Michael74

My wife and I arrived in Australia on the NC 804 visa to join our only child who has her PR. We have Medicare which is valid for 'Medical Essentials' agreed as a Reciprocal arrangement between the UK and Australian government. We do not use Bulk billing but prefer to pay to see a Doctor at our local practice and have no problem paying for prescriptions etc. as we would be the first to admit as to not having to work or pay into Australia taxes etc.


In other words, I completely agree with the restrictions imposed on us such as not being entitled to Senior Citizens cards etc.


My question is, why does it take so long for any PR's to be approved. By my reckoning we will be waiting for 13 years and 8 months.


Apart from that, what a fantastic country to spend our remaining years in - we love it.

spouse of scouse

I thought that an 804 visa is a permanent residency visa?

Michael74

Unfortunately not so. We originally had BVA bridging visas subsequently followed after application by BVB's giving us the right to leave and return for a period of 5 years.


By entering the immigration web site and putting in the date our visa's were granted i.e. 804's it comes up with the number of visa applications for PR that are in front of us. By my calculations it will take approx. 13.8 years for our PR's based on the number that are approved each month. I hope we are still around for that - extremely unlikely !!

Pollyana

So you aren't actually on the PR 804 yet then, just on a bridging visa?
You are not on the 804 until it gets granted, and THEN you will be permanent residents as it is a PR visa.

Michael74

Thank you for your replies, yes, you are both correct. My mistake but I find the visa process very confusing.


To recap, we are both now holders of Bridging Visas B awaiting for the decision to be made re our application for the 804. Have been informed that our queue date is 02 May 2016. At the moment there are over 4000 or more awaiting decisions to be made on the granting of the visa.


We are allowed indefinite stay in Australia until a decision is made on the granting of the 804 (if not, a further 28 days to appeal) I just wondered why it took so long for that decision to be made.

verystormy

It takes so long simply because you are not the people Australia wants. Australia wants people who are going to earn and pay tax. So, you are the lowest priority for the time and effort in processing.

quoll

You might be able to move to the contributory stream - that would speed things up immensely. I thought the wait was around 30 years these days so 12 years is a bonus. Basically, Australia expects people to pay for the privilege of a visa, not just rock up and expect to stay.

Pollyana

OP, the post above is right, but also Aus only grants a certain number of visas each year and that means a queue.
Even spouses often have to wait over a year to join their partners. its one long waiting game.

louie

Another reason is to dissuade people from applying or to encourage them to pay for the contributory visa instead.

Bridgetbell

I've been in Australia for 26 years, pay taxes and between husband (Australian) and we work hard for our money (farming is a tough business), 14 hour days. My mum died in 2014, there is only two of us, my sister lives and works in Qld and they pay a fair amount of tax too, neither of us has ever claimed an Australian Government benefit. My dad comes out 6 months a year, but he is now 75 and he loves being here, no family left overseas, so it makes sense for him to come here, he will live with us on the farm, yep, we are farmers encountering drought etc, he is fit, healthy, still walks 10k a day with the farm dogs, but he hasn't much cash after paying mums medical expenses and a lot will depend on the sale of the house in a socially deprived area, around $180k. We will sponsor him and he still has his British Pension. He hasn't paid Australian taxes but we raised us, but we have paid a hell of a lot, we also contribute. So he has applied for an 804 visa, he received a response the same day that a valid application had been received and he is now on Bridging Visa A. Ok, after that long spiel, what happens next?

Dorothy

He waits. When a case officer is assigned and the application is being processed your dad will be asked to do the medical and a police clearance. In the meantime he waits.

Alan Collett

Expect a request for a medical examination and police clearance certificates about 12 to 18 months after the visa application was lodged.

Once those are done - assuming all is well - a queue date will be issued.

Best regards.

Le_Main

But according to the OP they have rocked up and are allowed to stay for the 14 years until their visa is decided. So basically it seems that they have a 14 year temporary visa. Sure, they are not getting all the benefits of PR, but they say they don't need them.

Seems an odd situation, why would they want to pay for a contributory visa in this situation, but maybe I have missed something??

spouse of scouse

From what I've read on BE, a danger of the non-contributory parent visa is that by the time the PR visa is offered, they may not be able to pass the medical so would be refused.

Alan Collett

See the subclass 602 Medical Treatment visa.

Best regards.