In an earlier post we discussed whether Medicare in Australia is available if you have applied for an onshore visa such as an Aged Parent subclass 804 visa.

We have communicated with the Department of Human Services, and the position has been confirmed as follows:

• When a person has an application for a Parent visa (subclass 804) with Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) s/he is only eligible to enrol in Medicare if s/he was residing in a Reciprocal Health Care Agreement (RHCA) country immediately before arriving in Australia.
• The Australian Government has signed Reciprocal Health Care Agreements (RHCA) with the Governments of Belgium, Finland, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of Ireland, Slovenia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
• These Agreements provide eligible visitors to Australia with access to limited subsidised health services for medically necessary treatment.
• The following services are generally covered under each RHCA:
  • Medicare benefits for medically necessary out-of-hospital treatment (except for New Zealand and the Republic of Ireland)
  • Medically necessary treatment as a public patient in a public hospital including pregnancy related services. Person seeking treatment must provide individual hospitals with a valid RHCA Medicare card or visitors from the Republic of Ireland or New Zealand must provide their passport or documents to confirm residency with that country
  • Medicines available on prescription which are subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS)
• The period of entitlement varies depending on the Agreement with the individual country. More information about these Agreements can be found at the Department of Human Services website (click on Visitors to Australia).
• Students from Norway, Finland, Malta and the Republic of Ireland aren’t covered by Agreements with those countries.

Medically necessary treatment relates to a medical condition that needs immediate attention, and pertains to any ill health or injury which occurs while an individual is in Australia.

The Australian Government only has Reciprocal Health Care Agreements with the countries listed above. If you are applying for an Aged Parent visa and are not covered by a RHCA you should consider taking out suitable private health insurance: complete the enquiry form to the right of this page (click on Other, and type Private Health Insurance details for visitors to Australia please in the box) to receive contact details for private health funds we know of that provide private health cover for visitors to Australia.

As many will know, the Department of Immigration’s Visa Application Charges (VACs) for Contributory Parent Visas are not cheap – particularly the main VACs payable immediately prior to the granting of the visa.

For a single applicant these presently amount to A$43,600; for a couple the VACs total A$87,200.

The Department of Immigration is happy to accept a payment  by credit card, but will levy a surcharge for this: presently, the surcharge when paying by VISA or MasterCard is 0.98%.

This means there is an additional cost of A$427.28 when the VAC for a single applicant is paid by VISA or MasterCard, or A$854.56 when using a VISA or MasterCard to pay the VACs for a couple.

Added to this, the rate of exchange if using a credit card denominated in a currency other than A$’s will be to the advantage of the card issuer.

For this reason we suggest that applicants for Contributory Parent Visas consider arranging a bank draft to pay the main VACs.

Rather than obtaining an A$ bank draft through a High Street bank we recommend approaching one of the specialist forex companies to obtain a bank draft denominated in A$’s.

We are aware of the following 3 specialist forex companies in the UK that can arrange bank drafts – we invite those who need to make a payment to the Department of Immigration to make enquiry of one or more of these companies as to how they might help.

• HiFX, T (UK) 01753 752 740
• Halo Financial, T (UK) 020 7350 5473
• Moneycorp, T (UK) 020 3823 0204

The same companies can also assist with the transfer of funds to your bank account in Australia in due course; their rates of exchange when selling £’s to buy A$’s are likely to be a significant improvement on the rates available from the High Street banks.

Please feel able to mention Go Matilda Visas if you are asked how you heard of them!

In response to an enquiry we have made of the Department of Immigration’s Parents Visa Centre we have been advised that the allocation of the total program number for non-Contributory Parent visas for the program year ended the 30th of June 2017 between subclass 103 and 804 is expected to be as follows:

• 1,350 to subclass 103
• 150 to subclass 804

There are several requirements that must be satisfied before reasonably considering lodging an application for an Australian parent visa.

To help those who might be considering applying for a parent visa they are summarised here.

• The balance of family test must be satisfied. This requires that at least half of your children live permanently in Australia, or that more of your children live permanently in Australia than in any other country. Those who do not satisfy the balance of family test may be interested in the proposed new temporary Parent visa
• Applicants must have a sponsoring child who is “settled” in Australia. The subject of settled sponsors is discussed more fully here
• If applying for a subclass 804 Aged Parent or subclass 864/884 Contributory Aged Parent visa:
  1. The main visa applicant must be “aged”, this being the age when you are eligible for an Age Pension in Australia
  2. All applicants must be in Australia when the visa application is submitted to the Department of Immigration, and when it is granted
• If applying for a visa while in Australia a condition 8503 (No Further Stay) must not attach to the visa used to enter Australia.
• If applying for an offshore visa (subclasses 103, 143 – with a one step visa strategy – and 173 are offshore visas) applicants must be outside Australia when the visa is granted.

Sufficient funds to pay the 2nd Visa Application Charges – currently AUD 43,600 per applicant – must also be readily available when a Contributory Parent visa application is approaching finalisation. For some, this will require careful management of the visa application process to ensure liquid funds are to hand at the appropriate time, as the Department of Immigration requires remittance of the 2nd VAC within 28 days of the issuing of the request for payment.

Go Matilda Visas invites those who are interested in applying for a parent visa to contact us for a free initial discussion about their position, the process, and how we might help.