lucerad

CONGRATULATIONS! I know EXACTLY how you feel! I cried my eyes out when we got the grant (and I did feel a bit guilty when we got it before you though!), really am celebrating with you now, I think we all are! AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you Kellie, I'm rooting for you now! I'm sure you'll get that grant when you least expect it

Thank you! Oh my I have never felt such relief! I was crying I was so shocked! My partner thought I was joking, he wouldn't believe me until I sent him the email! We had such a disaster with it three years ago, I wasn't sure we would ever get the grant! Our agent was amazing, even though it was expensive, she did most of the hard work! Happy days! We can now properly start planning the move! Have to be there by September 6th 2014. Party time!

Hey, I used to live in Perth (and going back there soon), while the cost of living can be high, it is lower than other states (e.g. Sydney), and the wages are typically higher. There is just me and my partner, our rent was $480 for a 3 bedroom house, electricity about $80 per month, internet and foxtel (sky equivalent) was also about $80. Petrol is cheaper than England from what I remember, and cars are also pretty reasonable. A salary of 90k will be more than sufficient to cover you all in my opinion! Check out gumtree.com.au it has everything you could ever need, we furnished our whole house for under $1000 (and nice stuff too), just be prepared to bargain! Enjoy Perth, its amazing!

Visa granted today!!!! Sent the rest of the docs to our agent at 1:30pm and by 6:30pm we had the grant!!! soooo happy, it's been five weeks since we applied, but a long hard expensive slog! thank you all for your advice and sharing your timelines! They've kept me same!

Congratulations!!!!!

The more information provided, the less chance there is of the CO requesting more.

The next step would be to apply (and pay). When you apply you are given a list off all the documents you need to upload, I recommend getting them all together now, and then uploading as soon as you apply. From then you will be assigned a case officer (that usually takes between 4 and 8 weeks). If they require any further info from you they will email and request it and you have 28 days from their request to provide it, otherwise they'll just request medicals and police clearances when they're happy that everything else has been provided. I got CO after 3 weeks, and they requested a couple of extra documents for skilled employment proof (tax docs and references) which we're waiting for now. Have pre loaded medical and police clearances to speed things up. Good Luck

Your file will just be in a 'pending' pile I would imagine.. maybe a polite 'Hi, have you forgotten me' email would put you back to the top?!? Or at least jog their memory! The CO's have lots of cases to work on, so it couldn't hurt for you to just contact them... then it maybe a case of 'oh yep, that's that file complete, here's your grant email'.... Fingers crossed for you all!

I don't think you'll be waiting much longer Kellie! I had never heard of the annual quota making a difference to anyone. Patience is key. If they haven't requested anything further, it'll just be having final checks. Don't panic!

We got a case officer which was 3 weeks exactly from application! They emailed agent yesterday and requested a couple extra documents for my partners skilled employment. It's from 2007 to 2009 which is annoying. He left home in 2009 and most of his stuff is AWOL, we keep hassling his poor mum to search the loft for P60's, NI summaries, ANYTHING at all (we are currently in New Zealand)!! We're just trying to get references from his employers at that time.. proving difficult to track them down in all honesty, as they were sole traders with one employee who are now most likely retired.... but we'll persevere! The agent wants the stuff within 20 days so she can submit it to immi within 28... I'm hoping to have it all by early next week (wishful thinking). Good luck to everyone waiting for the grant email!!!

I would get onto your migration agent and ask them for an update, you're paying them to do a job, they should be doing it! We had an application in 2011 that was NEVER checked, it turned out our case officer went off on 'personal leave' for EIGHT MONTHS, and no one picked up our file... honestly it was a disaster! We ended up submitting an official complaint to the ombudsman and we were refunded all the money we spent. It's a really long story, but the moral of it, KEEP CHASING, you don't want to fall by the wayside! An email from your agent to immigration could push your file back to the top and get that all important grant email!!!

There was a public holiday in Aus last week (Adelaide Cup Day), so it will have put them a little behind! But I agree, waiting SUCKS! I keep hassling my agent for an update, I think she's getting mad with me, but screw it, that's why I paid her the big bucks!

WOW... sounds a bit dodgy to me... from what you've said it sounds like she might just be with him for the visa... BE CAREFUL! DIAC are VERY strict on this and they can spot a 'fake' relationship a mile away. Even if they are married, they still have to prove A LOT. My advice is (and your son will not like it), perhaps maybe she asks her family? Or maybe she goes home for a while to work and gather the funds for herself. I can't imagine how difficult a situation it must be for you, but $5,000 is A LOT of money to spend on someone you hardly know. The fact she had a visa cancelled doesn't bode well.

RE documents, I would upload all you have, better to give them too much than not enough! They will only ask you for more anyway, so you might as well be one step ahead! RE blood tests, you have to have ALL parts of the medical done with a Panel Doctor. Your normal doctor won't have access to the online DIAC system so they won't accept it. RE application, yep your invitation expires after 60 days, so you have 60 days to submit a full application. RE extra bloods, I'm not 100% sure about this one. A friend of mine had to have the extra test for an NZ visa, she didn't 'fail' or anything, she just had to go back after fasting and have some extra tests done. They did cost another $180 though.