Mattyboy1109

Dear all,

Myself and my partner have been looking into moving to Australia, and i understand it can be difficult with a child with autism.

I just wondered if anyone knew if it was easier for a New Zealand citizen however to move to Australia in this situation? I was born in UK, but grew up in New Zealand and have NZ citizenship, which I believe entitles me to live and work in Australia and bring my partner and dependents.

My partner is British, and she has two children, one of which has mild autism and is 12 years old, she does go to a special school, but her autism is mild enough to be considered for mainstream school. She goes to the special school because it's better for her and the Netherlands has good facilities for children with ASD.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers Matthew

verystormy

If it is mild, it shouldn't be an issue for visas, but you may want to look at support offered in Australia for children as it is generally not great.

Mattyboy1109

Forgot to mention that my brother, sister and father are all Australian citizens, not sure if that makes any difference or not, but there is a support network.

Dorothy

No it doesn't matter. Except for support for your family.

Has your partner got either a court order or notarised permission from her daughter's father to take her to Australia?

Mattyboy1109

Thanks for your response Dorothy,

Yes, we have the legal right to take the children to Australia, the permission is given.

Also, was wondering if it makes a difference what age the child is? She is 13 in a few months, and we aren't thinking of moving for at least a year and can wait longer if it helps. I was thinking if the cost is reduced down to a couple of years of schooling remaining it might help with acceptance.

Dorothy

No, the number of years of school required has nothing to do with whether you are accepted for a visa or not.

quoll

Autism is difficult and though she might be eligible for mainstream education the support she requires to exist in mainstream might put her over the threshold for costs to the Aussie tax payer. It doesn’t end with school either if she’s likely to require support through adulthood. Get all her assessments updated - diagnostic criteria, psycho-educational assessments, current skill levels, adaptive behaviours and run It past one of the agents who specialise in medical conditions. George Lombard, Peter Bollard and Richard Gregan all have access to medical advise.

Catch 22 is that if she’s needy enough to get support in schools she’s unlikely to get a visa and if she gets a visa she’s unlikely to get any support in schools.

Marina68

You are correct that as a Nz citizen you're able to move to Australia on a special category visa. You also could sponsor your partner and her children. It's a 461 visa but it only lasts for 5 years then your partner would need to reapply. You need to be very aware that neither of these visas are permanent residency. You your partner and children would be ineligible for most benefits in the event of job loss or illness. No entitlement to the disability benefits either and that includes things like holiday play schemes, respite care etc. it's not impossible to make it work but I would recommend consulting a good migration agent.