Originally Posted by stubbyholder

Hi Lisa B


Re Sponsorship query and what Gill said. We were told by a very reputable UK based migration agent, that as soon as our daughter gained PR status she could sponsor us, which she has. This is because the policy definition of "settled" is lawfully resident for 2years in Australia which she was ( her employer sponsored her) ,not a permanent resident for 2 years. She applied (successfully) for PR after being "settled" in Australia for 2yrs. This is slightly different in your case -as you're husband's employer is going for PR straight away,but you may find you have to satisfy the "settled" element even if you are PR's.With a bit of luck one of the migration agents/ moderators that regularly post on this site will see your post and give you more details, failing that, refer your query to a UK based agent
good luck
S

Originally Posted by stubbyholder

Hi Lisa B


Re Sponsorship query and what Gill said. We were told by a very reputable UK based migration agent, that as soon as our daughter gained PR status she could sponsor us, which she has. This is because the policy definition of "settled" is lawfully resident for 2years in Australia which she was ( her employer sponsored her) ,not a permanent resident for 2 years. She applied (successfully) for PR after being "settled" in Australia for 2yrs. This is slightly different in your case -as you're husband's employer is going for PR straight away,but you may find you have to satisfy the "settled" element even if you are PR's.With a bit of luck one of the migration agents/ moderators that regularly post on this site will see your post and give you more details, failing that, refer your query to a UK based agent
good luck
S

Originally Posted by stubbyholder

Hi Gill thanks to you and Grayling for your posts.
I'm aware of the global queue calculator thing, but I'm unclear as to exactly how it works- when does your application get placed in the queue?Is it put in the queue irrespective of whether will be granted or not i.e.upon receipt at POPC, or when you're allocated a CO or when your application has been positively "assessed" , after the AoS interveiw and all fees paid? I assume rightly or wrongly the queue operates 'til thequota of 3500 is reached, and if you make the queue you 'll get your visas in the current migration year.As a result I'm not sure what the numbers in front of you mean.Any thoughts? I'll ring our agent (in Sydney) tomorrow night . Both our children (son and daughter) live in Syndey, our daughter is our assuror/sponsor, she's heard diddly squat from Centrelink,so as you suggest, a phone call will be made to them on Monday.I'll take WT, G and your advice and e mail POPC mid week before Australia Day, to try and find out what's happening -we'd be over the moon just to know the application's OK and we'll get our visas this migration year. Don't mind waiting.I know of the validation trip scenario, and are prepared for it should the need arise- it's only money! Having now read fact sheet 37, POPC probably consider us a low priority as we're both in our middle to late 50's, but we do have all our kids in Australia.
I can pass on some info to you re the phone calls - try Telestunt(on the web) you can call Australia for 2p per min. to a landline or 10p pm to a mobile -have used them for a few years now.No connection charge. You're given a bunch of numbers(you can enter them as a speed dial number on your phone to save time) which prefix the Oz number you call. Will let you know how things pan out, probably by PM.
S

Originally Posted by Gill Palmer

Stubby for short

Have you looked at Centrelink's website? I went to the Search page in it and told it to look for Assurance of Support. You can download the form. Apparently (quaintly) they post the thing to the Assurer once the Centrelink interview has been arranged. Presumably they realise that not everyone has internet access or something.

I took the view that we might as well be in possession of all the relevant documents up-front, and the Centrelink site does add to the whole game by supplying additional info that the DIMIA site doesn't provide.

Cheers

Gill

Originally Posted by welshtony

That's right, to be "settled" you would normally be required to be living in Australia for 2 years. So, if you go out on a temporary visa first and then get PR after say a year, then 1 more year as permanent resident will meet the settled requirement. The 2 years is policy and you can apply before the two years if you think your circumstances would warrant DIMIA reducing the usual period.


Tony

Originally Posted by LisaB

Thanks for all the info.
When you sponser your parents I understand they need a medical.my mum takes medication for blood pressure ,diabetas,and although she is perfectly fit has bladder cancer on her records too.She is 70 will she fail the medical?I cannot find any information from anywhere.thanks.

Originally Posted by Gill Palmer

Dear LisaB

In order to handle my Mum's application, I have really only paid attention to the elements that are absolutely crucial to her, so I'm not sure of the answers to all of your questions, but I'll try and others might help.

Sponsorship: I believe you would have to have Permanent Residence status for a minimum of two years before you could sponsor your parents. If there are any exceptions to this general rule, I don't know what they are, and I would guess it would be unlikely that any exceptions that there might be could be used in your case.

Health Insurance: Irrelevent for Contributory Parent visas. If you don't have it, it would not stop you from getting a CP visa. If you do have it, it will be ignored for the purposes of determining whether or not the applicant meets the health criteria. So it would not affect your parents chances one way or the other, but obviously, if you and they believe it would be desirable to have private health cover, that is a separate issue.

Medicals: From what I have read on BE, Panel Doctors seem to vary in how thorough they are. They are GPs. The form they have to fill in (Form 26, which you can download from the Australian High Commission website in London) is not particularly searching. The Medical Officer of the Commonwealth can, will and regularly does ask for further tests/examinations conducted by specialist doctors.

If you look on www.immi.org and click on Forms & Booklets, find Form 1071i, which contains a good description of the health criteria and how they are applied. I suggest as well doing an advanced search of this forum, using keywords like Diabetes, medical, cancer and so forth, to see whether you can glean anything from those.

Finally, have you studied Booklet 3 to make sure that your Parents would be able to satisfy the balance of Family test and meet all the other criteria, plus have you studied the costs of CP visas?

Hope this helps

Gill

Originally Posted by stubbyholder

To give us an idea of the timeline has anybody been granted Contributory Parent Visas lately? How long did the process take? We applied last June( with pc/medical checks) , no CO name yet. Should we
a) chill
b) hit the bottle
c) hit the agent??

Originally Posted by dmb357

Hi
We applied in April last year (2005), we followed Jim Cleeves example and did it alone (without an agent) From start to finish it took 4 months. Caught us on the hop because we had not got the house on the market.
I'm sure the we got the visa quickly because our son was our recipient of information in Australia. DIMIA seemed to speak to him frequently and any paperwork was scanned, emailed to us, then emailed back again to him. That saved us weeks!! In fact he knew more than we did and he notified us of the visa grant first. However we have now waited 10 months to sell the house!!!
We fly out on March 17th!!!!! at last!!

April 8th - DIMIA acknowledged application.
By the end of April- Money taken and Case Officer in touch with son.
May - medicals requested and done 27th May
June - AOS requested.
July- Final payment.
August. 8th - Visa granted.
Hope this helps
Diana

Originally Posted by stubbyholder

Thanks for the info. Since my original post we've been allocated a CO and the AoS procedure has started. Seems as though applicants for this type of visa have increased this year as it's been 7+months since submission. In hindsight we would have done it alone, the application is quite straight forward.Our agent,(they're based in Aus!! )appeared to be reluctant to pick up the phone to POPC for even a general timescale for a CPV grant. IMHO I think they have slowed the process down and what little information we've received has followed badgering from us.Our daughter, although not our official recipient, rang our CO and a flurry of e mails followed.Our AoS will be sorted in the next two weeks, so fingers crossed - ?? We've only the house to sell LOL. Is this the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end??
we're aiming to settle within 2-3 hours drive north / south of Sydney.Good luck to you both.
S

Originally Posted by dmb357

Hi
We applied in April last year (2005), we followed Jim Cleeves example and did it alone (without an agent) From start to finish it took 4 months. Caught us on the hop because we had not got the house on the market.
I'm sure the we got the visa quickly because our son was our recipient of information in Australia. DIMIA seemed to speak to him frequently and any paperwork was scanned, emailed to us, then emailed back again to him. That saved us weeks!! In fact he knew more than we did and he notified us of the visa grant first. However we have now waited 10 months to sell the house!!!
We fly out on March 17th!!!!! at last!!

April 8th - DIMIA acknowledged application.
By the end of April- Money taken and Case Officer in touch with son.
May - medicals requested and done 27th May
June - AOS requested.
July- Final payment.
August. 8th - Visa granted.
Hope this helps
Diana

Originally Posted by Jimclevs

Hello Diana

Great news re flying out. Remind me - where are you heading for?

Regards

Jim

Originally Posted by stubbyholder

Thanks for the info. Since my original post we've been allocated a CO and the AoS procedure has started. Seems as though applicants for this type of visa have increased this year as it's been 7+months since submission. In hindsight we would have done it alone, the application is quite straight forward.Our agent,(they're based in Aus!! )appeared to be reluctant to pick up the phone to POPC for even a general timescale for a CPV grant. IMHO I think they have slowed the process down and what little information we've received has followed badgering from us.Our daughter, although not our official recipient, rang our CO and a flurry of e mails followed.Our AoS will be sorted in the next two weeks, so fingers crossed - ?? We've only the house to sell LOL. Is this the end of the beginning or the beginning of the end??
we're aiming to settle within 2-3 hours drive north / south of Sydney.Good luck to you both.
S