Does anyone know how long it takes to get permanent residency because if I move out to Australia I would like my parents to come too. I know I would have to have permanent residency before I could sponsor them but I would like to know roughly how long before they could come out. Also how often and for how long can they visit whilst we're on temporary visas?

Emma

 

Hi Welcome to BIB,
I think the PR question will depend on what visa you are using to come to Australia.

A lot of people have their parents come over for a 6 months visit on a tourist visa, Visitor visa's are available for 3,6 or 12 months. The problem with the 12 month visa is that it will normally have what is called a "no further stay" condition so it cannot be extended.

The ideal scenario is that parents visit for 6 months during UK winter go back to Uk for summer, then have another visa for 6 months for winter again. You have to be carefull that the Australian imigration do not get the impression that they are using visitor visa's to live in Australia.

I presume you are thinking of a parent visa for them after you move, I there are two types of parent visa, the Contributary visa, takes about 2 yrs to be granted and costs about $40,000 per person, the non contributary visa is a lot cheaper but takes 10 to 12 years to be granted.

I have heard of parents coming over on a 6 month visa then applying for a non contributary parent visa and applying for a bridging visa to allow them to stay in Australia untill the parent visa is granted. The disadvantage is that if they want to go back to UK the bridging visa would not allow them back in. Also they would need full medical insurance as they would not be covered by medicare trying to get in this way.

To be honest it can be a minefield and i cannot guarentee that I have got the facts corrrect, when the time comes it will be well worth contacting a reputable agent to get up to date info.

 

Thanks for the info. I'm not sure which visa we would come out on, which type would get you permanent residency the quickest? It would be difficult for me to work as well as my husband until my parents come out because there would be no one to look after the kids and I don't want to put them in childcare. I really like my job and would miss working, I'm also worried that I might feel isolated if I'm just at home all of the time. I'm very close to my parents and would only want to emigrate if I knew that they would definately be able to join us later. I'm definately getting a bit anxious about the whole thing right now!

Emma

 

Hi,
The visa you can apply for depends on a host of things, its impossible to say what would be the quickest visa, it depends on how you qualify for a visa. I would suggest you contact an agent for advice, Most reputable agents will give you a 15 min chat on the phone to discuss your options.

"Go matilda"
"Visa bureau
are two well reccomended agents and you can fill in an on line assessment and they contact you to chat about your options.

That I would think would be your starting point as some visas can take 3 years and others can take a few months.

You parents visa will depend on age and what they could possibly qualify for. It really can be a minefield and the best way is to get an agents help, then you can choose a route and either apply yourself, or use an agent when you know what route to take.