Skilled visa applicant – family member with disability

I was invited to apply for a temporary nominated skilled visa in 2014 due to Australian skill shortages. My husband was included on my visa as my spouse. My brother-in -law was also included on my visa application as a dependent due to him having a mild learning disability and he had lived with us for several years following the death of his parents.

In the process of our visa we all completed our physical medicals which we passed, however my brother in law was also requested to undertake the mini mental examination which concluded that he had a mild cognitive impairment, but that he did not require any social supportwith his daily living.

Our application was continuing, and we were prepared to leave to start our new life in Australia having paid our fees, medicals, and handed our notices in to our employers, and sold our belongings.

We were then informed by the Australian government that my brother-in-law would not be granted a visa because of his requirement  for social support services. We had already shown that this was not the case for my brother-in-law who had never required any such support. Further, he was not eligible for Australian social support services as he would have been a temporary resident.

The government requested that we have a health waiver signed by my employer in Australia that would make them liable for any future payments, should they arise.  Understandably my employer at this time was unable to commit to this. We were then informed that our visa would not be granted.

In the nearly five years since he has been in Australia, my brother-in-law has not required access to any social support and is surrounded by his family (four of whom have filled Australia’s skilled shortages) who all reside in Australia. He also works voluntarily for a children’s charity.  He has made many friends and enjoys the
Australian lifestyle.

Going through this process has been very challenging for all of the family, both financially and emotionally.  It causes us great anxiety that my brother-in-law’s future is still undecided and the stress of uncertainty plagues the family daily.  We find it very difficult to plan for the future.