australia freely, would be to triple the fee, and keep incrreasing it in line with inflation.  Would that suit you better?

Also remember that Australians who would like to bring their parents to live in the UK with them are out of luck.  There simply isn't an equivalent visa. Maybe you'd find that more acceptable, because at least it's honest and upfront.

Edited February 28, 2022 by Marisawright

[Ollie1234]

6 hours ago, Marisawright said:

I agree 100% that the department issues wilfully misleading information about parent visas.  They should be honest and upfront about waiting times.  It's disgraceful.  But it's the lies that are disgraceful, not the existence of the limits on parent  visas.

The fact is that the Australian government did not separate our families.  We chose to migrate and leave our parents behind.  If we want to be reunited with them, we always have the choice to return to our homeland.  

You might say, "but we are so valuable to Australia, they should recognise that it's worth bringing our parents in order to keep our talent".  That was true once upon a time, when Australia was struggling to attract migrants.  It 's not true today.  For every migrant who chooses to go home to be with parents, there are a dozen migrants falling over themselves to take their place, most of whom will have no desire to bring parents or other family with them.  

The Australian government has done its research and discovered that an elderly parent costs the taxpayer far, far more in medical and aged care than the 143 fee. The solution, which would allow parents to enter Australia freely, would be to triple the fee, and keep incrreasing it in line with inflation.  Would that suit you better?

Also remember that Australians who would like to bring their parents to live in the UK with them are out of luck.  There simply isn't an equivalent visa. Maybe you'd find that more acceptable, because at least it's honest and upfront.

Not sure agree with this in the current climate at least. The governments handling of the pandemic and the issues between state and federal rules and regulation have tarnished Australia and will not be forgotten quickly by thousands who were forced apart from family for 2 years. 

The government research into cost of parents was biased and is out of date and out of touch. 

[ramot]

1 hour ago, Ollie1234 said:

Not sure agree with this in the current climate at least. The governments handling of the pandemic and the issues between state and federal rules and regulation have tarnished Australia and will not be forgotten quickly by thousands who were forced apart from family for 2 years. 

The government research into cost of parents was biased and is out of date and out of touch. 

I think, apart from the heartbreaking cases of families unable to be with terminally ill relatives,it will be quickly forgotten. We have just been in Sydney from Qld to be with our daughter, of course it was upsetting/frustrating to not see her as often as we might have liked, but we have certainly seen her several times in the last 2 years, taking the opportunity when the borders were open.and realistically not that much less than before. we both realised we often left it too long to see each other before. It’s over and behind us, get on with Life. 

Reference the potential cost to Australia of older immigrants, of which both my husband and I are, I can only say that since we got PR nearly 3 years ago, after 17 years in the country on a different self funded visa,  we have sadly had our fair share of unexpected ill health conditions in that short time, and have certainly cost the country a fair amount of money already. So although you state the research is out of date etc. I think we will end up being quite costly to the country. As you come to this country as older person who has previously not contributed in any way to this country, you are likely to start costing it money sooner than you might like, as the reality is that as you age more health problems arise, and you need more expensive treatments. 

ps in case I misunderstood and you are referring to overseas travel banned for 2 years, yes it’s tough, we have kept in constant touch with our UK based son and grandsons through FaceTime, not perfect, but how lucky to have that as an option.There was only the old blue airmail letter, or a very expensive poor connection by phone when I lived in Africa away from my family, but amazingly we coped.

Edited March 1, 2022 by ramot

[Marisawright]

2 hours ago, Ollie1234 said:

Not sure agree with this in the current climate at least. The governments handling of the pandemic and the issues between state and federal rules and regulation have tarnished Australia and will not be forgotten quickly by thousands who were forced apart from family for 2 years.

The government research into cost of parents was biased and is out of date and out of touch. 

 

I agree the last 2 years has been the exception, and let 's hope that is over now. However my point remains - although you couldn't visit during that time, you could have decided to move back to the UK to live there, and you would've been able to go.  Many did.

As for the research - what makes you say it's out of date, particularly?

It is an incontrovertible fact that the elderly are a heavy cost on the taxpayer in every country in the world.   The UK did some research recently which showed that an elderly person cost the NHS over 4 times more than a young person.   And you don't even need research to tell you that, especially if (like me) you are already in the "elderly" bracket and can see how your friends' health is faring.

• Most people over 70 are on at least one medication and the majority are on several
• The most common medications in the elderly, for blood pressure, heart problems, diabetes, etc, are expensive for the government, costing thousands per person per year.
• The elderly need expensive operations like stents, knee and hip replacements, cataracts, plus preventative screening like colonoscopies - one hip replacement costs $35,000.
• The older you are, the more likely you are to have cancer - more expensive treatments and operations
• Old people die, and these days it's more usually a slow process needing a lot of care, sometimes for months

.... and I haven't even touched aged care or pensions.   Of course elderly people are more expensive.  It's a given that Australia has to look after its elderly regardless of what they cost (and there's an argument they don't do a very good job of that), because those elderly people have spent their lives contributing their labour and their money to the Australian economy.   But there's absolutely no obligation to take on the burden of foreigners too.

Maybe you should lobby Boris Johnstone to introduce parent visas for Australian parents to Britain, and then Australia might reciprocate? 

Edited March 1, 2022 by Marisawright

[LindaH27]

3 hours ago, Ollie1234 said:

Not sure agree with this in the current climate at least. The governments handling of the pandemic and the issues between state and federal rules and regulation have tarnished Australia and will not be forgotten quickly by thousands who were forced apart from family for 2 years. 

The government research into cost of parents was biased and is out of date and out of touch. 

In my youth I went to university, got a job, got married and had a family and became a stay at home mum. Once the children were in their teens I went back to do post grad study in 1992. 
As a class we spent many hours discussing what was called a “demographic timebomb”

This is the fact that most of the world would soon start to have an increasing ageing and longer living population.  The question was what should be done about it. The answer was that governments should start to plan for that particular future as soon as possible.

 
What actually happened was - nothing! And now, 30 years later, most countries are struggling to deal with that ageing and expensive population. I’m 71 now and until recently was quite spry etc but now have various ailments  which came on quite quickly and certainly see my doctor more often and take more medication. So even if parents currently do very well for their age it’s not known exactly ”how” they will age. 

Australia is seeing this over the last few years,  the young migrants who went over in the 1950s & 1960s are getting old. Australia wants young people who will bring life to their economy - and there’s huge numbers who want to do so -  and  it will look after the elderly who have paid their dues to the country - but it doesn’t want to bring in more problems and expense of already older people who haven’t made that contribution. In many countries the birth rate is also falling and people are not having children till much later in their lives. 

 $50,000 per person visa charge won’t go very far if you look at the costs of common medicines and operations that elderly people can need.

I say all this as someone who applied  for 143 nearly 5 years ago and I’m now 71 and looking at a further 5 years. I don’t know if my health will further deteriorate and there’s the concern of knowing I’d have to pass the medical. So although I get annoyed at the wait, and at some things I see as loopholes,  I do understand why Australia would prefer not to import more expensive older people. Yes some will remain fit as a fiddle till they die - they will be in the minority definitely!! 
 

The senate enquiry due to report next month will definitely touch on this - it remains to be seen what the suggested solution is. It may be that it removes all reciprocal health care from those on bridging visas which are the aged parent ones, it may greatly  increase the visa charges to properly reflect the underlying cost of older people, it may state that all parents have to have private health care etc. We will have to wait and see. A change in government is unlikely to bring about much change once they see the full expense. Yes there are many in Australia who missed seeing their families during the pandemic but there are  thousands more who don’t want any more migration and they appear to be in the majority - and the govt is aware of this. 

Edited March 1, 2022 by LindaH27

[Noctis]

Hello everyone,
My updates:

Application Received: 15 Jun 2016
Request AOS, Medicals and Police Cert: 7 Feb 2022
Medicals examination done on 8 Feb 2022
AOS Submitted on 8 Feb 2022
AOS Interviewed on 10 Feb 2022
AOS Bank Guarantee Request received on 11 Feb 2022.
AOS Bank Guarantee Submitted on 15 Feb 2022
- I didn't prepare for this. Please don't be like me. You need to prepare:
  - If you don't have any CommonWealth account, please go and create one once they ask for AOS.
    The GoalSaver account shouldn't cost monthly fee. Later we can skip all the identify checks that waste time.
  - Transfer money to that GoalSaver account (in my case it is 14k + $50 for my parents) and wait for the 
    Bank guarantee request.
  - Once received the request, go to CommonWealth with the letter and open the term deposit account.
  - It cost $150 fee to open term deposit account so bring cash.
  - The staff will transfer 14k from that GoalSaver account to the Term Deposit account and leave $50 in 
    GoalSaver account (the staff said GoalSaver needs some money in it so I left $50 there).
  - The bank guarantee will say 5 years in it but don't panic. The staff would explain that it is the maximum terms for a
    Term Deposit account but there is a condition under it says Subject to renew. So Centerlink can request to renew to
    another 5 years so total is 10 years.
  - It's up to you if you want to cancel the GoalSaver account but the interest for the Term Deposit account is paid every 
    6 months to my GoalSaver account so i keep it.
AOS Accepted on 16 Feb 202 but their acceptance email arrived on 18 Feb 2022.
AOS Acceptance Letter said they have notified Immi department.
Police Certs and AOS Acceptance Letter submitted on 25 Feb 2022.
2nd VAC request on 2 Mar 2022 at 4:30pm.
2nd VAC paid on 2 Mar 2022 using Bpay with ANZ Bank app at 5:30pm.
- The maxium Bpay per day is 10k for ANZ but if you install the ANZ app on your smartphone and set up VoiceID (use your voice).
   You can pay Bpay more than 10k up to 100k per day.
.....
As of this moment 3 Mar 2022 12:30pm. No visa granted yet.

So I have a question.

Do I need to send the 2nd VAC receipt to parents@homeaffairs.gov.au?
In the 2nd VAC request, it doesn't say anything about I have to send the receipt to them.

The wait to celebrate is soul crushing. 6 years waiting...

[palaceboy1]

2 hours ago, Noctis said:

Hello everyone,
My updates:

Application Received: 15 Jun 2016
Request AOS, Medicals and Police Cert: 7 Feb 2022
Medicals examination done on 8 Feb 2022
AOS Submitted on 8 Feb 2022
AOS Interviewed on 10 Feb 2022
AOS Bank Guarantee Request received on 11 Feb 2022.
AOS Bank Guarantee Submitted on 15 Feb 2022
- I didn't prepare for this. Please don't be like me. You need to prepare:
  - If you don't have any CommonWealth account, please go and create one once they ask for AOS.
    The GoalSaver account shouldn't cost monthly fee. Later we can skip all the identify checks that waste time.
  - Transfer money to that GoalSaver account (in my case it is 14k + $50 for my parents) and wait for the 
    Bank guarantee request.
  - Once received the request, go to CommonWealth with the letter and open the term deposit account.
  - It cost $150 fee to open term deposit account so bring cash.
  - The staff will transfer 14k from that GoalSaver account to the Term Deposit account and leave $50 in 
    GoalSaver account (the staff said GoalSaver needs some money in it so I left $50 there).
  - The bank guarantee will say 5 years in it but don't panic. The staff would explain that it is the maximum terms for a
    Term Deposit account but there is a condition under it says Subject to renew. So Centerlink can request to renew to
    another 5 years so total is 10 years.
  - It's up to you if you want to cancel the GoalSaver account but the interest for the Term Deposit account is paid every 
    6 months to my GoalSaver account so i keep it.
AOS Accepted on 16 Feb 202 but their acceptance email arrived on 18 Feb 2022.
AOS Acceptance Letter said they have notified Immi department.
Police Certs and AOS Acceptance Letter submitted on 25 Feb 2022.
2nd VAC request on 2 Mar 2022 at 4:30pm.
2nd VAC paid on 2 Mar 2022 using Bpay with ANZ Bank app at 5:30pm.
- The maxium Bpay per day is 10k for ANZ but if you install the ANZ app on your smartphone and set up VoiceID (use your voice).
   You can pay Bpay more than 10k up to 100k per day.
.....
As of this moment 3 Mar 2022 12:30pm. No visa granted yet.

So I have a question.

Do I need to send the 2nd VAC receipt to parents@homeaffairs.gov.au?
In the 2nd VAC request, it doesn't say anything about I have to send the receipt to them.

The wait to celebrate is soul crushing. 6 years waiting...

You have been busy I hope the visa comes quickly , ours took 3 months after paying second vac due to Covid restrictions at the time (see timeline). 

[Noctis]

Thanks.

Did you have to send the 2nd VAC receipt to them?

 

Also @Everyone please make sure to upload the original Bank Guarantee request with the Bank Guarantee from the bank to CentreLink otherwise your Bank Guarantee may not be transferred to the correct place. I selected Financial under Upload Category by the way.

[palaceboy1]

33 minutes ago, Noctis said:

Thanks.

Did you have to send the 2nd VAC receipt to them?

 

Also @Everyone please make sure to upload the original Bank Guarantee request with the Bank Guarantee from the bank to CentreLink otherwise your Bank Guarantee may not be transferred to the correct place. I selected Financial under Upload Category by the way.

No we were in the UK at the time and our daughter in Perth did the transfer , but it can’t do any harm sending a copy

[StanL]

21 hours ago, Noctis said:

AOS Submitted on 8 Feb 2022
AOS Interviewed on 10 Feb 2022

Wonder how did you get the interview within 2 days?  Our AOS was submitted online 10 days but haven't heard from them...

[Summer83]

On 03/03/2022 at 12:34, Noctis said:

Hello everyone,
My updates:

Application Received: 15 Jun 2016
Request AOS, Medicals and Police Cert: 7 Feb 2022
Medicals examination done on 8 Feb 2022
AOS Submitted on 8 Feb 2022
AOS Interviewed on 10 Feb 2022
AOS Bank Guarantee Request received on 11 Feb 2022.
AOS Bank Guarantee Submitted on 15 Feb 2022
- I didn't prepare for this. Please don't be like me. You need to prepare:
  - If you don't have any CommonWealth account, please go and create one once they ask for AOS.
    The GoalSaver account shouldn't cost monthly fee. Later we can skip all the identify checks that waste time.
  - Transfer money to that GoalSaver account (in my case it is 14k + $50 for my parents) and wait for the 
    Bank guarantee request.
  - Once received the request, go to CommonWealth with the letter and open the term deposit account.
  - It cost $150 fee to open term deposit account so bring cash.
  - The staff will transfer 14k from that GoalSaver account to the Term Deposit account and leave $50 in 
    GoalSaver account (the staff said GoalSaver needs some money in it so I left $50 there).
  - The bank guarantee will say 5 years in it but don't panic. The staff would explain that it is the maximum terms for a
    Term Deposit account but there is a condition under it says Subject to renew. So Centerlink can request to renew to
    another 5 years so total is 10 years.
  - It's up to you if you want to cancel the GoalSaver account but the interest for the Term Deposit account is paid every 
    6 months to my GoalSaver account so i keep it.
AOS Accepted on 16 Feb 202 but their acceptance email arrived on 18 Feb 2022.
AOS Acceptance Letter said they have notified Immi department.
Police Certs and AOS Acceptance Letter submitted on 25 Feb 2022.
2nd VAC request on 2 Mar 2022 at 4:30pm.
2nd VAC paid on 2 Mar 2022 using Bpay with ANZ Bank app at 5:30pm.
- The maxium Bpay per day is 10k for ANZ but if you install the ANZ app on your smartphone and set up VoiceID (use your voice).
   You can pay Bpay more than 10k up to 100k per day.
.....
As of this moment 3 Mar 2022 12:30pm. No visa granted yet.

So I have a question.

Do I need to send the 2nd VAC receipt to parents@homeaffairs.gov.au?
In the 2nd VAC request, it doesn't say anything about I have to send the receipt to them.

The wait to celebrate is soul crushing. 6 years waiting...

It doesn't hurt to notify via email that payment has been made and completed and attach the payment receipt you had following payment over the portal.
Typically you would be issued the grant within a couple of days assuming the cap has not been reached, mine were issued within 2 days following payment made for VAC2.

Hope this helps

[Summer83]

7 hours ago, StanL said:

Wonder how did you get the interview within 2 days?  Our AOS was submitted online 10 days but haven't heard from them...

I believe you could possibly ring to follow this up if a week has passed 

[Summer83]

On 01/03/2022 at 19:48, LindaH27 said:

In my youth I went to university, got a job, got married and had a family and became a stay at home mum. Once the children were in their teens I went back to do post grad study in 1992. 
As a class we spent many hours discussing what was called a “demographic timebomb”

This is the fact that most of the world would soon start to have an increasing ageing and longer living population.  The question was what should be done about it. The answer was that governments should start to plan for that particular future as soon as possible.

 
What actually happened was - nothing! And now, 30 years later, most countries are struggling to deal with that ageing and expensive population. I’m 71 now and until recently was quite spry etc but now have various ailments  which came on quite quickly and certainly see my doctor more often and take more medication. So even if parents currently do very well for their age it’s not known exactly ”how” they will age. 

Australia is seeing this over the last few years,  the young migrants who went over in the 1950s & 1960s are getting old. Australia wants young people who will bring life to their economy - and there’s huge numbers who want to do so -  and  it will look after the elderly who have paid their dues to the country - but it doesn’t want to bring in more problems and expense of already older people who haven’t made that contribution. In many countries the birth rate is also falling and people are not having children till much later in their lives. 

 $50,000 per person visa charge won’t go very far if you look at the costs of common medicines and operations that elderly people can need.

I say all this as someone who applied  for 143 nearly 5 years ago and I’m now 71 and looking at a further 5 years. I don’t know if my health will further deteriorate and there’s the concern of knowing I’d have to pass the medical. So although I get annoyed at the wait, and at some things I see as loopholes,  I do understand why Australia would prefer not to import more expensive older people. Yes some will remain fit as a fiddle till they die - they will be in the minority definitely!! 
 

The senate enquiry due to report next month will definitely touch on this - it remains to be seen what the suggested solution is. It may be that it removes all reciprocal health care from those on bridging visas which are the aged parent ones, it may greatly  increase the visa charges to properly reflect the underlying cost of older people, it may state that all parents have to have private health care etc. We will have to wait and see. A change in government is unlikely to bring about much change once they see the full expense. Yes there are many in Australia who missed seeing their families during the pandemic but there are  thousands more who don’t want any more migration and they appear to be in the majority - and the govt is aware of this. 

If you have applied 143 about 5 years ago, would thought application should have cleared by now? 
I noticed Noctis with queue date in mid Jun 2016 are only days away from visa grant, unless there were something missing or your queue date is after Jun '16

[LindaH27]

43 minutes ago, Summer83 said:

If you have applied 143 about 5 years ago, would thought application should have cleared by now? 
I noticed Noctis with queue date in mid Jun 2016 are only days away from visa grant, unless there were something missing or your queue date is after Jun '16

I applied June 2017 so it will be 5 years this June.  

 Applications dated June 2016 will have therefore taken 6 years by June 2022.

 Only applications after June 2018 have “queue dates” - those before use their lodgement date 

I think you are unaware of the huge numbers now in the queue and the reduction in annual quotas. With over 66k in the queue and annual quota of 3600, new applications made now are looking at  over 18 years for grant! 

You can see the queue here https://www.gm-parent-visas.com/contributory-parent-visa-application-numbers-updated/

However this only goes up to August 2021 -  so will be much bigger now !! 

 

 

[Johnson]

On 04/03/2022 at 15:37, LindaH27 said:

I applied June 2017 so it will be 5 years this June.  

 Applications dated June 2016 will have therefore taken 6 years by June 2022.

 Only applications after June 2018 have “queue dates” - those before use their lodgement date 

I think you are unaware of the huge numbers now in the queue and the reduction in annual quotas. With over 66k in the queue and annual quota of 3600, new applications made now are looking at  over 18 years for grant! 

You can see the queue here https://www.gm-parent-visas.com/contributory-parent-visa-application-numbers-updated/

However this only goes up to August 2021 -  so will be much bigger now !! 

 

 

Hi Linda

Latest visa grants and figures are now publicly available at The Administration of the Immigration and Citizenship Programs - 9th edition (homeaffairs.gov.au)

More than half of the full 4,500 via quota has been filled as of the end of Dec 2021.

[LindaH27]

1 minute ago, Johnson said:

Hi Linda

Latest visa grants and figures are now publicly available at The Administration of the Immigration and Citizenship Programs - 9th edition (homeaffairs.gov.au)

More than half of the full 4,500 via quota has been filled as of the end of Dec 2021.

It was encouraging to read that the planning levels for 1920-21 of 4500 were actually met even though this was during the pandemic! They seem well on track to meet the planning levels for 1921-22 as well. This is for parents.

I see that partners initially had a huge increase in 1920-21 planning  levels and actually exceeded them so I’m not sure how they managed to go over the allocated amount!  

In  fact when you look at all of them it appears that a lot  breached the planning levels - very strange!!

[Navoz]

Hi 

can anyone please help me.

[MKrishna]

Good News... Patent Visa places increased from 4500 to 6000 for 2022-23

https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/AlexHawke/Pages/2022-23-budget-release.aspx

[Alan Collett]

2 hours ago, MKrishna said:

Good News... Patent Visa places increased from 4500 to 6000 for 2022-23

https://minister.homeaffairs.gov.au/AlexHawke/Pages/2022-23-budget-release.aspx

Which is less than it was annually pre-Covid ...

The chance of the parent visa timeline reducing as a result of this is minuscule.

Best regards.

[Bre]

Whats the difference between lodgement date and acknowledgment date? 

[LindaH27]

31 minutes ago, Bre said:

Whats the difference between lodgement date and acknowledgment date? 

Applications pre June 2018  as follows :-Lodgement date is the date you put the application in and paid and it then becomes your “queue date”; acknowledgement is just the date when they say they’ve received it and have debited the application fee so your  place in the queue will be the date you actually lodged it.
 

Applications post June 2018;  they will only acknowledge your application and debit the fee. Around three years later they will write to you if it’s a valid application (ie all documents present and correct) and give you a “queue date” at the time of writing that letter. Eg July 2018 applications are likely to have July 2021 as their “queue date”. 
 

All this changed in 2018. Other changes were November 2016. This was for dependants and made it known that the upper limit was 23 years of age at the time of decision of grant which in effect will mean a lot of dependants who applied after November 2016  will not get the visa as they will be too old because of the length of processing time. 

Edited April 24, 2022 by LindaH27

[canemk]

We apply for visa 600. How many time we'll wait for it?

[canemk]

Approved.

[LesleyT]

It's quite sad that this page seems to have ground to a halt. Or am I missing something?