The rates of surcharges when paying the Department of Immigration’s Visa Application Charges have been reduced.
With immediate effect the rates are:
The Australian Government has confirmed the number of non Contributory Parent visas available for the year to the 30th of June, 2017.
The maximum total number of visas that can be granted for the year to 30th June 2017 under subclasses 103 (Parent) and 804 (Aged Parent) will be 1,550.
This is the same number of visas as was permitted for the previous year.
The Legislative Instrument giving effect to this is here.
In an earlier post we looked at the balance of family test, which is a requirement to be met by those applying for a parent visa.
The technical requirement is that a parent will meet the balance of family test if at least half of the parent’s children and step-children are “eligible children” or there are more “eligible children” than children living in any other single country.
The Migration Regulations define an eligible child as a child of the parent who is:
Importantly, there is no requirement that an Australian citizen has to be usually resident in Australia.
This means that an intending applicant for a parent visa who has an Australian citizen child residing in (say) the UK, and who has no other children will meet the balance of family test.
If we could roll the clock back into early 2009 a cost reduction strategy commonly adopted by applicants for a subclass 143 Contributory Parent visa was for one parent to apply for the subclass 143 visa, and for that individual to sponsor his or her partner/spouse for a partner visa once the 143 visa was granted.
The cost of applying for a partner visa was tens of ‘000’s of $’s cheaper, meaning this strategy was worth considering by many.
The position has since changed: a person who has been granted a Contributory Parent category visa on or after the 1st of July, 2009 is now unable to sponsor a partner or prospective marriage visa applicant until at least five years have passed since they were granted their visa, if they were in a married or de facto relationship with that person on or before the date they were granted the last Contributory Parent category visa.
There are some exceptions to this limitation in compelling circumstances.
Couples who are challenged financially by the cost of a Contributory Parent visa may therefore want to consider a two step (subclass 173/143, or 884/864) strategy, or a non Contributory Parent visa strategy.
Intending parent visa applicants who would like to discuss their options in a free initial discussion should feel able to complete the enquiry form on the right of this page.
In an earlier post we discussed the availability of Medicare in Australia to those who are applying for an onshore visa such as an Aged Parent subclass 804 visa.
We have been reminded of a Parliamentary Exchange which confirms that Medicare is available to such individuals – see here for the details.
The relevant part is at number 9.
Senator Michaelia Cash asked the then Minister for Health and Ageing (Senator Ludwig):
(9) Does the eligibility for reciprocal Medicare benefits for parent visa applicants, whether on bridging visas or on 410 visas, apply to both the Parent (Migrant) Visa (Subclass 103) and the Aged Parent (Residence) Visa (Subclass 804)?
The answer from Senator Ludwig was:
(9) Yes
In the event that applicants for subclass 804 visas from the UK (or other Reciprocal Health Care Agreement countries) experience difficulties obtaining a Medicare card we suggest the details from the above link are provided to the local Medicare office.
