# Kids education in Oz whilst awaiting PR



## brettjb (Jun 25, 2010)

Hi everyone,

My name is Brett, I'm from Adelaide but currently in the United States with my new wife and children.

We have the Spouse Visa progress well in progress (with a great agent) and will be getting back to Australia in early July on the ETA whilst awaiting approval of the Spouse Visa. (This has all been approved and the ETA is done legitimately of course, with my wife and her (now our) two children needing to leave the country temporarily when the Spouse Visa comes through.

As most of you know, the migration process is not cheap when you consider all of the factors involved.

We were just sent an email from the govt. department for education stating that whilst in Australia awaiting for permanent residency/Spouse Visa to be granted, education costs for the children at a public school will be $8000 each (that is the yearly fee). This means that the approximate 1 term will cost $4000 in total.

Is this right? Can anyone suggest alternatives whilst we await the Visa to be processed?

If we found a private school, is it likely to be cheaper?

As you can imagine, this is quite an expense we did not expect and we do not wish to compromise the children's schooling either.

We need to find a way to get through for the few months that processing may take.

Children's ages: 4 and 6
Location: Southern Adelaide

Thanks to any who can give any advice.
Brett


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## Wanderer (Jun 16, 2007)

brettjb said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> My name is Brett, I'm from Adelaide but currently in the United States with my new wife and children.
> 
> ...


Yes Brett, unless you get fortunate and have fees overlooked at the local level, it'd seem you'll be up for about what you have been advised.
I think the fees may vary state to state and there could even be some states where primary school level fees are waived for temporary residents and I've even seen such a comment for SA but information on the internet can easily get out of date.
The advice you got could have come from http://www.internationalstudents.sa.edu.au/files/links/Fee_Schedule_2010.pdf and there's also a reference on Tuition fees
I doubt you'll get much joy re private schools and then of course there's the issue of getting them in.
Seeing as they're just 4 & 6 , the younger one will not really need to line up until next year at the earliest.
If your wife will not be working to start with, is home education an option and in getting a curriculum from a local school, I'd not be surprised if it would be possible to even get them further advanced with 1 on 2 attention, making them extra savvy with the net and learning from the masses of info available.
And you could still get them joined up to all manner of kid activities like little athletics, the local swimming club and other sports so as they'd not be missing out on the social aspects.

Alternately, have you looked into official adoption to see if that'll make a difference to fees.
With the visa in general, has your agent had you yourself get an Australian police clearance because that is a requirement where children are involved in immigrating.


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## brettjb (Jun 25, 2010)

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply. The information we are going on was provided to us by DECS directly, so the fees are going to be a definite, unfortunately.

As for home schooling, we were hoping to avoid this situation for practical purposes. Whilst awaiting the VISA approval for my wife, she was planning on spending her months continuing her training as a custom jeweller. She is very skilled, and having just completed one of the best courses in the US just recently, she needs to continue with a lot of follow up practice to ensure she has good employment opportunities when she is able to work.

As for the AFP check, yes, all done and clear! 

You mentioned adoption. One of the reasons I have actually been here in the US for the past months is because I am in the process of adopting her children. The government here is notoriously slow and whilst it was meant to have been completed a couple months ago, we still have not even been given a date (and can't see how it could go through now in time for us returning).

Would it make a difference if they were adopted? I have proof that we are undergoing the process. Perhaps I should chase this up and find out?

Thanks again.
Brett


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