Idlewood

Hi all,

Long time no post here!! We got here in Perth just under a year ago and time has flown but we love it !!!

I have some queries in regards to a Child Visa (Offshore) Subclass 101 application and if anyone can help it would be much appreciated.

Some background first:

I am here on a spouse visa (my wife has Australian citizenship). First two years are temporary residence, then automatically upgraded to permament residence (so 1 more year to go for that). I have children from my first marriage and they live in the UK with my ex-wife. We had them here last month for a few weeks, and hopefully again next Easter. My son is presently 16 and has just finished school, and will be starting his A levels at college in Sept. He seriously enjoyed it here and is on about moving here to be with us when he finishes college in 2 years at 18 to go onto uni here.

I went to the local Immigration Centre here in Perth, and very helpful they were. Easiest way to organise a visa for my son is with a Child Visa (Offshore) Subclass 101 application as by the stage of the application I will be a permanent resident.

Assuming he doesn't change his mind as this is still a ways off, we would be making our application approx. end of 2011. Everything looks fairly OK in terms of requirements for the visa etc, but I would like to clarify a few things.

1. He has to be dependant upon me; I pay and have always paid my maintenance and through the bank so I have proof. He lives at home with his mother and step-dad; if he comes here to us we would be providing him with a place to sleep, etc and he has stayed with us back in the UK for several weeks at a time. Would this meet the dependant requirement? If not, what exactly do they mean and how do you show it?
2. How long does the application take to process once it has been submitted?
3. We all had medicals at the end of 2008 for my spouse visa application; would this cover him for his child visa (remember, application would be end of 2011) or will it have expired? Sorry, I know there is a time limit on the medicals but don't know what it is.
4. The visa grants him permanent residence; how long does he have to wait before applying for citizenship? Presumably its 4 years total residence like myself.
5.How does permanent residence affect university fee's etc as this is what he wants to do (and he's a clever lad so he'll be going to do something like medicine) as opposed to having citizenship.


If anyone can help me with these queries, thank you. Also, any and all advice about these areas in general would gratefully recieved.

Many thanks in advance and apologies for the long post.

JAJ

1. As long as he is under 18 (and single) you don't need to prove financial dependency as far as I know, unless the laws change.

2. How long is a piece of string? Usually a few months with London,

3. He will have to re-do medicals.

4. 4 years.

5. Domestic university fees, no fee discounts or deferrals. Bear in mind that domestic fee places at university are competitive.

Read booklet 2 on child visas: http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/booklets.htm

I wonder if adding him as an applicant to your permanent spouse visa would be possible ... that means you'd avoid the child visa application fee.

Idlewood

Thanks for the quick reply JAJ.

When we make application he will be 17/18 depending when it goes in. So assuming 18, how does that affect the dependant angle?

The children were on my visa but as they weren't coming with us the Immigration Centre said they wouldn't be covered on the spouse visa and I'd have to apply for the child visa. I'll see if its possible to get him added as you say for my permanent spouse visa.

Reading through the Child Migration booklet, it defines over 18 dependant as: "...be wholly or substantially reliant on the sponsoring parent for financial support to meet their basic needs of food, shelter and clothing and be able to show that they have relied on this support for a substantial period (usually 12 months)"

What exactly does this mean? If he comes here with us, we will be pretty much doing so but at present he lives back home with his mum/step dad and I help pay maintenance etc for him.

Also, how long does the visa have to be activiated once its granted? (presumably 12 months from point of issue, same as my spouse visa was).

Thanks again for the replies

Pollyana

I would check things out with a good agent, someone of the George Lombard ilk, to be honest. Having done a bit of investigation on a similar issue a year or so back I THINK that as long as your son was mentioned on the original Spouse Visa application, and had a medical etc as a non-migrating dependent, then you should be able to include him when you do the Spouse PR paperwork as a migrating dependent, albeit with possibly another medical.
Please check it out - I may be wrong, as when I asked the question we never followed through to actually do it, circumstances changed, but its well worth investigating properly. Being an unusual question the Immigration Centre may not be aware if it can be done. I'd be interested to hear the answer.

Idlewood

Thanks Polly,

Food for thought there. I'll do some more digging and definately let you know what I find out.

If I can include them on my PR spouse visa as migrating dependants, what time frame do they have to be here by (my PR is due August 2011 but son wont be moving here until July 2012). Wonder how this would affect my daughter as well since she's starting uni in Sept and wouldn't be coming until at least July 2013 (if she comes at all).

Interesting!!!!!

Idlewood

K, I'm going to be having a consultation with George Lombard end of this week/start of next week. Apparently there is a mechanism to do as discussed, so once I have all the details I'll put on a new post to explain it all!!

Considering the consultation is going to cost me $110 and the Child Visa I was advised to get by the Immigration Centre costs $1750, I consider this MONEY WELL SPENT!!!!!!

Pollyana

Excellent George is one of the best around, so if it can be done, he'll certainly be able to help

And yes, please post what you can about the process - may well help people in the future. Like I said, I did some investigation and my next step would've actually been to talk to George, but in the end the plan was shelved for various reasons.