When Australia changed their aged parent visa recently, some of the elderly parents of Australian residents had to return to their country of birth. The new Aged Parent visa (subclass 804) allowed parents of a settled Australian citizen, permanent resident or eligible New Zealand citizen to live in Australia permanently, but waiting times for this visa to be granted can take up to thirty years! Our clients in Sydney was not comfortable with the excessive waiting time, and they did not want to add the uncertainty of a visa status to concerns about the future care of their elderly mother.
They managed to find an old age care facility in South Africa where they knew that their mother would receive excellent care, but they were worried about how she would react to such a big change at this late stage of her life. They knew that dementia was beginning to set in and they were advised by medical professionals that their mother would cope better in her new environment if she could take some of her own belongings with her.
Costs were of course a concern, but also timing.
We planned the move to the n th degree. Her goods were packed into boxes by the client and was sent as an air freight shipment to be customs cleared and delivered to one of the major cities in South Africa.
Our clients were ecstatic with the quality of service they had received from the combined team of Red Nav/Sebenza Freight Services. They were kept informed every step of the way and could arrange for extra hands to assist with the receipt and unpacking of the shipment on the day of delivery.
The elderly mother settled in with ease. She is now surrounded with her familiar belongings and is receiving outstanding care. Our client installed a large TV screen in her new house and taught her how to use Skype, so that they can regularly talk to her on video call.
Note: a stock image was used