hmsmark
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Everything posted by hmsmark
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Not to my knowledge. My guess for the apparent slowdown is a combination of factors. #1: DIAC is still revving back up from the Holidays.; #2: They're on June with allocations, and as we can see by the spread sheet, June was a BIG month. Probably 2-3 times the size of a normal month. #3: With the start of the new calendar year, other higher priority applications may be coming in. My expectation is that they will take awhile to get through June...
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DIAC apparently "increased processing capability" during 2011. This, coupled with the rule changes over 2011 and 2012 should make it possible for them to get through the backlog of Cat V applicants.
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I suspect that with Christmas and New Year's Day, there were a lot of people at DIAC who took extended holidays over that time (as people do in many offices throughout the western world), and they might now be returning to the office this Monday. Hopefully we will see them allocate the rest of June over the next couple of weeks and move onto those of us waiting for July to come up!
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They will get to it eventually. It seems like it frequently takes until Monday until it pops up. Then, it has a Friday date stamp on it...
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Onshore applications are processed in a different office from offshore, so there are quite different processing times. Some Cat 5 onshore applications have been allocated, where as offshore Cat 4 applications are still waiting 6 months+ after lodgement for CO allocations.
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You can "frontload" your medicals and Police Clearances. However, medicals and PCs expire, usually one year after they're performed. So, once granted, your visa will need to be validated (as in you travel to Australia) by the expiration date. So, if you just applied and you take your meds and pc now, then you get your visa grant, say, October 2012, then you will only have until January 2013 to get vailidated since your meds and police checks will expire one year from when they were done. This may not fit with your plans. If you had waited until you got a CO, then you would have more time to validate. Also, while DIAC has been moving along at a good clip recently, there have been times when applicants medicals expire before they get their grant, and they have to have them redone, pay the fee for the exam again, and so on. Usually it is best to wait until you have a CO or, if you're paying attention to this thread and spreadsheet, until you are a month or so away from getting a CO.
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So...., what does everyone think the update will be on Friday/Monday? I'm thinking May 28...
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I'm hoping that it is somewhere around 2 weeks so that they can move onto July applicants like me!
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Remember that June is a very large month when it comes to applications because they changed requirements 1 July and many found it advantageous to get in under the old points test. Likely it will take them a bit longer to move through June than other months. Plus, there are the Holidays which will slow things a bit... Trust me, I hope all you June applicants get allocated soon so they can move on to my July application! :wink:
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It is good to hear that DIAC's office will be open, but I have to believe that a lot of staff will take Holidays around that time. It would just make sense to take a week off on either side of the December days off and have essentially two weeks off but only be charged for one. I am expecting grants and allocations to slow down over the next few weeks. I hope I'm wrong, but... Hopefully they will allocate June (a big month) through the rest of December and early January and then move on to me and the July cases by late Jan, early Feb! That will fit my plans nicely
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It looks like April is pretty much taken care of and May is well on it's way. Now, June applicants are getting responses. That's awesome to hear! I'm a July applicant, so I might be allocated shortly after the Holidays the way things are going.
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There was someone else on here who had an app date a couple weeks before an update date, but he got a CO a few days later. Likely, you actually have a CO, but they're dragging their feet on contacting you until they get caught up with all the work on their desk. Hopefully that's the case, anyway...
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Note that on our spreadsheet there are only 6 April and March applicants who haven't gotten a CO, so I don't think they have shut down by any means. They just haven't gotten to the 6 people who have listed their information on this site. Imagine a school of a 1000, you can't get a sense of student performance if you only test 6 students. It is much the same way here. DIAC is moving along at a good clip. I applied in July 2011 and didn't expect a CO until December 2012 or so, going by the information available at the time. Now, if everything keeps up, I'll probably be allocated by February, and December 2011 isn't out of the question. Do yourself a favor and don't fret over this day to day. We are still ahead of the curve!
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I hope so too. They seem to be getting through March, April and starting May now. Hopefully, they'll be on to June soon (which is a large month with a lot of applicants). Then it looks like there are relatively few of us who applied after July, so there may be some room for the Cat 5s to get COs.
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I live in the US, so this may not help you that much, but if there is an Australian Consulate closer than the Embassy, then you may bet your visa "evidenced" there. Of course, I don't honestly know if or where there are Oz Consulates in the UK, but a nearby Consulate in Chicago will save me a long trip to Washington.
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Wait... applied in May with a type 175 which has to be a cat 4 like the rest of us.... Then, CO allocation in June? Then three-and-a-half months to get meds and PCCs done? Is the CO allocation actually 6 August, instead of 8 June? That would mean he was still allocated relatively quickly, but that would make more sense with the Meds and Police Check dates.
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I would look into how long each nation takes to get the checks back. Don't think because it is a First World nation, that it will be fast like it is in the UK. I have to do a US police check. It takes anywhere from 1-3 months to come back and there is no expedited processing. So, if I were to wait until I get a CO, I may have serveral months wait until grant. Plus, the US Congress is always playing a game of budget brinkmanship and threatening government shutdown, which could delay the processing even more. Now, I don't want to do it too early, because it could expire or force me to enter Australia before I want to, but I don't want to wait until I get a CO, because that would cause a significant delay. My plan is to pay attention to this site's allocation spreadsheet and look at other sources and see exactly where they are in the CO allocation process. When they seem to be allocating to applicants who are a month or two ahead of me, I will submit the paperwork for a police check to the US. I figure I won't have a very long wait after CO allocation then. Of course, if one of your nations takes 6 months, you would need to plan differently...
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Do you know what the blood tests look for?
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While we're all worried about the allocation of COs, I also see us mentioning exchange rates. I live in the US, and right now 1 USD = .97 AUD. About three weeks ago, it was 1 USD = 1.05 AUD, and I should have jumped at it. Quite frankly, one of the reasons we all want to move to Oz is the strong economy. The UK, US, and Europe all have struggling economies at the moment and large amounts of sovereign debt. Oz has relatively little sovereign debt and a strong economy. This means the AUD goes up against the Pound, US Dollar, and Euro (and probably other currencies). My plan is to buy a lot of AUD if it jumps over parity with the USD again. It isn't going to change significantly any time soon. Just my opinion.
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Awesome to see some April applicants getting COs. Curious that March applicants seemed to be skipped, but likely that's just a few people on here. I would guess that March is in full swing and the March applicants on this thread will be pink soon. I'm anxious to see them get to July!
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You're entitled to your opinion. However, before becoming a teacher, I was a bureaucrat myself. In the US, not Oz, but still, there are some universal truths. The process you suggest would almost certainly be detailed in a policy manual. Because this is a government bureaucracy in an open democracy, said policy would be a matter of public record. They can't arbitrarily say: " people in jobs x, y, and z, or people from countries a, b, and c, go to the front of the line." There needs to be a rule which directs them to do so. Notice, they CAN and DO say that people with certain types of visas and sponsorships go to the front of the line. This is the prioritization of processing which we are all familiar with and the details of which are readily available. There is a certain level of sophistication that the general public attributes to bureaucracies that just doesn't exist. Trust me, I know, I was a part of a very large bureaucracy and still work in government education. There are steadfast rules, but where there aren't..., well, sometimes they just pull a file out of the pile with no rhyme or reason.
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I think that DIAC's allocation process is an electronic version of this: Think of a big, spinning hopper like the kind they use for raffle drawings, lotteries, BINGO, etc. They're used to mix up tickets, balls, etc.. When they move onto a new month, or maybe even week, they dump all of the applications into said hopper along with those from previous weeks. So, they've dumped April into the hopper and some Aprils are being drawn, and some February and March applicants are also in the hopper waiting to be drawn. Of course, I hope there actually isn't a big barrel in the middle of DIAC's office. It's hopefully electronically, but it seems to be the same principle.
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The office may be open, but there always seems to be a lot of people taking their holiday around Christmas and New Years, so it will slow processing if a significant portion of the staff are away.
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I have worked in government bureaucracies before, and I still can't understand why CO allocation isn't made based upon date. Everyone who applied on 4 March, let's just say, gets a CO before anyone who applied on 5 March. It makes no sense that a Priority Group 4 applicant from March 2011 gets a CO while an applicant from December 2010 is waiting. If they have a priority system based upon job, age, dependents, or something else, then they should publish it. Othe
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Well, my first guess is that the update won't come out until 25 Oct. After that, I'll say... 27 Jan