The Applicant approached Immigration Solutions Lawyers for assistance lodging an application for a Subclass 186 visa through the Temporary Residence Transition Stream. He wished to include his wife and three dependent children in the visa application. The Temporary Residence Transition Stream is open to Subclass 457 visa holders who have worked for their employer in Australia for at least two years in a nominated occupation and whose employer wishes to offer them a permanent position in that same nominated occupation. Since he had been granted his Subclass 457 visa over three years prior to coming to Immigration Solutions Lawyers and his employer was an approved business sponsor, the Applicant was able to proceed under this stream. In order to be included as a dependant on a Subclass 186 visa, an individual must either be under the age of 18 or, if he or she is over the age of 18, be financially dependent on the primary applicant. At the time of application, all three of the Applicant’s children were over the age of 18. As they were still studying, however, they were dependent on the Applicant. In addition to documents relating to the Applicant’s ongoing employment in the nominated occupation, Immigration Solutions Lawyers prepared and lodged evidence with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to prove the financial dependency of the Applicant’s children. This evidence included statutory declarations detailing the dependants’ living and employment arrangements, as well as tax returns and bank statements showing that the Applicant covered basic living expenses such as accommodation, food, clothing and education. Immigration Solutions Lawyers argued that casual work undertaken by the dependants did not exceed 20 hours per week and was therefore insufficient to cover basic living expenses. Secondary applicants over the age of 18 are also required to have functional English language ability. Failing this, secondary applicants need to pay the second instalment of the visa application charge. Since the primary language of the Applicant’s wife and children was English and they had been educated in English, this criterion was met and there was no need to pay the second instalment of the visa application charge. Immigration Solutions Lawyers was able to secure a positive visa outcome for the Applicant and all of his dependants less than one year after the application was lodged. The Applicant and his family are now permanent residents in Australia. Click here to read more about Immigration Solutions Lawyers and Anne O’Donoghue.