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Immigration

08/07/09 | Return | Print |

Loophole closed for contributory parents

Until now, people wanting to bring both parents to Australia on contributory parent visas have been able to do so by paying only the fee for one parent. As the fee payable for contributory parent visas is considerable (currently $36035 per parent offshore or $36855 per parent onshore, plus an assurance of support bond of $10,000 for one parent or $14,000 for two), there are obviously considerable savings to be made. The way in which it has been done to date is that one parent obtains a permanent contributory parent visa, and then sponsors the other as a partner.

The partner visa application has been generally assured of quick success, given that the parents would have been married for many years and would have had children together. However, the government considers that its intentions as embodied in the contributory parent visa scheme have been frustrated by this practice, since the idea behind the high fee was to cover costs anticipated to be incurred in respect of elderly parents with regard to their health care. Furthermore, partner visa holders are eligible for social security benefits much sooner than contributory parent visa holders.

For these reasons the government has now closed off this avenue by legislating that, from July 1, holders of permanent visa holders will be unable to sponsor a spouse for five years, unless the spouse becomes the spouse only after the grant of the permanent contributory parent visa or unless there are strong compassionate circumstances in the case. Guidelines on what might constitute compassionate circumstances are not yet available, but one may be sure that the mere fact of the separation of the couple would not be sufficient.

This is sure to make contributory parent visas a less attractive option for many, and one must remember also that the queue, as well as the waiting period, has grown significantly recently. The numbers to be granted in each financial year were cut in the last budget, which will only worsen the problem. The idea behind the visa was to ameliorate the problems of enormous waiting periods which face applicants for regular parent visas, but as matters have turned out, this does not seem to be working very well.

In addition, there have been a few other changes to migration law. Notably, many fees for making visa applications will increase substantially, including for skilled migration, parents and partners. These have been increased by 20% to offset the difficult economic times in which Australia finds itself at present.

It is welcome news to hear that retirement visas can now be granted for 10 years and that these visa holders will be able to work full-time, if they wish, rather than merely for 20 hours per week as previously.