spuds

Hi everyone,

We have just discovered that our relatives in Australia have withdrawn their offer to be the assurer on our PR application.

We still have family sponsorship but the relatives doing the sponsoring are not eligible to assure us as they are retired and do not meet the specified income threshold.

We have another option of using a friend of ours as the assurer. He is an Australian citizen but has lived in the UK for some time. He has been back in Oz permanently, living and working for 10 months. He meets all of the other criteria but we are unsure whether he will be able to use his tax reciepts from the UK as proof of income.

Would be very grateful for advice as desperate to lodge application asap.

Thanks,

Emma

Alan Collett

Emma,

The assurer has to confirm the level of his/her assessable income by lodging certified copies of his/her Tax Assessment Notices issued by the Australian Taxation Office for the last two completed income tax years.

If your potential assurer has been working in the UK I dare say his income until quite recently won't have been assessable in Australia => he won't be able to produce the required documentation => he can't act as your assurer.

Best regards.

spuds

Thanks for the advice Alan, though that is exactly what I didn't want to hear!

So proof of UK income would be no good then? Also if he has been filling in tax returns as an Australian citizen, even to say he is exempt is there no way around it?

Do you know if it's possible to apply without an assurer i.e by proving you have sufficent funds in the bank?

Emma.

Alan Collett

Sadly no ... a Skilled - Family Sponsored visa application brings with it a mandatory assurance of support. I suggest that you might try to persuade your relatives in Australia again ...

Best regards.

highwinger

May we know why your assurer pulled out ? I have an aunt who acted as my assurer but we provided the money for her to put forward as a bond so it didn't cost them a penny. There was just the minor inconvenience of filling out some forms and going to the Commonwealth Bank.

spuds

I wish I knew highwinger! We didn't even actually ask - they offered right at the beginning - when it got down to filling in the forms they went a bit weird.

We've already offered to transfer the bond money to them before they even put their names to the form. Then they said it might potentially cost them more than the bond if we got into debt or anything in Oz. We then offered to transfer the amount of money they would need to make them feel secure as in no way did we want them to take a financial risk. We offered $50k but they then said this would effect their tax payments and they just wouldn't be able to do it.

We are totally gutted and it seems our chances of getting to Oz are well and trully scuppered. It's just such a kick in the teeth as everything was chugging along nicely. We don't know anyone else in Oz so I guess it's back to the drawing board.

Alan Collett

Sounds like your rellies don't understand what the Assurance of Support is in terms of their financial exposure ...

Here's some info from the guidance manuals provided to case officers:

"Extent of liability
The liability to repay is limited to the social security allowances prescribed in the Migration Regulations, namely regulation 2.38. Liability does not extend to any other allowances, benefits or services provided by the Commonwealth government, State/Territory governments or public institutions."

And, at regulation 2.38:
"Liability of person giving assurance of support

2.38. (1) If a person receives support in the form of:
(a) a job search allowance payable under Part 2.11 of the Social Security Act 1991; or
(b) a newstart allowance payable under Part 2.12 of that Act; or
(c) a special benefit payable under Part 2.15 of that Act; or
(d) a widow allowance under Part 2.8A of that Act; or
(e) a partner allowance under Part 2.15A of that Act; or
(f) a parenting allowance under Part 2.18 of that Act; or
(g) a youth training allowance under Part 8 of the Student and Youth Assistance Act 1973;or
(h) a PP (partnered) under Part 2.10 of the Social Security Act 1991; or
(i) a mature age allowance under Part 2.12A or 2.12B of that Act; or
(j) a youth allowance under Part 2.11 of that Act; or
(k) an austudy payment under Part 2.11A of that Act; or
(l) a crisis payment under Part 2.23A of the Social Security Act 1991;
and an assurance of support has effect in respect of the person when he or she receives the support, the person who gave the assurance is liable, subject to this regulation, to pay to the Commonwealth the amount of the support; or

(2) A person is not liable to pay an amount that would otherwise be payable under subregulation (1) in respect of a required assurance until the Commonwealth has taken all reasonable steps to enforce the bond lodged in respect of the assurance.

(3) An amount payable under subregulation (1) is reduced by:
(a) any amount obtained by the Commonwealth under the bond that has not been applied to reduce a person's liability to the Commonwealth; and
(b) any amount paid to the Commonwealth in respect of the support."

The financial exposure of the assurer is essentially in respect of the above allowances and benefits.

Keep persevering ... and hope this helps.

highwinger

Alan, I always thought this was a bit unfair as the bond that your sponsor lodges is supposed to cover the same things isn't it? Why is there a requirement to lodge the bond if your Assurer is obliged to cover these expenses.

I also wonder if some clever Australians could make a few quid by offering their names as Assurers (assuming they qualified) they could charge a few grand for their 'inconvenience' and even arrange a legal agreement with a solicitor to get the money back from a trust account if they were exposed to any expense....couldn't they ? They could only do it every 2 years I suppose but still could be a nice little earner ??

Sorry to hear about your situation Emma I hope it works out for you one way or another... By the way have already had a look around to see if anyone is doing the above but couldn't find anything.

spuds

The same thought had occured to me! If I ever get to Oz I might go into business!

I really don't know where to go from here. I'm not sure what my rellies think is going to happen or why they have made such a u-turn but it seems they won't touch us with a barge pole! The whole thing is driving me nuts as we have more than enough money to cover ourselves thanks to the sale of the house.

Anyway, will keep trying. thanks for the info and if you do think of anyone - let me know!

Emma

spuds

Ok, so after divorcing family in Oz. What exactly can I do? Is it worth looking at Business Sponsorship (husband is IT manager with 17 years experience) Are there a list of comanies or agencies offering PQBS? I can't seem to find many on the net.

Also, is there anyway of getting temp visa for Oz and then applying while we are there? I have got a working Holiday Visa but husband is too old - 39!

Any advice on options and what to do next would be gratefully appreciated.

Em.

mika24me

Hi Emma

probably a silly question but if your husband is skilled and experienced, you may qualify for a skilled independant visa. Have you already tried this route?

Mel

spuds

We were advised it would be easier and quicker to apply for Skilled Family Sponsorship but, as I say, don't seem able to get an assurer.

We would have to start from scratch again with the Independent Skilled Migration because husband's skills have been assessed by Vetassess and not ACS.

Would be happy to get there on temp basis by the end of the year and then look for job and possible sponsorship/assurance. Husband is 39 do you know of any temp visas we can get in on?

mika24me

I wish I did becuase I would have gone on one too. I may be wrong but I think the best thing for you to do would be start again with a 136 visa, and prepare yourself for a long wait!

It may seem hard but it will be worth it if you get there in the end!

Good luck with whatever you decide to do

Mel

HazelG

Emma
what exactly was your husband assessed as for his skills?
where in Aus were you thinking of settling?
Hazel

abergas

Hi

If I were you I would start over with the skilled independent visa, before your husband hits 40, as you will lose 5 points. Might take longer but as least you won't have to rely on rellies.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do. Just don't give up!!!
However long it takes it will be worth it.

Yve:lecture: