Permanent residence in Australia

[b]About Seniors[/b] subscriber Dennis is looking for your comments on the following:
Hi All,
I am an 80 year old Senior and my wife is 70. We have been residents in Australia for six years. We are here on a retirement visas and we applied for permanent residence five years ago. At that time we were placed in a queue and our position was approx 4000. After six years of waiting we are in position 3000. We are told that at the present rate it will take a further 8 years for us to reach the top of the queue. I am further told that the waiting period for Seniors applying today is nearly 20 years as the intake of Aged Parents is 500 per year.
I have four children ( and their spouses ) and eleven grandchildren and all are Australian citizens. All have signed the required certainty agreements to guarantee our financial support should it be needed.
Do you think the Government is being fair to Seniors ? I am sure there are many other Aged parents in a similar position.
Regards,
Dennis

9 comments

I didn't even know there was a waiting list - so thanks for letting us all know.



I take it they renew your visa whilst you wait?





Interested to know which country you used to call home before trying to call this one home.

I feel that I must make some comment on Dennis' dilemma, as I have some specialised knowledge of his predicament. All that Dennis' statements are perfectly correct, however, it is hard to criticise the Australian Government's fair or unfair attitude to Seniors from other Countries, when we look at their treatment of Australian Seniors.

It is worth noting, that in view of the initial & ongoing financial requirements of obtaining a retirement visa in Australia, Either Dennis & or his family are reasonally well to do. On that basis, what does Dennis have to gain from a permanent visa? If he got his permanent residency, now, his life expectancy, would mean that he would probably, statistically be dead before he got any benefit following the family support period.

The other day I heard that 90% of our health costs are incurred in the last year of our life. Why would we pay this easily for anyone who has not paid taxes in Australia. and it doesnt matter what country you come from. And I can think of a few I would not want to die in. The family is supposed to pay the cost. Sorry mate.

As your families have all signed to support you and your wife if you needed it and so many of your family are here and Aussie. Citizens, it does seem on compassionate grounds with you now 80 especially; you could be allowed to stay in the bosom of your family. I do not think you expect Australia to support you, as you will be supported (if you are not self supporting) by the Country you paid taxes all your life to, but being able to live here would be great I am sure for all the family and you and your wife.

All the best

Phyl.

I find your case utterly heartless! - especially knowing that great numbers of "mail order" brides stay with their spouses for only a short while, or till the birth of their child and than bring all their families over here and live on welfare!

I do hope that you can stay with your family and wish you all the best!

I find your case utterly heartless! - especially knowing that great numbers of "mail order" brides stay with their spouses for only a short while, or till the birth of their child and than bring all their families over here and live on welfare!

I do hope that you can stay with your family and wish you all the best!



I think if he had told us all - you would find he and his wife had to have private health insurance, private income and invest quite heavily in this country to get in - particularly if a British citizen as well as sponsors - they have the hardest time.

I presume that Dennis is here on either a sub class 405 or 410 visa & I think, most likely a 410. These 2 visas were designed specifically for the investor retiree or the self funded retiree, respectively. The 410, only costs $260, lasts for 10 years, but is virtually a rubber stamp renewal on application. All the applicant has to do to live out his & his wife, or defacto's life, is keep up a full medical cover, including pharmacy & have sufficient cash, or retirement benefits, to support themselves fully for the 10 years. The holder & partner have all rights to work here & come & go to Australia with unlimited multi entree permits. If the holder has all this relative wealth to cover them for 10 years, it is most unlikely that they would have any financial benefit to gain from permanent residency other than a medical card, because they would fail both income & asset tests.

Your remark, Lark, regarding mail order brides is an out of date, unfounded urban myth. You would be surprised how difficult it can be to import a mail order bride nowadays.

Innes, "mail-order bride" is just a terminology and yes, these days it is much more difficult to get foreign spouses into the country. One of my acquaintances just went through the process.

However, in the 80s it was fairly easy, let me tell you a couple of examples:

My neighbour, who was a widow had a young son who was a bit backward - he decided to marry and imported a willing young lady. Within 6 month my poor neighbour was practically pushed out of her house, overrun by relatives.

I also did volunteer work in the Migrant Centre and our migrants were almost exclusively women who married Australian men for citizenship, had a child and lived on the single mother pension. Today it is happening on the Internet, couple of nights ago it was the theme of one of the reports on one of the Current Affair programs. Hardly an urban myth... Of course there are mail order grooms as well - or should we call the Internet Spouses?

Lark. I cannot speak about ancient history, but I can tell you that it is a current "urban myth". If a Thai or Philipa woman marries an Australian citizen, her brothers & or sisters can NEVER immigrate on family or relationship grounds. They have the identical right to immigrate as any new applicant, with no relatives in Aust. If she wants to bring in her parents, they can come on the basis that they have no Aust., benefits for 15 years, or they can pay a one off fee of around $35,000 each, PLUS a bond of approx., $14,000 & have immediate access to Medicare, but no Centrelink benefits for 10 years. The divorcee, can apply to Centrelink, for the single mothers pension, but she cannot bring in a new spouse for 5 years. I have specialised knowledge, on the subject & I am unable to bring in my Brother-in -Law from England. It is easy for programmes like Current Affairs, to propogate a "shock jock" report, full of half truth reports to an uninformed public, who love to participate in conspiracy theories.

9 comments



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