When will my visa be granted?

Q. How long does it take for my Australian Visa application to be granted?

If you’re applying (or about to apply) for an Australian visa, you want to know how long it’s going to take to be granted.

This is understandable, as you’re eager to start your new life in Australia. Having such information will also allow you to get on with other crucial steps in the immigration process.

This can include knowing when to put your house up for sale – too early and you may have to move into temporary rental accommodation if your house sells and your visa hasn’t been granted.

Conversely, if you delay putting your house up for sale, you may end up with your visa being granted and not being able to move as your house hasn’t sold and your equity is tied up in the property.

Other things to consider are knowing when to organise international removals – shipping your goods to Australia takes several weeks.

Knowing when to start job hunting, arranging for your children to finish school etc.

As you can see, being able to accurately predict when your visa will be granted is very important.

There are several ways you can get information to help you determine approximate waiting times:

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection publish approximate processing times on there website.

The information is not specific to your case however and goes along the lines of “75% of applications processed in x number of days” for example.

It’s also possible to send a blank email to DIBP for some visas and this will trigger an automated email response which contains approximate processing times. (eg, email parents@border.gov.au for information on parent, child and other family branch visas)

Social Media

Another method is to visit groups and forums such as www.pomsinoz.com  as many members post their visa timelines on the forums to compare with other members timelines.

Australia Visa Timelines Immigration Trackers

A third way, and a method which is becoming more popular is to utilize an immigration tracker / visa timelines website such as:

www.australia-visa-timelines.com

This allows you to enter key dates about your visa application and compare them in tabular format with lots of other members.

You can look at who’s applied for the same visa as you, the same dates as you, from the same country, occupation etc.

This will allow you obtain greater insight into the likely time is will take for your visa to be granted.