Kit Posted June 16, 2019 Report Share Posted June 16, 2019 (edited) Hi there everyone! I haven't been on here for years, life has been a bit.. unplanned, but I am back on track and so glad (proud!) to see the forums are still pumping! Apologies in advance for a long post. So, I am basically wanting to put the situation here and ask honestly what possible pathways we have to get my mom here. My mom is a widow, 64 years old and still healthy. My sis lives with her and is looking to submit an expression of interest to apply for a visa to Aus. My mom owns the house, hasn't got assets apart from the house and gets a GEPF pension. She hasn't got anyone else in SA if my sis leaves, a fact that I've only now gotten through to her about a week ago. Now she's sitting up and paying attention! Should we talk to a migration agent, or is it possible to do the visa thing on our own? I'm guessing a contributory parent visa is the only real option, but is it an option to get her here first on a different visa and then apply for that one? The concern unfortunately is money - she'd have to sell her house, and I don't know if she can get her pension across, so I am concerned my fiance and I would have to pay for everything during the waiting period before she can claim anything (specially the pension), so I'm blank as to how to untangle everything and get a clear picture of what to do and whether it's even financially feasible or if we just need to resign ourselves to her dying alone in SA one day. I'd rather have an idea, it'd be better to know sooner rather than later whether to make preparations for her to move into a retirement home or something and just send money to her instead. Thanks for reading - I didn't want to be pushy and message the migration peeps on here out of the blue. Edited June 16, 2019 by Kit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ottg Posted June 16, 2019 Report Share Posted June 16, 2019 Many others on the forum have done it self if its a standard case. Start here: https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/contributory-parent-143 read this entire thread: http://www.saaustralia.org/topic/48045-contributory-parent-143-visa-support-group/ else if your circumstances is complex then speak to an agent but by then you will know what questions to ask. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted June 17, 2019 Report Share Posted June 17, 2019 17 hours ago, Kit said: I don't know if she can get her pension across, so I am concerned my fiance and I would have to pay for everything during the waiting period before she can claim anything (specially the pension) Are you referring to applying to an Australian pension? From what I've been able to unpick here, you're only able to claim an Aus pension if you've worked in Australia..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYLC Posted June 17, 2019 Report Share Posted June 17, 2019 19 hours ago, Kit said: I'm guessing a contributory parent visa is the only real option, but is it an option to get her here first on a different visa and then apply for that one? The concern unfortunately is money - she'd have to sell her house, and I don't know if she can get her pension across, so I am concerned my fiance and I would have to pay for everything during the waiting period before she can claim anything (specially the pension), Yes, Contributory Parent is the only option for a permanent visa. You'll see from the thread about Contributory Parent Visa that it is taking just short of 4 years to process. The current rules around accessing an Australian pension is that the person has to be pension age and have lived in Australia on a permanent resident visa for 10 years so you would need to support her for those 10 years. There is no leeway around this. You don't get anything from Centrelink but do get Medicare. We have done this for my in-laws and it has cost us $120K out of pocket over the 10 years (and they are frugal people). The main issue seems to be that she needs to sell her house to have the money to apply but needs the house to live in so Catch 22. So I think that you need a creative solution around her living arrangements so that she can sell to have the application money and still have somewhere to live. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kit Posted June 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2019 Thanks for replying, ottg, Titus and RYLC. I saw that thread pinned and will read it from start to finish - I'll most likely bookmark it, too! 10 years wait for the pension... my fiance said it was probably something like that. I have a pessimistic suspicion she won't be able to bring her SA pension across - I emailed the enquiries email address of her fund to ask in general. That'd be a huge determining factor I reckon. Is that $120k for both for all living expenses? Were (are) they living with you, or in their own place and therefore additional rent? Thanks for sharing that, it's very helpful having an idea of what it all costs in reality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RYLC Posted June 17, 2019 Report Share Posted June 17, 2019 (edited) 38 minutes ago, Kit said: Is that $120k for both for all living expenses? Were (are) they living with you, or in their own place and therefore additional rent? This is the amount we paid for both of them for their living expenses over and above what they spent of their savings. They rented from a kind landlord at a very low rate (just over $100 a week in a regional area). We had toddlers at the time and lived in the city so it wasn't feasible to live with us. They budgeted for around $24K a year for everything and we chipped in $10K a year of that and they paid $14K. To be honest, it was a big ask and I'm not sure I could do it again. We had some serious, off work type illnesses in our family for an extended period of time and it was very hard financially. Our kids had to go without to make it work. To put their annual spend of $14K of their own money into perspective, when they finally qualified for the aged pension last year they received around $34K a year (as a couple) so they feel like they are now in the gold seats. Edited June 17, 2019 by RYLC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeTMI Posted June 18, 2019 Report Share Posted June 18, 2019 On 6/16/2019 at 9:12 PM, Kit said: ...My mom is a widow, 64 years old and still healthy. My sis lives with her and is looking to submit an expression of interest to apply for a visa to Aus. My mom owns the house, hasn't got assets apart from the house and gets a GEPF pension. I'm guessing a contributory parent visa is the only real option, but is it an option to get her here first on a different visa and then apply for that one? The Dept of Home Affairs is currently advising that the non-contributory visas should expect 30+ years to process, so not a realistic option if applying from overseas for most people. Given your mothers age she would currently be looking at the offshore 143 parent visa, assuming otherwise eligible. The issue with 'getting her here first' is that the 143 does not provide a bridging visa and the processing times have extended in the last few years (currently processing 143 visa applications lodged Aug 2015). So if you wished for her to be in Australia whilst waiting she would need another visa option, e.g. the temporary sponsored parent visa (subclass 870 which provides a visa 3 or 5 years, maximum 10 years) or visitor visas (which may not permit her to remain in Australia the whole time). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Titus Posted June 25, 2019 Report Share Posted June 25, 2019 On 6/17/2019 at 8:27 PM, RYLC said: This is the amount we paid for both of them for their living expenses over and above what they spent of their savings. They rented from a kind landlord at a very low rate (just over $100 a week in a regional area). We had toddlers at the time and lived in the city so it wasn't feasible to live with us. They budgeted for around $24K a year for everything and we chipped in $10K a year of that and they paid $14K. To be honest, it was a big ask and I'm not sure I could do it again. We had some serious, off work type illnesses in our family for an extended period of time and it was very hard financially. Our kids had to go without to make it work. To put their annual spend of $14K of their own money into perspective, when they finally qualified for the aged pension last year they received around $34K a year (as a couple) so they feel like they are now in the gold seats. Cudos to them for making that work! I could easily spend that amount of money in a month or two, so I'm very impressed that they managed! You guys definitely deserve a pat on the back for helping them through it! Moving forward, I think you and your children will appreciate having grandparents around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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