crispybacon

So, in June 2017 my mum submitted her application for the contributory aged parent visa (143). She has just been sent an email asking for more information: i.e. medicals, police checks and for me to submit my Assurance of Support (AoS) application via Centrelink. Things suddenly just got very real. She has been given 28 days from date of email (19th Feb) to get all documents together and sent - seems a bit tight on the timeframe considering we've not heard anything since application. We recently sent an update of info to the visa processing team to advise of a change of address for her and then these requests came through, so we are wondering if it has somehow triggered the wheels to start moving.
Anyway, my Mum is understandably nervous about such a big move at age 77. Once medicals and police checks are done the Australian immigration dept will want their $44,000 or so to complete the application not to mention the $14,000+ for the AoS from myself.
So, I am asking for anyone who has moved out to Aus to be with their adult children as an aged parent (in their 70's) what their experience was? As well as the experience of the adult children they came to be with. What were their challenges? Any regrets? What are their positive experiences? She will be leaving my brother, his wife and their adult children behind (no great grandchildren and non for the foreseeable future). Thank you in advance for your story's.

spouse of scouse

Hi Chris. No similar experiences to share, but being an older person myself (65) and with a 90 year old mum - have you considered the temporary sponsored parent visa 187 as an alternative for your mum? It would provide more choices for your mum in terms of committing to a permanent move and is far less expensive.
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visa...y-870#Overview

crispybacon

Thank you, I have seen this option, but I think we are a little late in the game to change course. I suspect if we change to a different visa application, she will lose monies already paid and the whole process will need start again, including a potential 12 yr plus wait. Plus I think if she does take the plunge she will want to do it permanently as she has a dog and also will not want to rent her house out in the UK.

quoll

No, but I am close to her age and my own parents made the decision not to emigrate when they were in their 70s - their rationale at the time, despite me being an only child and having the only grandchildren, was that they owned their own home, they had a long standing circle of friends and at the time my dad had his sister alive. They were also aware that their income would be frozen from the time they made the move, their medical needs would cost them more than the nothing they were going to be paying in UK. Although they had a granny flat on our block, they owned a car here and played golf at the local golf club they decided that they were more comfortable at home with all the network they had developed over the decades. They used to come for 6 months a year until they hit 80. They were very outgoing people, they volunteered in the community and enjoyed their time here but, equally, loved to go home.

If I were to move here the age I am - and I sort of did that when we returned from looking after them for a 9 year "holiday" we forgot to return from - I found I really had to work at it. I had no friends really from the 30 odd years we had lived here, just a random one or two I may see for coffee every 6 months and when they need something. I have made acquaintances but, as I said, I have to work at it. We have our own home and are not impoverished thank goodness but I hate to think how I would be if I had to get into rental accommodation or buy a new place (as one of my acquaintances now is in her mid 60s) - it's a bit of a jungle out there. I have interests and I go to the gym but nobody would notice if I dropped off the perch, other than my family. Medical cover is OK but it's costing me far more than when we were in UK, especially dental which is take out a mortgage territory at least once a year. We have one son here and one son there - I wouldnt expect to live in the pockets of either tbh and so we are very much independent as a couple. Our Aussie son is 4 hours away and we see him maybe once a month. We see our granddaughters about the same but they are teenagers and dont want much to do with the wrinklies as they have their own lives. Our UK son came to visit at Christmas for the first time in 13 years!!!! I need to go back to see my grandson, it's been 4 years since we left.

Your mum is lucky in that she has children in both places so she's going to have contacts wherever she is. What does she hope to get out of Australia? Has she lived here before? Can she cope on a frozen income? I dont think there is a magic answer tbh, but a lot of elderly people get more attached to "home" the older they get and it scares the bejeezus out of me that I will die in Australia and never get home again. It very much depends on your mum, her adventurousness, her willingness to part with tens of thousands of pounds on a gamble and her ability to fit into a new foreign community (personally I find friendships here very difficult and always have in the 45 years we have been here). Good luck with her decision making, it must be difficult!

crispybacon

Hi Quoll, thank you for your very thoughtful and in-depth response. These are very valid points. I'm just about to have a zoom call with her and will definitely put this to her. So split in my thoughts right now. I would love her to be here, especially as she ages so that I know she will be looked after properly (my brother is great but I just think daughters have a better understanding of these things). But I also don't want her to do anything she will regret and spend the rest of her days here wishing she's made a different decision.

SanDiegogirl

Australian immigration dept will want their $44,000 or so ....

Is that how much it costs to sponsor/obtain a visa for parent to move to Australia ?

This is Australian dollars, yes?

Pollyana

There are various options for sponsoring parents, its not just one straight-forward visa. I think the Contributory Parent Visa does currently require around that figure, in addition to the application fee - its designed to cover at leas part of the healthcare (Medicare) and welfare costs that are likely to be incurred as a parent gets older. And yes, its in $Au

This will give you some idea
https://truebluemigration.com/visa-f...f%20the%20visa.

tomar

Slightly different circumstances. I am slightly older than your mother, and retired with my husband to Australia 21 years ago. We had no children here, but 2 followed us here, and one stayed in England. We also ended up on the parent vis route. We have one son an hour away in Brisbane and daughter in Sydney and one son in Bristol plus our only 2 grandchildren. We would never move back to UK, have made our lives here, but do see our Brisbane son and wife very regularly, and our daughter even though in Sydney fairly regularly, plus she rings most days to check on the olds! We wouldn’t have the same backup in Bristol. An example when we were last year, both had covid and son was away, DIL although 8 mins away was never ever in contact
​​​​​​, couldn’t give a d—-m about us.
So it makes sense for us to be close to where we will get the most love and support as we get older. We also have much more family close by here in Australia as the African side of my family emigrated here, and there is a great mix of ages, from age 4 upwards, so life for us is better here, than returning to the UK we left over 30 years ago.
Good luck with whatever decision your mother makes, hope it works out for the best for her