ddb

Hi,

I was filling up the form to apply for sponsorship by Victoria when I stumbled upon the following question:

Q 17.2: Do you or your spouse have friends and/or relatives currently living in Victoria or elsewhere in Australia?

After that it asks for the details of Friend/Relative

I do not have any relatives but I do have a few friends living in Melbourne itself.

I can understand about the relatives, but any idea how having a friend in Victoria or Australia can help in State Sponsorship?

Regards

waikiki

I would imagine it would help on the basis that if you have friends in Victoria then you have a support network there and are thus more likely to stay in the area

varsanik

I would be carefull of this one, probably better to leave out any friends outside of state. In my opinion, they would probably take into consideration the risk of you moving closer to your friends.

ddb

Hmmm, makes sense !

Safaet

I have noticed 5 friends: one in Victoria and all others are in NSW.
Doesn't make any problem for me to get a sponsorship!!

ddb

In the Victorian state sponshorship form there are questions on financial resources also.

Do we have to show sufficient balance in our bank accounts to prove our financial resources?

OR

Just a mention of them will be enough?

rushmere

I just gave an estimate of the funds that I expect to have. No evidence has been requested, and my sponsorship application was successful.

ddb

Thanks rushmere for the clarification. This is helpful.

How long were your answers to the questions asked?
Do we have to be very descriptive in our answers to the questions like:

Q 11: Do you believe that you are able to sustain yourself (including dependents) adequately if your application is successful?
Q 11.1: Please explain reasons for your answer:

Q 16: Please write comments on why you prefer the location indicated above. If you have indicated ‘Regional only’ would you please enter your preferred regional are (if you have one):

rushmere

My answers were generally quite short!

My answer to question 11 was "Yes".

My answer to question 11.1 was "Our financial resources will cover relocation expenses and will support us until we find jobs and settle in. We should then have enough money left for a good deposit on a house."

My answer to question 16 was "We would prefer to live in Melbourne as we already have friends there, and are most likely to find work there. However, we would live anywhere in Victoria if necessary to find work."

Hope that helps!

ddb

Thanks rushmere. This was helpful.

I was going through the Terms and Conditions when I read this:

6. It is clearly understood that no government social security benefits are available to skilled migrants until they have permanently resided in Australia for two years.

What are social security benefits that will not be available to us if we migrate on 176?

Pls advise. It is worrying.

slippery30

the social security restriction is standard for all permanent residents regardless of visa..i.e 175,176, ENS. No social security benefits such as jobless allowance etc are available for the first two years of PR. However, following benefits are immediatly available
1. Medicare. ( some medical facilities free or subsidized)
2. Family tax benefit( depending on ur income and number of children), not available to singles.
3. childcare tax rebate( as far as i am aware, not means tested)
4. childcare benfit. (means tested)

visit centrelink and familytaxoffice website for more detailed info

ddb

Victorian State Sponsorship application form also has this question:

Q 8: Please estimate what financial resources ($AUD) you will bring with you if your application is successful?

My question is that if I specify that I will be bringing with me, say, $x and I am able to accumulate only $y where y < x, will there be any problem?

Pls advise.

ddb

rushmere, slippery30, Safaet, others

Any thoughts on this?

slippery30

Why risk it dude?...state only the truth in form.

if i were u,i wont lie in any form addressed to any government authority.

ddb

I have no intention of lying.

I am just banking upon getting a good value for my house which I intend to sell before making the big move.

Just wanted to be sure that if I quote that I will be bringing $30000, lets say, will they be actually checking that I have brought this much money with me or not?

Am I bound to carry the quoted money at the time of going to Aus?

Pls advise.