Guest watson Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 Hello from Devon - husband Keith and I are hoping to emigrate to Oz real soon via the Contributory Parent Visa to join our son and his wife in Newcastle. Would like to hear from any other parents hoping to join their young folk "Down Under" especially those waiting - oh so patiently for their visa. Ours was lodged in October 05 and we are still waiting to hear from Case Officer - have heard they are taking up to 12 months - any news from others in similar timescale would be interesting. All the best Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scoop Posted May 6, 2006 Share Posted May 6, 2006 Hi Linda Welcome to Poms Good luck with the wait and your plans SCoop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pommy Posted May 9, 2006 Share Posted May 9, 2006 CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME ABOT THE CONTIBUTORY PARENT VISA TA POMMY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest NICK Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 HI LINDA MY WIFE AND I HAVE TWO CHILDREN BOTH LIVE IN OZ. WE APPLYED END OF NOV05 ON A PARENT VISA. WE EMPLOYED A EMIGRATION AGENT,AND HE SAID IT WOULD TAKE 12TO18 MOUTH,I HOPE IT NEAR 12MOUTHS THAN 18 MOUTHS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest watson Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Hi, good luck with visa application - 18 months sounds very daunting - we are at 7 months at the moment and thought 12 months was bad enough!!! When I had to notify POPC that our daughter is now back in the U.K. they said that processing was taking up to 12 months - so here's hoping!!! At least it does give us time to get things sorted out here in the U.K. Where are you hoping to move to in Oz? How do you feel about leaving your roots here in U.K? All this time waiting for visa gives time for reflection eh? All the best Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Hello from Devon - husband Keith and I are hoping to emigrate to Oz real soon via the Contributory Parent Visa to join our son and his wife in Newcastle. Would like to hear from any other parents hoping to join their young folk "Down Under" especially those waiting - oh so patiently for their visa. Ours was lodged in October 05 and we are still waiting to hear from Case Officer - have heard they are taking up to 12 months - any news from others in similar timescale would be interesting. All the best Linda Hi Linda I'm a newbie to this forum, but with a bit of luck it will help to keep me sane during the wait.... :lol: Mu elderly Mum is also applying for a CP visa. Her application is officially dated 29 November, accorind to the acknowledgement letter. My sister is the authorised recipient (she lives in Oz; I'm staying in the UK.) She rang the POPC in March and was told that their current processing time is "About 12 months but some visas are being processed faster than that." Good - lets hope that you, Keith and Mum are three of the quicker ones, hey? :?: Sis says she has heard that they are taking 6-7 months to appoint the COs. If so, then yours should be along soon, and Mum's soon after that. Where are you moving to? Mum is headed for Perth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 CAN YOU PLEASE TELL ME ABOT THE CONTIBUTORY PARENT VISA TA POMMY Hi Pommy Have you read Booklet 3 yet? That is where you need to begin with this thing. http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1129.pdf If this link works, it should take you into Booklet 3. Failing that, go to http://www.imi.gov.au Click on Booklets & Forms, and then choose Migration Booklets. If you get stuck, please shout, because I did not find Booklet 3 particularly easy to follow in places, but I got there with it in the end, so there is hope for us all.... :? Seriously, though, I'm sure you'll be fine with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest watson Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Hello Gill, thanks for interesting info re processing times for CP visa. This site and the Expat.com site is proving very useful during the LONG WAIT! Am tempted to e.mail POPC but don't want to jeopardise our position in the pile! We are hopefully going to settle in NSW - probably in the Dungog, Gloucester area which is about an hour's drive from our son and his wife in Charlestown, Newcastle. Let's hope it won't be too much longer til we hear from a CO and things start moving for us all! Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted May 15, 2006 Share Posted May 15, 2006 Hello Gill, thanks for interesting info re processing times for CP visa. This site and the Expat.com site is proving very useful during the LONG WAIT!Am tempted to e.mail POPC but don't want to jeopardise our position in the pile! We are hopefully going to settle in NSW - probably in the Dungog, Gloucester area which is about an hour's drive from our son and his wife in Charlestown, Newcastle. Let's hope it won't be too much longer til we hear from a CO and things start moving for us all! Linda Hi Linda and thanks for your reply This late at night, you wouldn't be doing what I'm doing, would you? Viz checking your in-box last thing at night and first thing every morning just in case there is suddenly a magic e-mail from the POPC! Mum's circs are a bit different from yours. Mum was in the UK, having returned from 6 months in Oz last year, and desperate to get out there again to be with her only grandchildren out there, whom she dotes on. Once the POPC had confirmed receipt of Mum's CP application, I got her another tourist-visa which enables her to remain in Australia until mid-August 2006. As you know, the applicant MUST be offshore when the CP visa is granted, so from Mum's point of view, it is too soon for me to rattle the POPC's cage about her. We do not want to have to bundle Mum out of Australia before the tourist visa expires. However, I am in touch with another contributor to this forum (by chance: I e-met him elsewhere.) His experience is more similar to your own. What I will do, now, is to e-mail him the link to this thread, and ask him to join in. I think it is best to leave it to him to explain his own experience with this, and for you to draw on that in deciding what you should or should not do at this stage. Meanwhile, sleep tight, because the POPC are still in med at the time of scribbling this.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stubbyholder Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 Hello Gill, thanks for interesting info re processing times for CP visa. This site and the Expat.com site is proving very useful during the LONG WAIT!Am tempted to e.mail POPC but don't want to jeopardise our position in the pile! We are hopefully going to settle in NSW - probably in the Dungog, Gloucester area which is about an hour's drive from our son and his wife in Charlestown, Newcastle. Let's hope it won't be too much longer til we hear from a CO and things start moving for us all! Linda Hi Linda Gill suggested i contact you with our timeline. We applied for CPV's on 30th June last year and were granted them just over 9 months later on 5th April. We appointed an agent. They became our"appointed representative"(AR), and legally,it is only to these that DIMA have to correspond. By Christmas,we were very anxious to find out where we were in the system, as we had front loaded our application and the "shelf life" of the medicals/police checks were due to expire mid June(this year), the clock was ticking. Our agent was reluctant to contact POPC , ( saying their web site stated the average processing time for 75% of applications for this visa was 41weeks). The time scale was too tight for comfort.We needed help. To get to the point- our daughter rang the POPC mid January, to explain our concerns.They dealt with her call, politely, listened and understood our concerns.However as she wasn't the nominated AR, they couldn't enter into a dialogue with her but were to expect communication via our agent very soon. Very soon after,the CO was named .The rest as they say is history,the AoS interveiw was held in Feb. Medicals collated from the LCU in Sydney, and the 2nd VAC paid in mid March.I don't know, but things seemed to move after we made contact with them. We might have been lucky. The increase in the current processing time is probably due to the sheer numbers involved, and is being quoted at up to 12 months (perhaps folks switching from 11 + year wait for the non contributory parent visa to the CPV), you have been waiting 9 months. We rang after 7 months.But things weren't as busy as they are now. I personally think you could give them a call after you've had your application in 10 months.Seems a reasonable time to wait. I hope this helps and good luck, you know it's going to be worth it. S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest watson Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 Thanks for making contact - think we will wait for a couple more months and then maybe E.mail POPC. We decided not to use an agent but hope that on hindsight that we have not jeopardised our success in getting this visa. Our situation is so straight forward that we felt we could do it ourselves - just hope everything goes through eventually!!!! Have you had any contact with any parents who have dealt with their own application - i.e. not used an agent? Would be interesting to hear any tips from them if so. Linda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stubbyholder Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 Thanks for making contact - think we will wait for a couple more months and then maybe E.mail POPC. We decided not to use an agent but hope that on hindsight that we have not jeopardised our success in getting this visa. Our situation is so straight forward that we felt we could do it ourselves - just hope everything goes through eventually!!!! Have you had any contact with any parents who have dealt with their own application - i.e. not used an agent? Would be interesting to hear any tips from them if so. Linda I agree -it's a pretty straight forward application , (and many would say that an agent could slow things down.) If you do a search on the BE forum there are several parents that have "gone it alone". Also check out http://www.austimeline.com to see other class 143 visa timelines. good luck S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted May 16, 2006 Share Posted May 16, 2006 Thanks for making contact - think we will wait for a couple more months and then maybe E.mail POPC. We decided not to use an agent but hope that on hindsight that we have not jeopardised our success in getting this visa. Our situation is so straight forward that we felt we could do it ourselves - just hope everything goes through eventually!!!! Have you had any contact with any parents who have dealt with their own application - i.e. not used an agent? Would be interesting to hear any tips from them if so. Linda Hi again, Linda We are not using an Agent for Mum. My sister, Mum and myself are doing the whole thing between us. I'm sure you and Keith will be fine. Have you had your meds done yet? Given that your application has now been in for some time, it might be worth considering getting the meds and the UK Police clearance at this stage. No law says that you can't send them in unsolicited, and the meds might be a gentle way of hurrying things up without being seen to push too hard, maybe? Give the notion some thought, I suggest, unless you have already done all that. Stubbyholder frontloaded on the advice of his agent. I frontloaded Mum's meds (but not the police) on the advice of the POPC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted May 17, 2006 Share Posted May 17, 2006 Just out of curiousity, what are the current processing times for each of parent, parent aged, contributory parent, contributory parent aged? What's the difference between the aged ones? And if you're over 65, do you have to apply to that? I'm not interested myself, but if we ever do get in, my parents might want to follow...... Taa, Dazz Hi Dazz Parent visas are reputed to be taking upwards of 12 years to come through. The Minister decided to restrict the number to 750 in the 2005/6 Program Year (which ends on 30th June.) Don't know what the 2006/7 figure is, but there are currently 16,000 parents waiting patiently in the queue. Contributory Aged Parent visas are aimed at Parents who already have Temporary Residence in Australia (under a visa that specifically confers TR) and who have reached the Australian State Pension Age. Contributory Parent visas are for Parents who are not in Australia on Temporary Residence visas. This group have to apply for the visa from outside Australia, and they MUST be outside Australia on the day that the visa is granted. However, they can visit Australia on a tourist-visa during the wait. Within the CAP and CP categories, it is possible to opt for a Temporary Visa, which is valid for two years and costs less up front, with the balance to be paid later on. They can upgrade it to a Permanent visa at any time within the two-year period, on payment of the additional fee. I think with the Temp visa you pay 60% of the total up-front, and it is not necessary to lodge the Bond ($10,000 for one parent and $14,000 for a couple) until shortly before the Permanent visa is granted. This can sometimes be useful if the Assurer has been in Australia for less than two years, for example. At the moment DIMA are quoting around 12 months from start to finish with both CP and CAP visas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nico Posted May 18, 2006 Share Posted May 18, 2006 Interested to find this forum. I've just applied myself in this category, have two grown-up kids living in Australia now and was wondering how long it would take. Sold my house last October, but it sounds as if it is all quite slow.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Interested to find this forum. I've just applied myself in this category, have two grown-up kids living in Australia now and was wondering how long it would take. Sold my house last October, but it sounds as if it is all quite slow.... Hi Nico I agree. All quite slow at the moment, and the POPC have recently issued a new Newsletter in which they are not committing themselves to any timeline. (Their last one, in August 2005, predicted an average processing time of 9 months for the Contributory categories.) Reading old threads from last year on British Expats recently, the POPC slowed right down this time last year as well. Last year, a lady said they had told her that the reason for the slow-down was because Canberra had decided to do an audit of how many CP visas had been issued for 2004/5. I've no idea whether this audit might be an annual event. However if it is, things might speed up again after it is over, perhaps? Dunno, but here's to living in hope......! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nico Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 Hi, Gill Thanks for your reply. There's safety in numbers in this whole process! It's really good to read what everyone has said about their experiences. It helps to pass the waiting time. Cheers Nico Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAVTA Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Hi everyone - a Newby posting here This is a very interesting thread. Just a question. As our daughter lives in Australia we are thinking of applying for the Contributory visa onshore when we visit shortly on our 1 year holiday visa. We qualify for Aged parents category. Any reason why none of you considered going down this route??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAVTA Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 I should add that our daughter will also sponser us!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Hi everyone - a Newby posting here This is a very interesting thread. Just a question. As our daughter lives in Australia we are thinking of applying for the Contributory visa onshore when we visit shortly on our 1 year holiday visa. We qualify for Aged parents category. Any reason why none of you considered going down this route??? Hi Savta Yes. I looked into this in detail for my mother last year, but found that in her case, it couldn't be done. The reason was because she has made several visits to Australia in the last 15 or so years, and Condition 8503 had been imposed on her last two visitor-visas. That precludes a parent from making an application for any sort of visa from onshore. In practice though, it hasn't caused us any real hassle. Mum had returned from a trip to Australia last year and was back in the UK with me by the time I began to look into the question of whether something better than tourist-visas might be possible for her. Since she was in the UK anyway, we made her CP application from here and then she went back to Australia on a tourist visa afterwards, to sit out the processing period there rather than here. At the minute, Mum is due to return to the UK in mid-August. If the POPC are by then almost ready to grant the CP visa, we might divert Mum to Singapore (from Perth) so that the visa can be granted while she is in a Singapore, evidenced there and then validated virtually immediately after it has been evidenced. If the POPC are not ready by that stage though, no worries because Mum wants to return to the UK for a while this year anyway. The only comments I would make about your own plans are: 1. Make sure that your holiday visas are not subject to Condition 8503. 2. Make sure that you have comprehensive health insurance in case you have to spend part of the processing time on a Bridging Visa. The holders of those are not entitled to Medicare, so it is important to have something else in its place in my view. Where are you planning to move to? Mum will be moving to Perth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAVTA Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Hi Gill, Really appreciate your response. YES we do have 8503 on our visas (also been visiting OZ for the same amount of time as your MUM). Would that restriction also apply if we want a contributory visa and if our daughter sponsers us??? MELBOURNE will be our base! Thanks again Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Hi Gill, Really appreciate your response. YES we do have 8503 on our visas (also been visiting OZ for the same amount of time as your MUM). Would that restriction also apply if we want a contributory visa and if our daughter sponsers us??? MELBOURNE will be our base! Thanks again Gill Hi Savta Yes, unfortunately it would. You will not be able to apply for Contributory Aged Parent visas. However, there is no reason why you cannot apply for Contributory Parent visas from offshore and then go out to Australia during the wait, as my mother has done. The only catch with the CP route instead is that you MUST be outside Australia when the CP visa is granted, and it must be evidenced offshore. There is some debate about whether a Parent can enter Australia on a sub-class 976 ETA visa (the 3-month one) and use that as the launch-pad for a CAP visa. The logic is that the s-c 976 visa cannot attract Condition 8503, I am told (but I have not checked the Law on this point.) When it expires after 90 days, the Parent obtains a Bridging Visa A, which entitles them to remain in Australia pending the outcome of the CAP application. I've certainly seen MRT cases where this has been done, apparently successfully. The dispute in the MRT has been about other things (eg health.) George Lombard is a Migration Agent whom I rate highly. (I'm just a UK-based lawyer, but I know about Land Law, not Immigration! I wouldn't be involved with Australian visas at all if it were not for my mother's wish to migrate, so I am in NO sense an expert on any of this.) George reckons that if the Parent can get past the airport officials, DIMA tend to take a fairly relaxed view of the CAP application later. He reckons that if there is going to be strife about whether or not the purpose of the visit is genuinely for tourism only, it is likely to happen at the 'airport interface' as he calls it. Other Agents scream, "Don't even think of it! You could be put straight back onto the plane If you get away with that bit, you will have lied to DIMA in order to get into Australia, which will cast doubt on your character!" and so forth. Others still seem to reckon that it is what any sane Parent with half a brain-cell would do! So who knows? With Mum, I thought about it but rejected the idea. She has never had an ETA and I don't suppose you have either. ETAs are only instant and automatic if the DIMA computer does not ring any alarm bells. Condition 8503 has appeared on Mum's current tourist-visa and on at least 2 before that. She has always had one-year sub-class 676 visas, applied for on paper, and I would think you probably have too. I can't believe that the DIMA computer would not pick it up if Mum suddenly broke with tradition! It can't be difficult to program it to do that, surely? In the end, I felt it was simply easier and cleaner to do it the other way around, by making an offshore CP application whilst Mum was with me. I actually applied for that and for a new paper 676 visa for her on the same day, last November. The new tourist visa arrived a fortnight later, at which point I e-mailed the POPC asking them to confirm that the CP application had arrived safely with them. It had, and they and I agreed that there was no reason why I should not put Mum on a plane the next day. She flew to Perth a week after the new tourist-visa arrived. So for the sake of three extra weeks and maybe a week in Singapore at the other end of the process, I really can't see any merit in risking upsetting DIMA even slightly myself. There may well be a loophole which enables an ETA to be used but if so, I reckon it is only because DIMA cannot be bothered to block it. I do NOT believe that the Australian Parliament intended this as an alternative arrangement (see my post to Dazz earlier.) My personal opinion is that for Mum, I want to keep DIMA sweet and on-side, and for us to be seen to be completely honest, transparent and keen to play the game in whatever way they prefer. I cannot see any merit at all in giving them cause for suspicion, however slight. Having said all that though, on another forum, in relation to another matter, I have just met another Agent (there are lots of them and some of the the Australian ones are very friendly and helpful.) This new-to-me Agent Tony Kidd is very solid. He really does understand this visa-game very well indeed. I will send him the link to this thread and invite him to contribute to it. I can't promise that he will do so, but I think it would be useful for you to hear his view on this before you make any decisions. Are you thinking of applying for the temporary visa at this stage, or the permanent one straightaway? The reason I ask is because you could consider submitting your Contributory Parent visa before you leave the UK on your forthcoming trip to Australia unless there is any particular reason to delay doing so. By the way, Tony Kidd is in Melbourne. If you are minded to use a Migration Agent (which does save a LOT of hard, tedious work) I think you could do a lot worse than to choose him and let him take the strain for you. Your daughter would be able to keep in touch with him easily and so on, and he is fully MARA-registered, which is essential. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAVTA Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 Gill, WOW I can't tell you how much I appreciate your imput. I am like you everything has to be 'KOSHER'...although it sounds a great idea I am too much of a coward to try for the 976 visa now. Who knows what could happen at the Airport...my husband would be shaking at the knees worrying incase we were sent back!!!! So thank you for that but will stick with the official process. Actually, you are wrong, I always went for the ETA, but then decided to visit the Oz consulate 4 years ago and were told we were eligible for a year's stay visa. Of course I jumped at the chance and that visas tates no entry after 28 AUG 2007. That is another issue. Do we get it renewed B4 we leave the UK for OZ or travel on it ?? I suppose you know from your Mum that one is entitled to stay for ONE YEAR on each visit. So what happens say if we went in September this year.....would that mean we would have to leave prior to 28AUG 07?? After all your comments, I feel that we will have to start the process IMMEDIATELY - applying for a contributory visa. What do you recommend - Temporary or Permanent - either one is fine by us!! How do I contact Tony Kidd? Could I have his telephone number please? I will send you a PM giving my email address if you do not want to divuldge info on this thread. Is it usual to ask an Australian Migrant Agent to act on behalf of a UK resident? Gill - I thank you so much for your input - wish I could reciprocate in some way. :idea: ...no legal expertise unfortunately.....I was only in the travel industry!! U R A GEM!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest nico Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 Hello, just getting my head round this addictive forum after a couple of days browsing. Wondered if there's anyone else in my situation, ie. single parent reaching retirement age going out (hopefully) to join kids? I can't really talk to friends much until I know what's happening, so would love to find someone else going through it alone. Still, I haven't hit the gin yet or had a breakdown... Does anyone know if CPs are allowed to work there? So keen to go I forgot to ask! Nico Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted May 24, 2006 Share Posted May 24, 2006 Hello, just getting my head round this addictive forum after a couple of days browsing. Wondered if there's anyone else in my situation, ie. single parent reaching retirement age going out (hopefully) to join kids? I can't really talk to friends much until I know what's happening, so would love to find someone else going through it alone. Still, I haven't hit the gin yet or had a breakdown... Does anyone know if CPs are allowed to work there? So keen to go I forgot to ask! Nico Hi Nico My mother is a widow, though she is considerably older than you and she has spent a lot of time in Australia in the last 15 years, so she's practically a native now anyway! Not similar to your own situation, I suspect. However, to answer your technical question, yes - Contributory Parents have full work rights in Australia, and also the same access to Medicare as an Australian citizen or any other Permanent Resident. Thus if you need drugs from a GP, you can get them for less than a private patient would pay, and the visit to the GP would be either subsidised or free. Once your visa is granted, DIMA arrange for Medicare to be expecting to hear from you, as it were, by your registering with a Medicare GP. I think that if you go into the British Expats forum and ask your question there, you will get loads of replies from ladies & gentlemen in a similar position to yourself. I would suggest that you post your question in the Immigration forum on BP and also in the Lifestyle & Culture forum. I think the URL is http://www.britishexpats.com but if not, just do a Google search for "British Expats." It has a considerably bigger membership than this forum, and many of the contributors and regular readers are single parents who have taken the plunge and have gone out there as CPs to join their children. I would think that several others are in the pipeline too, like yourself. Where are you planning on moving to? I think that if you mention that as well, there would probably be a welcome committee waiting for you at the airport! Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.