Help! - Contributory parent visa

[Guest bentkitty]

Hi, my husband and I moved to Adelaide on a permanent resident visa in September. We are loving it here, and my mum has also finally decided to join us. She is 60, in good health, recently widowed, and I am her only child. Now that she has made the decision to move here she is desperate to join us as soon as possible as she's beginning to feel very lonely and depressed since my dad's passing last year. We are looking at the Contributory Parent Visa, I am aware of the upcoming fee increase but I guess we missed the boat already.

 

My questions:

 

- I was previously told on this forum that we had to be in the country for approx 2 years before we could apply for her visa, assume this is still the case? Is 2 years exact or is there some sort of flex in that?

 

- How long does it take to get the CPV once it's lodged? I am just asking so i can give my mum some kind of timeframe (from today) , to manage her expectations.

 

- Is there a way we can bring her over sooner, on some sort of temporary visa and lodge the application for CPV whilst she is here? Would that prejudice her case? What have others in a similar situation done?

 

I looked for relevant threads on the forum but couldn't spot one that answered these basic questions, if there is one I apologise for asking again, would be grateful if someone could point it out :cute:

 

thanks in advance guys

[Guest guest36187]

Your best person is Gill - Gollywobbler.

 

The only bits I can tell you are:

 

Once the CPV lodged they estimate 12-18 months (I think)

 

THe 2 year thing is what they call the `settled period`

[Guest bentkitty]

Your best person is Gill - Gollywobbler.

 

The only bits I can tell you are:

 

Once the CPV lodged they estimate 12-18 months (I think)

 

THe 2 year thing is what they call the `settled period`

 

Thanks Joanne, I remember Gill well as I used to be a regular on these forums when our application was being processed. She is certainly very helpful and am hoping she will spot this one! You confirmed what I thought re: timeframes though. I am hoping there will be some temporary measures to get my mum over here sooner, as I mentioned 2 years plus to her as my guesstimate and she burst into tears So I promised to look into any temporary solutions for her.

[Quoll]

She can do a 6 months here 6 months there tourist visa without any hassles. Maybe she would like to try before she buys? My parents did that for 15 years when they retired and it worked very well for them. They decided that they didnt want to end their days here when it came to the decision.

[Les Avalook]

I looked for relevant threads on the forum but couldn't spot one that answered these basic questions, if there is one I apologise for asking again, would be grateful if someone could point it out :cute:

 

thanks in advance guys

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/77756-brand-new-pio-parents-visa-thread.html

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/87891-contributory-parent-visa.html

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/58503-all-new-cpv-thread.html

 

:shocked:

 

We waited 18 months before applying after our son had bought his first house, still waiting for CO, average time at the moment 15 months from application to CO and then 2-3 months to complete. It is now getting a very expensive option with the current poor exchange rates.

 

This may be the best link of all as unlike PomsInOz on BEP they don't keep starting lots of new threads they just change the last number. You can also serch for part 1,2 & 3 if need be.

 

Contributory Parent Visa - Still Sparkling!!! - Part 4 : British Expat Discussion Forum

 

:yes:

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Bentkitty

 

Please reassure your Mum and please reassure yourself, hun.

 

Mum can visit Australia for lengthy periods both before and after her CPV application has been made:

 

Tourist Visa (Subclass 676)

 

My own mother was in the UK at the time that her CPV application was sent to Australia. If I had not been able to ASSURE her that she would be able to spend the waiting time for her own CPV out in Australia, she wouldn't have signed the form for the CPV application.

 

So I made simultaneous visa applications for Mum. On the same morning, I asked the Post Office to send her CPV application to Australia via Royal Mail International Signed For and I asked them to send her application for a subclass 676 long stay tourist visa to the Aussie High Commission in London by recorded delivery.

 

I sent a covering letter (one letter for both) to the Parents Visa Centre in Perth and to Oz House in London, explaining the precise need - which was to enable Mum to spend the CPV processing period in Oz instead of in the UK.

 

There was no problem whatsoever and both the PVC and the AHC in London bent over backwards to help us every step of the way. Mum's CPV application was formally lodged on 29th November 2005. By then, we had Mum's new tourist visa as well so she flew out to Oz on 3rd December 2005.

 

Your Mum's visa medicals can be done in Australia. There is no need for her to stay in the UK in order to do that bit. With my mother's UK police check, the UK police e-mailed their form directly to my sister in Australia and averything else was done by airmail between Mum and the UK police.

 

So please don't worry about the logistics. They can all be taken care of and the Aussie Government would far rather have your Mum spending the Tourist Shekel in their country and enjoying herself with you there than that she should be moping around in the UK on her own, I can promise you.

 

Whether or not you can go ahead and launch your Mum's CPV application straightaway depends on whether or not your own life in Adelaide can be described as being "settled" as yet, because you will Sponsor your mother for her CPV and the legislation says that the Sponsor must be a "*settled* permanent resident" at the time when your Mum's CPV application is submitted. It is not enough to say that the Sponsor is not "settled" as yet but that she expects to be *settled" by the time that the CPV application is eventually processed and granted.

 

However, how long it would be before your mother could join you in Oz depends on how long it would take her to pack her bags and book a flight out to Oz, literally.

 

I think that in your own situation, your mother had a double bereavement last year with the sad loss of her OH and the sad loss of you out to Oz in the same year. Therefore if it were me, I would reassure her but I would not hurry her.

 

Has your Mum visited Adelaide at all? If she hasn't then in your shoes I would be inclined to get her out to Adelaide for a good, long visit before doing anything about a CPV for her. Suppose she makes a CPV application first, then she goes to Adelaide and loathes the lifestyle there once she arrives? Mothers being mothers have an irritating habit of saying to themselves (not to you) "Well I hate the place now that I am here but I have committed myself to living here for the rest of my life so I will just have to grui and bear it, I suppose." If they would tell the child what they are worried about and how they feel, it would be in everyone's best interests but a mother who has been widowed tends to imagine that she is on her own and that she will just have to live with her decisions from now on.....

 

I don't think one ought to worry about a fee-increase in this particular situation. I think your mother's well-being is far more important. It takes a couple of months to put a CPV application together properly, making sure that nothing important has been omitted. Even the most eager, hard working and encouraging migration agent would be VERY hard pushed to try to get everything sorted out for your mother in time to submit the application prior to 30th June. Also, trying to achieve it would turn saving money into the goal when Mum's happiness ought to be everyone's real goal, I feel.

 

In the meantime, please have a look at the article below and the evidence that was produced in the two MRT cases which Alan Collett has cited in his article for Go Matilda news. How "settled" do you reckon that you are at this stage, hun?

 

http://www.gomatilda.com/news/article.cfm?articleid=441

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest bentkitty]

Gill, thank you so much for the long advice, just what I needed. And you have put my mind at rest. The Gomatilda article was especially useful, I think I will contact Alan directly for an initial consultation as I may well ask him to do mum's application.

 

With regards to your question, in our hearts and minds we are permanently settled here, as we were really unhappy in our life back in the UK. My mum now lives in Turkey (I am a dual Turkish and Briitish citizen) and my husband's only close relative back in the UK is his grandmother, neither of us have any siblings or any family back in the UK. Therefore we have no intention of ever going back or family to miss so to speak. We are going to purchase a house in Australia as soon as the exchange rate improves a bit and we will apply for our citizenship as soon as we are eligible. Ofcourse I do realise we need to show evidence of our 'intentions' for the purposes of the application.

 

Mum is feeling very vulnerable and alone now that my dad's gone and her old age is approaching so she is keen to come over to be near family as soon as possible. Money is not a concern thankfully as it will cost what it will cost, it is much more important for her to be happy. She's never been a very social person, so as long as she has a nice home and a nice garden she can look after she can be happy pretty much anywhere in the world. I did say to her she really ought to come to do a reccie but she is petrified of flying so is vehemently declining to do so! she has obviously seen pics and thinks it all looks lovely etc but ofcourse it's not the same. However I dont want to force her too much in this. As a result of her fear of flying, the option of her spending 6 months a year here and 6 months back at home may be a challenge - she was not keen on it when I suggested it to her previously.

 

With regards to the tourist visa, what was the period of your mum's 676 longstay tourist visa? Ie can my mum come over when we lodge her CPV application (which will give her a good year and a bit to tidy up her own affairs, sell house etc) and then not have to leave Australia again for the 9 months plus the CPV will take to process? Or would she need to do daytrips to NZ or similar to get extensions?

 

thank you!!!

[Alan Collett]

You certainly haven't missed the boat insofar as lodging an application for Mum before the VAC increase at the end of the month, but you will have to move relatively quickly. Note that to lodge a valid CP visa application all you need is to lodge the two relevant DIAC forms and to pay the initial VAC.

 

I am in the UK presently (until next Tuesday) so if you are interested I can have a chat with your mother, and I will be happy to call you in Australia.

 

Send me a PM or an email (click on my name to the left of this post) if you would like to progress this.

 

Best regards (from Central London).

[Les Avalook]

Wow, 9 months now to show your are settled, how low can it go?

 

Wish we had done that, we may have left England when the £ was still worth something. :sad:

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Bentkitty

 

What nationality is your mother, please? If she is Turkish then getting a 12 month Tourist Visa for her may not be straightforward because Turkey is a high risk country as far as DIAC are concerned.

 

Given that your mother wants to join you as soon as possible, and if at all possible she only wants to make one long journey by air, I think we need to focus on the logistics of this whole thing before we worry about money.

 

We also need to focus on whether or not you are sufficiently *settled* to be able to sponsor your mother for a CPV as yet.

 

The migration agents who publish their fees typically charge between $2,000 AUD and $4,000 AUD for dealing with a CPV application. If you are not sufficiently *settled* as yet in the opinion of your chosen migration agent, your mother would get the privilege of paying higher fees to DIAC plus the agent's own fees on top. That does not look like a "saving" to me, lass!

 

In any case, my firm view is that your mother's well-being is paramount in this and that nobody else's well being, or the money, are important.

 

I think the first step is to ask you abut your mother's nationality, please.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest bentkitty]

Hi Bentkitty

 

What nationality is your mother, please? If she is Turkish then getting a 12 month Tourist Visa for her may not be straightforward because Turkey is a high risk country as far as DIAC are concerned.

 

Given that your mother wants to join you as soon as possible, and if at all possible she only wants to make one long journey by air, I think we need to focus on the logistics of this whole thing before we worry about money.

 

We also need to focus on whether or not you are sufficiently *settled* to be able to sponsor your mother for a CPV as yet.

 

The migration agents who publish their fees typically charge between $2,000 AUD and $4,000 AUD for dealing with a CPV application. If you are not sufficiently *settled* as yet in the opinion of your chosen migration agent, your mother would get the privilege of paying higher fees to DIAC plus the agent's own fees on top. That does not look like a "saving" to me, lass!

 

In any case, my firm view is that your mother's well-being is paramount in this and that nobody else's well being, or the money, are important.

 

I think the first step is to ask you abut your mother's nationality, please.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

 

Hi Gill, she is a Turkish national, sorry I should have made that clear earlier. I would not want to rush in an application now before I feel confident we can prove that we are 'settled' - would hate to go back to the back of the queue if our residence period is not deemed to be sufficient!!

[Les Avalook]

Hi Gill, she is a Turkish national, sorry I should have made that clear earlier. I would not want to rush in an application now before I feel confident we can prove that we are 'settled' - would hate to go back to the back of the queue if our residence period is not deemed to be sufficient!!

 

Hi Bentkitty, I think that will be your best idea for you and your mum. It would put to much unnecessary pressure on you to try and complete in what could be an unrealistic time frame. It could still be an idea for Mum to visit Oz before she understands what that will mean. It is so expensive to get a CPV that one needs to be 110% certain that is what one wants.

 

It could pay you both to take your time, look at these threads, understand what it will involve and accept that the price will be what the price will be at the time you are ready to make a decision.

 

Between you, you may even decide that you could manage without an agent, you have been through the experience of your visa, over 50% of us CPVs are doing it ourselves with the help of our children, this site and also free advice from agents, the choice is yours.

 

You will get lots of help on here and BritExPat so feel free to keep posting and air your concerns and you will likely find someone with the same experience.:yes:

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Gill, she is a Turkish national, sorry I should have made that clear earlier. I would not want to rush in an application now before I feel confident we can prove that we are 'settled' - would hate to go back to the back of the queue if our residence period is not deemed to be sufficient!!

 

Hi Bentkitty

 

I agree with you. It is not worth rushing into making a CPV application only to end up at the back of the queue many months later.

 

You also need to investigate the Tourist Visa side of the plan very carefully in view of the fact that Turkey is regarded as a high risk country by DIAC. If a British Parent applies for a CPV and also wants to spend 12 months in Oz on a Tourist Visa whilst waiting for the CPV application to come to the top of the processing heap. there is normally no problem at all. 12 months on a Tourist Visa is allowed and DIAC are very happy to grant it.

 

With somebody from a high risk country, DIAC staff are almost programmed to believe that there is a signficant risk that if such a person enters Oz on a Tourist Visa. s/he might vanish into the woodwork after arrival and become an unlawful non-citizen in Australia.

 

If your mother applies for a CPV before she applies for a subclass 676 Tourist Visa it will definitely help but the lines of communication do not work well between one group of people considering one visa and another group considering an application for another visa at the best of times.

 

It would be open to your mother to apply for a 12 month stay in Oz on a subclass 676 visa before she does anything else. DIAC might even grant the visa without being pains in the neck but you can rely on the idea that they would also impose Condition 8503 - No Further Stay - on the Tourist Visa.

 

If your mother obtains a sc 676 visa with Condition 8503 imposed upon it, and then she goes to Australia before submitting her application for a CPV, the effect of Condition 8503 is that your mother would have to leave Oz in order that a valid CPV application could be lodged. That nit is not difficult in itself - she would simply book a package tour to somewhere outside Oz for a week or so (eg to NZ or Fiji) whilst her CPV application is lodged.

 

However your mother is not keen on travelling by air so one wants to try to minimise the need for her to do so as much as one can.

 

How about this:-

 

Let us say that you decide not to hurry Mun unduly but you do want her to start to think about what she is going to put in Form 47PA and Form 80. (Form 80 repeates a lot of the questions in Form 47PA,so it is as well to complete Form 80 at the same time as completing Form 47PA, so as to ensure that the answers in the two documents will tally.)

 

Application Forms – Numerical List – Forms 1 to 99

 

The Checklist is as useful as it is detailed. I'd have omitted half of the things DIAC wanted for my mother's CPV application if it had not been for the checklist!

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/migrants/_pdf/143-checklist.

 

If your mother;s birth and marriage certificates are in Turkish, they will have to be translated into English and notarised, ditto with your late father's death certificate if he was in Turkey at the time of his death. Between you, it would take you and your Mum at least 2 months and probably 3 until you are content that Mum's CPV application is ready to be lodged with the PVC.

 

If it takes 3 months then you will have been in Oz for 10 months by the time the CPV application is ready. At that stage, you phone the Manager of the Parents Visa Centre. explain the whole situation to him and ask him what sort of evidence he would want you to produce in order for him to accept that you are a settled prospective sponsor.

 

My hunch is that your mother probably won't mind staying in Turkey for the time being as long as she has some Projects to focus on. One of them is getting her CPV application ready. The other is planning to pack everything up in Turkey so that once she heads out to Australia, she will not be returning to the Western part of the planet.

 

Once the CPV application has been submitted and an acknowledgement letter received, upi can include a copy of the ack letter with the application for a long stay Tourist visa.

 

Do you think your mother will be OK if you construct a game plan roughly along these lines, please?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

.

[Guest bentkitty]

Gill, thank you so much, all of this has been immensely helpful and I will do exactly as you suggest. I think we will lodge the CPV application first, then apply for 12 month tourist visa, and if she doesn't get it, so be it. I think she realises herself now that winding down her affairs, selling her property etc is not something she will be able to achieve in 6 months anyway. Thanks so much for your advice!