jac2011

PS There will be no direct grants until July now. Only CO contact.

Looking at the spreadsheet noone since 14th April has got a grant. So far, it appears no contact has been made today from the CO's however the working day isnt over just yet!

Have you priced up the cost of returning all your items if you do decide to fly back? I believe shipping in the opposite direction is really expensive.

What an insult to the hundreds, if not thousands of people on this forum who have spent years ensuring the meet all the criteria for a PR skilled visa so they can stay in Australia, rather than taking the WHV route... Yes, you believe you are 'entitled' to just jump on a plane and take a job and stay permanently in Australia... Well no I bleeding hope it aint that easy for you. Did I mention I have spent over 7 years retraining and getting experience so I can live and work in Australia???

I agree, when the hospital knew I was getting my own 189 they offered me an interview. They are not even looking for 457 visas at the moment. I think mid-July is possible but very last minute ahhhh.... Would you be prepared to fly with a few days notice? Do you have the option to up and go? good luck for the final interview by the way!

When's your job offer for @JonSmile will you struggle for time?

I applied 15th, hoping early next week!

This is driving me crazy..............................................

Hi Fanya, I have just seen this sorry! It's an inpatient job but that is as far as I know at the moment. After spending a year in a private forensic unit in the UK I am looking forward to anything else at the moment haha! Though I will like to work towards a liaison post eventually. We would have loved sunny coast but there was no interest when I was enquiring for jobs. For us Townsville is perfect right now and we will just wait and see how life turns out. Nothing has to be forever but we will embrace it with welcoming arms. It has everything we had hoped for and more so I am hoping we are happy once we arrive.

It is quite random as to how they process, but I think most are done within a week's timescales. I applied on the 15th so am hoping to either get a request from a CO (hoping this is not the case) or the delay email. I am hoping that the delay email means that under normal circumstances that would be the visa grant and the delay email means everything is present and accurate and come the 1st of July we will get that lovely visa!

Lots of great kids clothes... Iv been buying from there for years.

I messaged immi on facebook and for this reply. It's not specific to my application.

I got this reply and I am now analysing it over and over again to see if I can read anything into it; Hi Julie, there are a limited number of places remaining in the Skilled Independent category for the 2014-15 programme year. Once the remaining places are used, our General Skilled Migration (GSM) processing teams cannot grant further visas in this category during this programme year. Further information can be found here: http://www.immi.gov.au/.../estimated-allocation-times.aspx. This may be updated in June to reflect all GSM SkillSelect visa subclasses. GSM processing centres are continuing to allocate applications including those for a subclass 189 visa for further assessment. Applications lodged in early April 2015 are currently being allocated and assessed.

@Louise Warwick how exciting!!!! I am getting nervous... I still dont know if they are granting visas or just allocating CO's but it is nice to know someone is still working and our visa is getting closer to the top of the pile!

There is no harm in trying. I got a job 6 months before I leave with a relocation package however, it was in a rural area so less demand. My theory was there is no harm in trying and it paid off.

HT, as others have said it looks unlikely he would get a visa. On top of his history you also have the major problem of overcoming the health side, which comes into play for someone who has been an inpatient in a forensic unit (apologies if he has not). Can I just state that I work with sex offenders each day, many who have done serious crimes. Not one is on a curfew. I would be concerned whether he is lying to you about his past based on that alone. Is it possible to ask for a copy of his police records? There are 2 types that would provide specific information relating to the crimes. I will say, most sex offender's I work with minimise their crime and rarely see the impact it has had on the victim. Have you considered the future with this man? Could you trust him each and every day? Will the thoughts about his past ever go away?

Wow this is so exciting... If I have to wait till July so be it, but the fact that there is a chance my visa could be granted in 11 days is amazing!

I am sat here with numb toes wrapped up in a blanket with the heating on. It's sunny outside but cold.

I am presuming the same, though again no expert. Surely the case officers wouldn't be sat there idle and would review the files. I am only presuming but I would be hoping to get a grant early July still.

Do we think our files will be reviewed (rather than case officers being given a month off) and then we will get grants soon after July or do we think that our files will sit dorment between now and then. Surely that would create a huge backlog and huge delays which the department really dont want.

Sorry the first thing you would need to do is top up to degree, Australia no longer takes Diploma nurses. 2016 could be realistic depending on how long it takes to top up however Id presume end of 2016. A permanent visa for example would take 6 months from when you complete your degree and you would need 3 months work experience following your degree top up before you could apply. So approx 9 months between completing degree and getting a PR visa. There are temporary visas which would take less time but more difficult recently to find a sponsor. Then there are working holiday visas which are holiday visas but you can work with an employer for up to 6 months max. This visa lasts a year. If you spend 3 months of it working in a rural area you can get a 2nd year. However not many employers would take you on, you would be restricted to agency work. However, neither will be possible if you have a diploma. They changed this in October 2013.

Townsville to me was not as touristy, it had good priced housing. We could afford a 4 bed house and pool in one of the more sought after areas for $500k. The healthcare is well known for being fantastic. The hospital there have kept in touch with me for 18 months prior to offering me the job to see if I wanted a job there. Good schools, people say the weather is perfect, not as wet as Cairns but still has hot weather through winter (extremely hot though for 3 months a year). 3 good sized out of town retail parks. Some amazing restaurants in the CBD that are known as being the best in Australia. And finally Magnetic Island is only a 20 minute ferry ride away. We would be looking eventually for a holiday home which we would rent out for 6 months a year. To us we can get that at a good price on Magnetic Island and it will provide us with somewhere we can escape to on weekends when it is empty. We love watersports and have the option to kayak or paddleboard 12 months a year. We like the greeness of the gardens and the landscape (which we know is due to the tropical rainfall at times). We like watching storms and therefore this negative will not be an issue. We want to buy a newbuild and we know they are built to withstand most the natural disasters. You can access most of the city within 20 minutes and the traffic is rarely an issue. These were all positives for us.

I'm sure it wont be too far afterwards. I wish you luck! The cities are all so lovely, I was the same for years. However once I set my mind on QLD it really helped me narrow down my search. We chose QLD for the greenery mainly. It appeared the greenest and sunniest state.

30th March applicants have been granted a few visas... This could potentially mean the start of the April grants next week.... Good luck everyone! Do we have any early April applicants around?

@M005 we leave on the 16th :-) Well I bloody hope so anyway haha! It is getting scary now, keep having an 'OMG' moment realising that this is no longer a dream. My husband still feels like it is too far away though and wishes time would go faster. I am realising how many of our possessions we need to get rid of yet...