# Remaining relative visa



## grifforama (Mar 12, 2008)

Probably a very quick answer for this one.
My wife's sister lives in Australia, but our parents are still alive and live in the UK.
That rules us out (we live in US) for remaining relative visas, correct ?


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## kaju (Oct 31, 2011)

grifforama said:


> Probably a very quick answer for this one.
> My wife's sister lives in Australia, but our parents are still alive and live in the UK.
> That rules us out (we live in US) for remaining relative visas, correct ?


Yes, it rules you out. 

_You might be eligible for this visa if:

your (and your partner's) only near relatives live in Australia

Who is your near relative

Your near relative is your parent or your partner's parent (including biological and step-parent), brother, sister, stepbrother or stepsister; child (including stepchild) who has turned 18 and is not a dependent child; or child (including stepchild) who has not yet turned 18 years of age and is not in your or your partner's daily care and control. _


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## Steve.Aes (May 23, 2017)

I would like to claim my daughter who is still living in the uk . My wife and I are permanent residents, our daughter is our last child in the uk and she has no immediate family left there as my son and his wife along with our three grandchildren all live on queensland. Our son has taken up Australian citizenship.
Is it possible to do this and will our daughter be able to work as we will not be able to support her indefinitely.
If so which visa number do we need to look at?


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## kaju (Oct 31, 2011)

Steve.Aes said:


> I would like to claim my daughter who is still living in the uk . My wife and I are permanent residents, our daughter is our last child in the uk and she has no immediate family left there as my son and his wife along with our three grandchildren all live on queensland. Our son has taken up Australian citizenship.
> Is it possible to do this and will our daughter be able to work as we will not be able to support her indefinitely.
> If so which visa number do we need to look at?


Assuming she is an adult, she would need to consider whether she could get a skilled visa in her own right - last remaining relative visas are a very low priority within the limited places available in the Family visa part of the Migration Program:

_Based on current planning levels and the allocation of the majority of the Other Family places to the Carer visa category, it is currently estimated that Remaining Relative and Aged Dependent Relative visa applications that were lodged in 2014 and meet the criteria to be queued are likely to take approximately 50​ years to be released for final processing (calculated from 14 August 2014)._

"Waiting times for Other Family", here: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Brin/Fami/Capping-and-queuing/Other-family-visa-queue


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## Steve.Aes (May 23, 2017)

Yes our daughter is an adult (34) but 50 years?


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## kaju (Oct 31, 2011)

Steve.Aes said:


> Yes our daughter is an adult (34) but 50 years?


Yes, it effectively means you can rule out that visa, and that Skilled Migration is the only option, dependent on your daughter's background and/or any ability she might have to qualify for a skilled visa.

There's a strong element in the Australian Migration Programme of focusing on Australia's needs - while the right of Citizens and Permanent Residents to bring their partners to Australia is recognised, the possible contribution and/or cost to Australia by prospective migrants is also a major issue.

Remaining Relative visas (as with Parent Visas) do not require applicants to be able to work, pay tax, etc - they are free of most normal visa conditions, and can present a very substantial cost for the Australian Taxpayer. So the numbers available are very limited.

The Australian Migration Programme has a certain number of permanent visa places each year. This year and next, it is 190,000 places. It's a very big programme given the size of the Australian population.

https://www.border.gov.au/about/corporate/information/fact-sheets/20planning

Most visas are for Skilled Migration - 128,550 places for skilled workers and their dependents (partners and children).

In the 57,825 places available under the Family Stream of the Migration Programme, the Australian Government gives priority to giving visas to overseas partners of Australian Citizens and Permanent Residents. This group gets 47,825 places this year.

The next priority in the Family Stream is Parent Visas (8675 places) and Carers - Carers already have up to a 2 year wait, and the volume of Australian Citizens and Permanent Residents that want there Parents to migrate means that there is anything up to a 30 year wait for Parent Visas.

The remaining very few places (900, less the places given for Carer visas, which are included in this number) means that Remaining Relative Visas are very few, and given the number of people applying for them, the wait is very long indeed. As Citizens of other nations, those nations are expected to provide for their own Citizens, and Australian family migration is rightly focused much more on the direct partners and dependents of Australian Citizens and Permanent Residents.

Australia's Migration Programme is operated for the benefit of Australia as a whole, so it's largely focused towards employment. Of course, Partner visas will always have the biggest priority of the Family Stream visas. 

Quite simply, there is a limit to the number of people allowed to migrate to Australia each year, and as it is a desirable place to live, the number of people that want to live here is larger than than the number that the Australian Parliament is prepared to approve. Many people in Australia believe the Migration Programme is currently too large for Australia's needs. 

So, queues for some Visas exist. Naturally no foreign citizen has a right to live in Australia, but even so, it may be possible to look at alternative methods such as the Skilled Migration Program to see if any other options exist.

As with all countries, it can sometimes be the case that people simply don't meet visa requirements, and so then, a would-be applicant can't migrate to that country. 

Some people might choose to find out the requirements for a given visa, and if possible, then set about doing whatever is needed to meet those requirements, which may take considerable time. Others are less fortunate, and the reality may be won't be able to meet the requirements, and that they won't be able to migrate. 

It's the same (probably even more difficult) to migrate to the UK and many other countries. As an example, with about a third of the UK's population, Australia's annual Migration Programme is significantly larger than the UK's entire permitted annual volume of permanent migrants.

You can check what visa types might be of interest here: https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1


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