We applied on September 6th 2016 for a 143 Parent visa. At the time, the processing time was 12-15 months. We came over to Australia in December 2017 thinking it would be a short wait, our first grandchild was due and we wanted to be with our family.
We moved around WA with are daughter and husband due to relocation with WA police… so we helped out with grandparents duties while they had the same shift patterns. In our spare time we trained with St. John’s ambulance as volunteers in a small country town. We have been here on a 600 visa and left after 12 months and came back after 6 months… then covid hit and we got a 408 special event visa allowing us to stay because we are essential workers. After our second visa was applied for they put us on a bridging visa while it was being processed.
We had to leave Australia due to a family illness in the Uk, but we don’t have a visa to return… we are close to 68 months… our life feels like a mess. Our savings going down, and the is no way of getting information on how long we have to go…. All our children live in Australia… we now have 4 Australian grandchildren….. and we are thinking of just giving up. We can’t take this any longer, we are 6 years older and it’s just not on that they will still charge this high rate on entrance fee… that was supposed to be a quick way in and worth it. My advise to anybody applying today…. DON’T. It’s really a 19 year wait list.