sharonp53

I have updated my timeline. I hope it is of help to others.

Thank you so much for all your good wishes and support.

I am now trying to organise trip back to UK, getting the car to the shipping company, steam cleaning it and getting the shipment off to Oz. Also trying to organise our dog staying with my daughter, saying goodbye to everyone and of course getting flights....but it is a very exciting - if scary - stage.

There is Soooooo much to do. But I am not complaining. We will be flying out within the month I think. We have to be there by November 25th at latest as that's when Graham's health check runs out.

Where are you going Yugoj and when?

Wishing everyone else all the best I hope those visas start popping through now. But call the CO when you get to your date!

Wow - I've only been offline for a few days and, after a period of no news for weeks it's great that all these visas are being granted now.

 

I just wanted to say congrats to everyone, esp SharonP53 - we've all been following your story and hoping that yours would come soon.

 

As others have said though - now for the move, shipping etc!!

Thank you so much for the support. Thank you to everyone thhat was supportive, it really helped xxx

Off to celebrate now :biggrin:

I will be thinking abd hoping for those of you still waiting.

Oh the magic words have come "Your visa is granted" :biglaugh::jiggy:

 

Congratulations!!! That's fantastic, you must be so relived! :hug:

Are you going to be celebrating?

Oh the magic words have come "Your visa is granted" :biglaugh::jiggy:

I could not wait to tell you - you are next :hug:

QUOTE=GeorgeD;853602]I've got mine crossed for you too...how glad are you that this is Thursday and not Friday, so you don't need to wait over the weekend???

Thank you for your fantastic support. I am delighted it is Thursday!!

:hug:[

QUOTE=GeorgeD;853602]I've got mine crossed for you too...how glad are you that this is Thursday and not Friday, so you don't need to wait over the weekend???

Oh my goodness, what a night we have ahead of us!

Turns out our CO is away today, we just had a call from a collegue that was taking calls. He told us that he thought we should have a grant in a few days, but was not sure if there was anything not showing on the file, so not to hold him to it. Our CO is back tomorrow :unsure:

Fingers crossed, in fact everything that can be crossed will be crossed. Hopefully it will be our turn to celebrate tomorrow - pleaseeee!

It would help if the agent would actually DO something for the small fortune we paid him. He just told me that "if I write an email to him he will pass it on to the CO". He also said the COs do not anwer their phones and there are very strict rules as to when they should be contacted.

Of course, I can make the contact myself, by am I wrong to expect more? If only I had used one of the agents suggested on here instead of mine! Beware of agents that have not been personally recommended. :mad:

Thanks for the hug Emmaroo x

You're absolutely right...people on here are unlikely to forget about it...friends and family seem to think it is a much more casual affair unfortunately and don't appreciate the strain sometimes!

You sound like your about to blow a gasket! It is a very stressfull time and as you say I dont think friends realise just how much is dependant on the visa being granted!

Have a hug from me and try not to worry too much- visa will be with you soon!

:hug:

Emma

Oh GeorgeD,

You know only too well - you NEVER get used to it. It is now 5 months and 3 days since our application went in - and two and a half hours since Graham rang to try to speak to the CO, leaving a message to please call back! But, who's counting?

Oh thank God my grey hairs can be covered up! Not sure my arteries will ever be the same again.

Cheers for now :eek:

No, nobody stressed here...not us! Don't know how you do it Sharonp35, you've been waiting longer than most of us here!

 

 

 

You're absolutely right...people on here are unlikely to forget about it...friends and family seem to think it is a much more casual affair unfortunately and don't appreciate the strain sometimes!

Congratulations!!

Was it a 309 or a 100?

Now it's time for you to celebrate :jimlad:

I sent off my aplication on 20th May, told to contact them on 2nd August which i did, then told another 5 weeks, so emailed this morning exactly 5 weeks later and got the email saying i have got my visa. Good luck to everyone still waiting.

Oh God, the stress. My OH just called his CO but only an AM - should he leave a message, should he keep trying, should he email? Oh I HATE this uncertainty.

Help!!! :arghh:

Opps - so sorry Peers - I am thrilled for you - Honest I am!

Stressed - whose stressed? Not me .....honest guv.....aaaaargh...

Hi guys,

Visa arrived yesterday. My CO said she would contact me in the first week of Sept (the 7th Sept would be exactly 4 months from the date they took my money and 4 months + 2 days after my application was received). I waited, stressed, waited and stressed a lot more. Eventually once the 1st week of September was up I called her. An hour later the visa email arrived saying I have been granted the visa. She called me and apologised for the delay and thanked me for being patient.

All the best of luck to everyone still waiting. I would trust what the CO says on dates but if you pass that deadline then call, email etc and remind them you are still waiting patiently.

Hey, I am with you, it is very unbalanced. We own an Australian company, started at the end of our old UK company's tax year on advice from accountants in Australia and the UK. But, because it has taken so long to get our visas we have not been able to pay ourselves wages, because as soon as we do my husband will be treated as an Australian tax resident.

Seems fair you may say, yes but we will pay tax but without the tax threshold (we would be entitled to when onshore) and of course we are not able to benefit from any services. So, we would both be paying huge levels of tax (Oh and we cannot claim the tax-free threshold retrospectively when we get there, if we have paid ourselves offshore) for no benefit, and worse than that to a country in which my husband has no right to be - or more particularly - to work.

It is all so frustrating, and to be honest - confusing. So, the result is we have not been able to pay ourselves now for nearly 5 months, instead of the two-three months we anticipated. Hey ho!, hopefully not too much longer now - PLEASE!

The joys of falling in love with a non-resident, blimey, it is as well I adore him...lol. :wub:

Easy tiger...sounds like you were some sort of fugitive!

 

 

Well that's perfect...I'M AN AUSTRALIAN TAX PAYER!!! Well, I have an Australian Tax File Number even as an offshore non-resident because my wife had been claiming some sort of benefit in Oz as a single parent...she notified Centrelink she got married and they stopped all benefits until I got a TFN so they could assess me. OK, I haven't earned a penny in Oz so haven't paid any tax, but the Taxman knows me! Isn't it great how one Government department can stop paying you money instantly based on a single phone call, but a different one takes months to make a decision even when you pay them and give them 100+ pages of documentation!

It is a pain,

We are all being told different things. I was told 5 months by my CO so will not be contacting her until middle of next week, when our 5 months is up!)

Peer,

 

Yes I know what you mean, feels like its all word play. Mine just keeps saying 4 months from the date of application. Which is this week if your counting it properly i.e 16 weeks = 4 months. I handed in my notice at work, and have been applying for jobs in Oz saying il be over mid-september. I would give my right arm to know what the hold up is. My CO obviously knows the outcome of the application but is just sitting on this whole 4 months crap. Sorry but I just dont understand why they have to do that. Means we cant make plans!! GR!! Moan over.

Hi GeorgeD

Thank you for the message and the encouragement. You are right our agent did tell us to wait until our 5 months is up before we contact the CO.

We have decided to wait until then and have another 9 days to that deadline. This is because that was the earliest revised date we were given.

I am not aware of any official announcement that states that all pre-announcement applications would still be processed in the 3-4 month time-frame.

We were actually originally told at the beginning of July that we would obtain the visa within 2-4 weeks. Within two weeks from that telephone conversation we were informed by email that "effective immediately" all applications would be processed on the new 5-6 month time-frame.

I am sure you are right that any new announcement regarding further change of policy would be announced more widely than on one post, but we are all subject to debate and innuendo in the absence of facts. And there is a definite lack of facts in the immigration process. It seems subjective and very "mysterious" we have no idea why some are processed faster than others.

My own case is, I am assured by the agent and the CO, very straightforward. My husband is English, we have lived together for 11 years and been married for four. There iis nothing that we are aware of that causes complications in our case and in fact we have been told that as soon as the current "hold" has been removed we will obtain our visa.

Luckily I am not a violent person...lol. Any wringing of necks is purely metaphoric and in any event, I cannot hold someone who does not have the power to change things responsible, it is the great faceless whole. And I don't see anyone standing up and saying "it's me folks, I am holding all this up" anytime soon, do you?

Meanwhile, we can do no more than hold each others hands, mop up each others tears and whoop with joy with those lucky enough to get their visa processed. Eventually we will all get there.

Hugs to everyone who is waiting - particularly those who applied in April/May :hug:

I haven't heard that one...but there has been some activity from London in the last few days, albeit only one approval (Mad Chicken), so i doubt that would be the case. You would think that something like all applications being processed in Australia would be announced somewhere, this would need more staff employed, training, major impacts at every Embassy around the world, etc. Also, if it was being processed in Australia you would be notified you have a new Case Officer, so I really think (hope!) that is unlikely.

 

If you are past the 5 month mark then you applied long before the 5-6 month announcement and the then lead time was 3-4 months...you are well within your rights to phone your Case Officer to find out what the hold up is. There have been several people who applied after you been given their grant.

 

I know you mentioned elsewhere that your agent told you under no circumstances to contact your CO as you would be hassling them, but I think for your own sanity you need to at least get an update. If you are civil and polite then I have little doubt your Case Officer will be exactly the same back to you. I would keep any ideas about wringing necks to yourself (for the time being, but it might come to that!!) It may well be that your own situation is more complicated than some, hence the delay, but at least if they tell you that then you know what is going on...it is also your opportunity to give them more info to help them do their job. Pestering your CO every other day from when you sent in your application is likely to do you no good in the long term. Asking after 5 months about the status of a visa you were told would take 3-4 months isn't hassling someone. Even if they say the lead time is the dreaded 5-6 months...well, you're there right now, so you have every right to ask.

 

Take a big deep breath, relax, get all violent thoughts out of your mind (as hard as that may be!) and contact your CO for an update. Then let us all know what they said!!

 

EDIT: I've read a post on another forum today mentioning a Case Officer saying worldwide Spouse Applications were being processed in Australia and the poster's application would take 6-9 months. Important thing to note is that the poster on that forum applied onshore in Perth, WA. It's a different visa with a different processing route. Speak to your CO in London to put your mind at rest.

Now it's starting to really get me down. We are nearly at the 5 month mark and someone on another forum said that all applications worldwide are now being processed in Australia and will typically take 6-9 months - surely this is not right? Please God it is not right.....my husband will tell them where to go and I will never get home!

This is really starting to get me down now and for the first time I am wondering if I am doing the right thing. The stress is dreadful and we have now been in this situation, in one form or another, for over two years!

Sorry to be so miserable guys, but if I did not moan I may feel like wringing someone's neck, probably someone in the immigration department, if I could identify who was responsible! :mad:

I am so thrilled for you. I genuinely am. Being apart is so much harder than what we are going through.

Wishing you a safe and happy journey to your new home.

:hug:

WOOP WOOP!!! MADCHICKEN HAS DONE IT!!

 

Received an email today saying..

 

Dear MadChicken we are pleased to inform you that your pmv 300 visa has been granted!!!!!!!!!

 

Best feeling eva!! I have not seen my soon to be wife in over 6 months, Shes been patiently waiting in oz.Ticket booked,im flying back next week.

 

Best of luck to all you guys and big thanks for the support

Sharonp53 i really hope your the next person on here to post with good news

 

And special thanks to Maybeamey

I don't know how you can be so calm sharonp53...people who applied after you have been granted theirs! Have you phoned them to get an update?

 

I'm 17 days away from 4 months...not that I'm counting, honest. As soon as 4 months is up and assuming I haven't had an update by that point, then I'll be on the phone. Someone who applied a week before me was granted theirs a week and a half ago!!

It is rotten how the waiting times seem to fluctuate. My straightforward application in January took 10 days short of six months to come through. I lost count of the people who applied after me, yet got their visas sooner. On reflection, I wouldn't have bothered trying to hassle my CO as it did me no good.

I have done my raving George, but it seems impossible to change anything. It is grossly unjust that they are not issued in order. At least we would all know where we stand. But, it seems that, while we have some serious reasons to need to get there, nothing will change the pace at which each individual application moves.

Like Peach says I am not sure that contacting the CO really helps. Ours spoke to us at the beginning of July and told us we would have the visa within 2 weeks, four at the worst. The next thing we heard was when 5-6 months was announced. It seems ours was just one that got held up.

I will contact her again when we are a few days over 5 months and see what is going on. The other problem is that each time we get involved we go through even more trauma and I have had enough of it all.

So, just trying to hang loose and let it happen. We are homeless yet again on September 15th, so God knows what we will do then....:confused:

No don't - you can really stress about mine for me - nealry 5 months now!! April 6th.

It all gets a bit much after a while doesn't it?

Wishing you well

:hug:

OK Madchicken, 4 months today, trust you to pick a bank holiday!... I expect to log on tomorrow, and see from you a big whoop whoop " visa granted" if you haven't heard by 10am, go ahead and ring them, fingers crossed.

 

See I am not only stressin about mine but now everybody else's timelines, really gotta get a life!

We applied April 6th. Now only 10 days to go before it will be 5 months. :arghh:

When did you apply? I applied 16th May and haven't heard a peep other than they don't need any more info...Mid Sept would be fantastic for me, and incidentally that would be exactly 4 months from my application, so right on cue. My CO tends not to reply to my emails, which doesn't really encourage me to phone her any time before the 4 month mark I was originally expecting.

Wishing you a smooth journey all the way to Oz.....:wink:

Good Luck!

:hug:

Sorry,

Just saw you are arriving in November. I am guessing you are on the Oriana.

I would still love details though, as we should be able to make it , as that will put us into 7 months by the time we arrive.

Surely that's long enough!!

Thanks again,

Sharon

Hi Michele,

We are keen to do a criuse to Sydney, but could not find one in November. Can you pass on details of the ship and who you booked with please.

Many thanks,

Sharon

Different CO to us then.

 

Glad that is just the standard disclaimer, bit worried for second there in case they had changed their minds again as we have a cruise booked and we arrive in Sydney from San Francisco on the 4th November. :jiggy:

Oh Sharonp53!

 

No visa yet! thats a joke,,,

CO getting sick of you,,

Id tell your agent that the case officer would be more sick if he/she had been waiting over 4 months for the visa with no news yet.For all your agent knows,your visa may be ready and they just need a friendly reminder...(kick up the arse!) to finalise your app.

Id email, or call AH Today and ask for an update of your application status as others have done once there app has reached 4 months and have been succesfull.

 

Im pretty sure it should be ready Sharon,i emailed my co 2 wks ago and she said it was still 3-4 months (for april apps) and apps are processed in order of them been recieved!(so people shouldnt be getting theres before you) She also said that id be informed if there was going to be any delays and ive not heared anything yet.So as far as i know my app has no delays yet and will be processed within the time frame.My 4 months is nearly up and on that day ill be knocking on there door!

 

Good luck sharon,, forget the agent (ive never used one and have applied for various visas) just get in touch with them today mate.If they ask why you have called and not your agent,,id say that i cant get in touch with my agent and that my app has been in for more than four months and im BLOODY CONCERNED and getting sick of it lol.:hug:

We agree with MadChicken, you are entitled to ask!!! We have used an agent based in Australia and he is on to them like a freight train and as MadChicken said you have paid for it and the time frame is up.

 

Be strong and contact them, you have nothing to lose and you are entitled to know!!! Best of luck to you!!!

 

We will get there in the end X:biggrin:

Thanks to you both. I agree, I will get Graham to call her tomorrow. Oh God, I am so nervous :twitcy:.

I will let you know how we go.

Thank you both so much. Good luck with yours too!! :hug:

Anyone have any thoughts?

Our agent says do NOT contact CO as they may get sick of you. Trouble is people who applied after us have obtained their visas and we want to know where we stand. The agent seems concerned about his business relationship with CO, so is he just dithering to avoid getting on her nerves, or are we best to sit it out?

What does everyone think?

Never, and that takes me back to an earlier post. We are just pawns in their political games. The Labour government wants to state at the election that they have ALREADY cut immigration (by not approving applications in the pipeline they can do that). Effectively pushing us all forward so that anyone that applies after Nov/Dec will fall into the next year as far as immigration statistics are concerned.

 

Great init! Do they forget we have a vote too, or are there just not enough of us to count? Probably the latter. :arghh:

Just to let you know I am unable to deal with all of this. I am leaving PIO. I am sorry to lose contact with those of you that have been helpful and I wish you well with your applications.

Good luck,

Sharon

That would be applying common sense but when do governments ever do that!:wacko:

Never, and that takes me back to an earlier post. We are just pawns in their political games. The Labour government wants to state at the election that they have ALREADY cut immigration (by not approving applications in the pipeline they can do that). Effectively pushing us all forward so that anyone that applies after Nov/Dec will fall into the next year as far as immigration statistics are concerned.

Great init! Do they forget we have a vote too, or are there just not enough of us to count? Probably the latter. :arghh:

16/6/2010 partner 309 lodged in London

24/6/2010 Co requests for meds and pc,nothing else

meds and pc sent on 2/7/2010

23/7 phoned A/H.Co out of office,A/h said all was in order and visa would be finalised in oct

30/7/2010 e mailed Co, only to have reply that finalisation wont be till December.

So sorry to hear this. It is not the time so much as the uncertainty isn't it? Don't lose heart, things may improve, we have to hang on to that - and stick together.

:hug: