Repatriate parents to Australia may often sound like the best option to take care of them. But how can you know if you are eligible? Which visa best suit their needs? Are they going to adapt to this new way of life?
Mary’s parents had spent a lot of time traveling in Australia. When her dad caught Covid-19 in India, she could not secure an exemption on-time. When her dad passed away, Mary’s mum got stuck in India with none of her kids around.
Then, Mary contacted World Travel Connections based on the recommendation of a friend of hers. After carefully weighting each option, Mary decided to proceed with a parent visa for her mum. The family is now finally reunited in Sydney. The visa she picked for her mum gives her full flexibility and she will be able to adapt based on her mum’s needs.
Mary, could you please tell us about your story?
Covid-19 really hit my family massively. You see, I lost my father due to Covid-19. I had my mum stuck in a country without any of her kids around her. And we were all hit by travel restrictions.
My parents had spent a lot of time in Australia over the last 4-5 years. My twin sister lives here since 5 years ago, and I moved to Australia a couple of years back. My brother lives in the UK. So my parents have been spending a lot of time between the UK and Australia and Singapore when I was there as well.
My parents were in Australia when Covid happen in December 2019. They were on their way back to the UK via India. Then they got stuck in India because of the travel restriction in India and the border restrictions in Australia. I lost my dad to Covid during that time, and we had my mum stuck in India as well with none of us around. That’s when we decided to bring her back to Australia so she can be with both me and my sister.
How did you find out about World Travel Connections services?
While my dad was in the hospital with Covid, we tried desperately to get an exemption to be able to travel out from Australia. With all of the restrictions, it was very hard, and we did not manage to get an exemption until he had passed away. We needed to get that exemption to be able to travel out of the country. Then we decided to get mum back to Sydney with us as soon as possible. I did not have much experience with immigration and border control so I realised I needed an expert help in order to make this possible. I got Nicolas Delacharlerie’s contact through another friend of ours who used World Travel Connections services to travel back from South Africa to Sydney during the Covid time and that is how I managed to contact Nicolas.
In the case of your isolated parent, which visa was actually granted and how long did it take?
We started the conversation with Nicolas sometime in early March 2021. Nicolas was kind enough to go through a lot of visa options with us. I believe we went through the pros and cos of the 600, 143, and 870 visa options as we needed to figure out the best option available to us. Nicolas was also mindful of the fact that it was not just a matter of getting her a visa for a visit, it was a long term project we had in mind. One of the best ways was for her to come here and be able to have the flexibility to stay here for the amount of time that she required to cope with her personal loss and grieve together as a family. Nicolas skilfully drafted an application for a Subclass 600 Tourist Visa which was granted with a 3 year validity and multiple travel facility on it.
Repatriate parents to Australia – Why was your mum’s situation complex?
My mum’s situation was complex mainly due to the fact that:
- International borders were closed
- She had to travel out of India when the Delta variant was rampant
- The visa application during this pandemic period required more than the usual level of transparency and communication around our personal circumstances – the circumstances, our background in our home country, the financial aspect, all of which Nicolas did a great job of understanding and making sure was communicated as part of the visa application.
In terms of complexity, I reckon our situation was very similar to pretty much anyone trying to travel from India to Sydney in that point of time.
Repatriate parents to Australia – Why looking at the long-term picture matters when it comes to our parent’s situation?
I can’t speak for all parents, but we were in a position where our mum was alone. There was no more dad. All her kids were outside the country and obtained Permanent Residency at this point. And that’s why the long-term planning was important for us. We wanted her to feel very close to all of us. Sydney was the most obvious city because the majority of the siblings live here and my mum also spent most of her time in Sydney in the last few years.
World Travel Connections offers emergency travel support, visa solutions, immigration advice as well as travel reservation services. Do you think that World Travel Connections offers a fully integrated solution for customers?
Absolutely, I was quite impressed with my initial conversation with World Travel Connections. It was more like a consultancy firm.
- The initial conversation was more about consulting about what we need to do. How we can do it? What the complications are? And how we can solve them?
- Then once we had nailed this down, we went through the application itself.
- When the application successfully came through, it took care of all her booking for her travel.
- He also advised her on what needed to be prepared for her before she flew. What she needed to take care of once she landed here.
- On top of this he was available to coach and support. He talked to her constantly from when she took off in India, all the way until she landed clear in Sydney.
All aspects of her travel starting from her visa application all the way to her landing in Sydney, were handled exceptionally by World Travel Connections.
Repatriate parents to Australia – Would you have succeeded to help your mum without Nicolas’ assistance?
I don’t think so. Even if I would have, it would have taken much longer. Clearly my mum would not be here today without Nicolas support. We may have been able to just put the application in but not in the way he did it. It was a well thought-out, well-executed project.
How valuable was it to have a migration professional available all-along by your side?
I think it was invaluable. This is an area where you really need a lot of experience. I think it is quite critical to have a migration agent by your side at all the time. You really need to get your application 100% right from the start. Beyond that, not all migration agents do it right. Without giving names, when I first spoke to migration agents a few years back about permanent residency for my parents, none of them have come-across as intent making succeed the way Nicolas did. Everyone else was more of a process agent, they were ready to put the application in on our behalf but nothing was guaranteed. Nicolas on the other hand wanted to get the project done, and made sure he followed through and did give us what he promised to deliver.
All the steps, from every conversation to everything he did, it was clear that he wanted the best possible outcome for us.
Repatriate parents to Australia – What would you recommend to people having isolated parents overseas?
I think it is important to plan ahead, and not just plan ahead about getting your parents across. It is important to plan long term, it is important to find a partner who can work with you to achieve a long term plan. You need to find a partner that understands your circumstances, is empathic and gives you exactly what you need.
