Raul Senise

Not necessarily. I think it is unlikely that an Immigration Case officer is going to comment on a public forum. I believe that this varies considerably. I have had instances where the case officer has checked independent resources such as ASIC and found that a company was under administration. The other serious issue to consider is that you would potentially be committing fraud and even if successful in the short term, you could potentially face visa cancellation in the future.

Latest published processing times for this visa are between 15 to 40 days. If it is a straightforward application it is usually pretty quick. See here under "Specified Work" for type of Regional work which is accepted for the second WHV.

Very likely. The Department has uncovered high levels of fraud in the Employer Nomination Program (186/187) and have greatly increased scrutiny in the program.

Yes, the requirement was put in place to make it impractical to try and use the loophole to avoid the costs of the contributory parent visa.

This loophole was closed in 2009. If you are granted a Contributory Parent visa you cannot sponsor your partner for five years from the date your Contributory Parent visa is granted.

As per the last invitation round: Most occupations need at least 70 points for an invite under the 189. Engineering Technologists need at least 75 points for a 189. NSW appear to be inviting the highest scoring applicants for 190 but do not publish results. If you have any way of increasing your points, such as with higher English score, this would be advisable.

Glad it finally got sorted out.

See here. Due to high levels of demand, and in keeping with previous years, the below occupation groups will be subject to pro rata arrangements to ensure availability of invitations across the program year. Point scores and the dates of effect cut off for the pro rata occupations in the 21 March 2018 invitation round. Occupation ID Description Points score Date of effect 2211 Accountants N/A N/A 2212 Auditors, Company Secretaries and Corporate Treasurers 80 31/01/2018 1:04 PM 2334 Electronics Engineer 75 20/03/2018 9:19 PM 2335 Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers 70 14/11/2017 10:56 PM 2339 Other Engineering Professionals 75 9/03/2018 5:42 PM 2611 ICT Business and System Analysts 75 07/02/2018 7:13 PM 2613 Software and Applications Programmers 75 3/03/2018 11:05 AM 2631 Computer Network Professionals 75 16/03/2018 5:01 AM

You should be able to go electronic for the second stage 801.

Good luck, but be mindful that the latest from the 457 section specifically states "No response will be provided to the queries related to the application status update"

Yes, I have recently had some on shore application start to be processed in only a few months from lodgement. My point is that it is very erratic.

I have no recent practical experience on timing for postal applications as it has been so long since I have done a non electronic partner application.

No, it's not that easy, but not impossible. Look under subclass 188 Business Innovation stream for details. Be careful as there are many who will try and sell you a business with the promise of a visa. They may make it sound easy, but it s not, otherwise everyone would be doing it.

A business visa (188 provisional) under the Business Innovation Stream may be an initial option. If they are then involved in an Australian business for two years and meet certain other criteria, they can then apply to covert the visa to Permanent. The million dollar investments are only under investment streams and not relevant to the Business Innovation Stream.

Currently there are huge inconsistencies with the processing times of Partner visas. Even on shore, online applications can now be processed anywhere in the world. It is not unusual for an onshore applicant to receive a request from an Australian Immigration post on the other side of the globe. Onshore processing times are varying anywhere from 6 to 24 months.