Migrate to Australia: New five year visa
24 September 2016 by News DeskMigrate to Australia where migrants will be offered a new way to join their families on the condition they contribute to the cost.
Migrate to Australia will be quicker and easier for migrants’ parents from 2017 thanks to the new temporary sponsored parent visa.
Australians will be able to use the new visa to sponsor their parents to move here for up to five years, rather than join the waiting list for a permanent visa that carries no requirement for a ¬contribution.
A report by the Productivity Commission suggested that each year’s intake of migrants’ parents would cost taxpayers up to $3.2 billion due to the health and aged-care services they would require as they aged.
Alex Hawke, Assistant Minister for Immigration, outlined government plans for the new visa that was part of government manifesto during the recent general election.
“We want to help families reunite and spend time together, while ensuring that we do so in a way that does not burden Australia’s healthcare system,” Alex Hawke said.
Migrate to Australia: New five year visa
Around 1,500 people every year ¬migrate to Australia to join their children after paying a visa fee of $7,000. It can take decades for places to be allocated. Each year around 7,000 parents join their families in Australia via a “contributing” visa that costs $47,000.
The government is yet to ¬decide how much to charge for the new visa which is due to be introduced from July 1 2017 and will allow Australians to sponsor their parents to stay in Australia for up to five years.
“The Turnbull Government recognises that many Australian migrant communities face particular pressures through the separation of children from parents and grandchildren from grandparents,” Mr Hawke said.
“We want to help families reunite and spend time together, while ensuring that we do so in a way that does not burden Australia’s health care system.”
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