Question:
My cousin is willing to sponsor me but he is not yet an "Australian
permanent resident". He has been in Australia for 2 years now and is
going to apply.
Does anyone know what this involves and how long its likely to take as
I'm 44 and need to get answers fast.
Answer:
welcome to the forum....
can you please give us more info, especially what visa your
cousin is on?
Yeah, more info needed, and what type of visa are you going for? I hope
you have taken getting skills agencies timeframes into account! some
like the TRA are a little....emm....slow shall we say.
So if you need skills assessment as well you might have to jump first
before anything else.
And unless the cousin lives in a designated area he won't be even to
sponsor even when he becomes a permanent resident.
The original poster should hire a good migration agent urgently as if he
doesn't make a valid application to DIMIA (and one that will be approved
rather than refused) before he turns 45, his options to migrate to
Australia will become very limited indeed.
If the original poster is aged 44 then he really does not have time to
waste and can't afford the risk of confusion - he needs urgent
professional assistance to see if there's any hope of a successful
application.
Some people have confused Permanent Resident status with Citizenship in
the past, and I am wondering if this may also apply here. Mentioning
being here for 2 years, and now applying ? That circumstance is normal
when applying for "Citizenship".
PR's are eligible to sponsor if the other conditions are also met.
I agree, but I also think that a quick phone call to his cousin, to
verify if he is PR or Temp, will help reduce possible confusion. :)
My cousin married an Australian citizen in February 2003 when he was
on a "Temporary Permanent" Visa, as this is not adequate for
sponsorship purposes he has just applied to become a "Permanent
Residence". I don't think I'm confusing this with Citizenship - Am
I?). I wish to know if this is a quick procedure for him.
As regards your other points:
-I indend to apply for a Skilled Migrant - Designated Area Family
Sponsored Visa, Subclass 139.
-My cousin lives in Melbourne (all of Victoria is a qualifying area).
-I am just about to appoint an agent.
-I need a skills assessment and am just about to send my
qualifications to Vetassess which I'm told takes 6-8 weeks.
- I am 45 in December 2005.
Confused by the "temporary permanent" visa bit?
It sounds like your cousin came over on a temporary spouse visa, if he
married an Australian. In that case he gets PR after 2 years, but has
to do at least another two in order to get citizenship (as the law
stands at present.)
I think maybe you need to get a copy of your cousin's visa, and then
speak to an agent?
Maybe it was a temporary spouse visa and I'm just getting confused.
As he has now been in Aus. for 2 years he can apply for permanent
residency but was does this involve? Is it just a matter of filling a
form in? Does it cost anything? How long before he gets an answer?
What is the differance between Permanent Resident and Citizenship
If its a temp spouse visa, then 2 years after visa grant (assuming he is
still married) he should get PR. If DIMIA have not contacted him already
about this then he needs to get in touch with them quoting the details
of the original visa - he does not actually have to apply for the PR.
Lots of people find this out the hard way when they lose their permanent
resident status and can't get back to Australia. Or when they miss out
on life opportunities because they haven't got citizenship.
Advantages of citizenship vs permanent residence
1. Australian passport
2. Australian consular protection when overseas (but not in the country
of your second nationality)
3. Entitlement to vote (this is an obligation)
4. Entitlement to stand for public office (subject to section 44i of
the Constitution which forbids most dual nationals from being
elected to the Federal Parliament - but not state parliaments).
5. Ability to leave the country for as long as you like and return,
without needing a resident return visa
6. You cannot be deported for committing crimes, unless your
citizenship is cancelled first. It's much easier to deport a
permanent resident.
7. Naturalised Australian citizens can register overseas born children
as Australian citizens by descent. Children born to PRs overseas
have no status in Australia and need to be sponsored for migration.
8. It's possible to sponsor for some visas (eg spouse) without being
usually resident in Australia
9. You can work for the Federal government.
10. Full access to schemes to support university fees payment. Permanent
residents pay domestic fees but do not get the full concessions
offered to citizens.
11. Australian citizens can live and work freely in New Zealand (and
become NZ citizens after meeting normal residence requirements).
Permanent residents can also live in NZ but this is dangerous as
there is a risk of losing status in Australia as a result.
 |
|
