Applying for child visa if PR visa for child is not activated

[anita82]

Hello
We've currently applied for visa 176 (state sponsored) for me, my husband and our 1,5 yo daughter. We just passed the medicals and we hope we'll get in in few months, initial entry date will be probably up to Feb 2013.

The problem is we were planning to go there alone first and bring her in OZ when she's like 3-4 years old and we've already settled down. Flying back and forth till February just to activate her visa is a waste of time and money so we were thinking to let her visa expire and later when it's time for her to come to apply for Child visa (subclass 101).

Has anyone done that, any advice and complications we might encounter? Any ideas about the timeline for issue of child visa?
Thanks in advance!

[_shel]

Sounds doable but the rules for child visas may not be the same when you come to apply for it so you could be taking a huge risk for her to end up with no visa.

Who would the child live with while you are in Australia? How could you persuade DIAC she is dependent on you alone if the child is in another country at such a young age with someone else.

Also by not activating it and not living in Australia your CO will rightly ask "prove you have intentions to reside permanently in Australia" You may have a hard time trying to persuade them you do when you purposefully let your daughters visa lapse and she has been living outside of Australia for 3-4 yrs.

How is flying to Australia to validate a visa already paid for a waste of money when you will then pay $2000, probably more like $3000+ in 3-4yrs plus medicals for a child visa?

[anita82]

Yes you're right about the DIAC rules and that they might change....

Not activating it now was just an idea not a decision. My mother is retired and she's willing to take care of our daughter till we settle down. She would be out of OZ for like 1 year, not 4 - if we depart when she's 2yo we could take her back when she's like 3yo.
And by waste of money and time I meant we'll need 2 two-way tickets for her activation (hers + one of us), then one-way ticket for the parent to come back. So in total it'd be more costly than the child visa and in bad time - just in the beginning of our move when we'll need as much money we can get.

Anyway it seems a bad idea and we better activate her no matter the cost so we won't be sorry later and struggle with DIAC again

[nonny1983]

Hi, just wondering if you have thought of the emotional implications if you choose this route? Please dont think I'm being judgemental because I don't know your circumstances or reasons for even thinking of leaving your daughter but my first thought on reading this was what if she doesn't want to leave her grandmother after a year or so living with her? Your mother is going to build a special bond with her and it will be hard on both of them, especially because she's at an age where personality is developing.
6 weeks ago I moved over with 3 children aged 8,2 and 1 and having them around has helped me settle too as they make the place feel like home. They have all been pretty good too, if any of them have found the seperation fron family and friends difficult its been my oldest as he had a more solid bond.
I'm sure you will work something out that suits your situation tho good luck

[anj1976]

not suggested, i;d rather suggest calling your mum over on a visitors and let her take care of the child while you work, btw, the childcare centres here are as good as can be, they take very good care of kids, my 15mo goes to one and i am more than happy with them. what are you really worried about?

[atsurti]

Originally Posted by anj1976

not suggested, i;d rather suggest calling your mum over on a visitors and let her take care of the child while you work, btw, the childcare centres here are as good as can be, they take very good care of kids, my 15mo goes to one and i am more than happy with them. what are you really worried about?

Agree to anj1976... You can get your mom there to help you settle. But that would cost you some money too.

If you do go ahead with leaving your child with your mom you can certainly find a job in a few months and save money in Oz and travel home to take your child to Aus and validate your child's visa. You will also get a chance to meet your kid

[anita82]

Originally Posted by atsurti

Agree to anj1976... You can get your mom there to help you settle. But that would cost you some money too.

If you do go ahead with leaving your child with your mom you can certainly find a job in a few months and save money in Oz and travel home to take your child to Aus and validate your child's visa. You will also get a chance to meet your kid

Thanks for the opinions, the main reason we think of leaving the child with mom till we settle is to make the transition the easiest way - both for us and her. We'll be both looking for jobs and as far as I've read renting apartment is not an easy task when you've just arrived.

Keeping in mind we'll have retired person ready to babisit it's little bit pointless to use daycares so we might take mom in the beginning to help and later decide what to do. Anyway, we'll find the best way to validate her visa and skip dealing with DIAC and further visa applications.

[nonny1983]

Renting when newly arrived isn't hard at all. There are some agents who actually cater for it but its at a premium.
We actually contacted agents from the UK and asked could we arrange a rental from that side to cone straight into and all but one agent said yes. It was all arranged over email, the signing if the lease etc and we done a bank transfer for rent/ bond. It helps to have a few weeks in advance and if you can get references from your bank/ landlord to say your a good tenent etc but don't forget there's more than one way to skin a cat.........good luck again