George Lombard

DIAC have just announced that the anyone obtaining their Contributory Parent Visa after 1 July and then planning to sponsor an existing partner will be faced with a potential 5 year wait. What this means, as an initial response, is that people going down that route who have not included an existing spouse in the application should be doing so immediately.


This is the text of the announcement:


Amendments to the Migration Regulations 1994 in relation to Contributory Parent visas and split applications

1 July 2009 Legislation Change

Client summary

From 1 July 2009, the Migration Regulations 1994 (the 'Regulations') are amended to prevent persons who are granted a permanent Contributory Parent category visa (Subclasses 143 and 864) from sponsoring their partner or fiancé for a Partner or Prospective Marriage visa for five years from the day of their visa grant, if they:

* were granted their permanent Contributory Parent category visa on or after 1 July 2009; and
* were in a spouse or de facto partner or fiancé relationship on or before the date their permanent Contributory Parent category visa was granted and now wish to sponsor that partner or fiancé.

This limitation may not apply in compelling circumstances which are not financially related.


Additional information:
There have been a number of instances in which couples seeking to migrate under the Contributory Parent category visa provisions have resorted to the split application strategy, whereby:

* only one member of a parent couple applies for and is granted a permanent Contributory Parent category visa; and
* once eligible (usually after two years of being lawfully resident in Australia), this parent subsequently sponsors their spouse (the other parent) under the partner visa category which has a much smaller Visa Application Charge (VAC).

Up until 1 July 2009, this strategy is not prohibited by migration legislation and it is being used in order to reduce the costs associated with migration under Contributory Parent category visa. However, it clearly undermines the Government’s policy intent of ensuring that those parents who migrate under the Contributory Parent visa category make a contribution by means of the VAC to partially offset the significant costs of parent migration to the broader community. Contributory Parent migrants are also subject to the provision of a ten year Assurance of Support (AoS) and payment of a bond.

Furthermore, those who lodge a split application benefit by by-passing the ten year waiting period for parent visa holders to access Government benefits and assistance, whilst spouse visa holders are able to access such benefits within two years of visa grant.

Amendments are being made to information products affected by this legislative change.

Alan Collett

George:

"* once eligible (usually after two years of being lawfully resident in Australia), this parent subsequently sponsors their spouse (the other parent) under the partner visa category which has a much smaller Visa Application Charge (VAC)."

(my emphasis added)

Makes me wonder whether the Department recognises the sponsorship requirement for spouses is different to that for parents ... or am I missing something?

Best regards.

George Lombard

Alan I don't know who writes their front office blurbs but I'm reasonably confident the back office people did the legislation correctly.

Perhaps the use of the settlement criteria for other family visas is meant to paper over the apparent harshness of the policy.

Most of our split family clients will now choose the temporary to permanent pathway I think but the actuarial calculations involved in balancing future pension benefits against current savings and immediate income have always made that a difficult choice.

Cheers,

George Lombard

aman_sharma2k1

Just got this text from this link : http://www.australiamagazine.co.uk/?p=158

Changes to the Contributory parent visa in Australia

Any parents looking to move to Australia under the Contributory Parent Visa after the 1st July, should be aware that the Australian Immigration Department (DIAC) have announced changes to the programme.

In order to prevent applicants adopting a split visa approach (where one applicant would apply for a visa and then look to sponsor their spouse) , DIAC have said that applicants are prohibited from sponsoring their spouse if they

1. were granted their permanent Contributory Parent category visa on or after 1 July 2009;

2.and were in a spouse or de facto partner or fiancé relationship on or before the date their permanent Contributory Parent category visa was granted and now wish to sponsor that partner or fiancé.

This limitation may not apply in compelling circumstances which are not financially related.

What does this mean!! I have applied for PR and if I get my PR after 3-4 months and move to AUs and then get married after that ( in my home country), I will not be able to apply for the visa for my wife?

Please guide!

Rodger_lawson

Aman, i think it only applies for folks who use the contributory parent visa category. Not the ones who use general skilled migration.

aman_sharma2k1

"contributory parent Visa"..What's dat??

scaria197

Aman,

This is a class of Visa in which you need to pay a certain amount of money to cover the Medical cost for your migration parents. This is different grom the regular parent visa class where wait times are about 9-10 years. This takes about 15-18 months.

The amount paid is only done once instructed by the CO.

-scaria197

Pollyana

The clue is in the title