Anika

I am going to be shipping my stuff over with Pickfords. 4 boxes are costing me £220 plus insurance. Only trouble is they can't ship things until your visa is granted so I have to leave them with family for a few months as I am flying over early. Check out their website I think they are reasonable. I am using them as they have a depot a few miles away.

We are using seven seas to ship our things, they have quoted us £240 for 8 boxes but hopefully we won't need to use all 8. Same as Pickfords though they require a copy if my visa which thankfully I got last week so looking to send the boxes off next week as they'll take 2.5 months to get there

I'd be interested to know this too

I've been granted the 309 visa even though I'm married to my OH, I think that's because we don't have children though and haven't been together long enough to get the 100 straigh away (we'll have been together 3 years in December and married for 1).

Just logged on to my e-mail to see that MC has granted my visa! Best day ever!!!!

How long before the 5 months is up do you think I should ask for a date? I want to book flights and get there are soon as possible as we've been apart for nearly 6 months already and there are still 3 months to go until the 5 month mark (which I still hope it will be as I applied in June.)

I waited until the 5 months were pretty much up until I asked my CO whether or not my visa was about to be granted because in the past MC has not given much away and seems to stick to the time period provided at the beginning pretty rigidly. When I e-mailed her on Wednesday to ask how much longer I would be waiting she said it would be finalised next week. I then decided to ask whether I could possibly book flights and she said it was fine as long as they weren't for next week. There's no harm in sending your CO an e-mail to ask for a date but be prepared that they might be very vague because they don't really want to be tied down to a specific date in case they can't grant the visa by then.

MC has finally allowed me to book flights :-) So last night I booked one way flights for me and my OH for the 13th October, flying from Heathrow to Brisbane on Singapore Airlines A380! Still so much to sort out until then though, it's going to be a busy 8 weeks

I emailed MC to ask if ok to book flight .....and she granted it within a few hours ........with a lovely note saying "all the best" ...cried for about 10 minutes before i actually told everyone lol........Make sure your sitting down hahaa Good luck Anika:hug:

Thanks :-)

Just had an e-mail from MC to say it's due to be finalised next week! Can't believe that it's finally happening, actually really nervous now :laugh:

I've started obssesively checking my e-mails every half an hour or so now and crossing all my fingers and toes for the grant e-mail to be there. No luck as yet, wondering whether I should e-mail MC as she said I'd have an answer mid-August which it now is.

We sent ours on the Thursday, they took the money Friday and the CO emailed the following Friday.

 

DaveS, thanks for the links, I'll check out IOM.

 

I'm a bit wary of "lesser known" airlines after a bad experience with Vietnam Airlines coming over here. I'd be interested to hear what Korea is like. They were the cheapest I saw online (apart from the Malaysian Airlines one).

My husband came over here on Korean Airlines and he said they were fine apart from he didn't know what he was eating when it came to meal times as everything was in Korean but he said the staff were all very friendly and helpful

VISA GRANTED TODAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:biggrin: SO EXCITED ...

Congrats, that's great news! Hopefully that means I'll get mine soon....

I hope so too as I'm nearing the 5 month mark and would like my visa sooner rather than later.

I applied in mid-March and asked my CO about the extended waiting time, her reply was that the 6-8 month waiting time does not apply to applications lodged in the last financial year and that my wait time is still 5-6 months as before.

Hi,

 

I have been reading this forum for a while but thought I would let you know what my case officer VF sent me today.

 

Processing times have extended to between 6 - 8 months from date of application lodgement due to a smaller amount of visa places being offered in the current Australian financial year.

 

My stats are:

App lodged: 20/4/2012

Meds done a few days later

told had verything they needed on 25/5/2012.

and now it seems I may be lucky to be Oz in time for Christmas.

 

Lets hope it doesn't take anywhere near this long.

Silly question maybe but would this affect the 309 as well because that's what I'm going for. I'm thinking of e-mailing my CO (MC) after work tonight and asking if I'm still on track to get my visa in the next 4 weeks, can't bear the thought that it might take longer now.

OMG Cant evan think about it being longer ....im struggling badly as it is ...havnt seen my fiance since Oct ... I came back early for my brothers wedding , not Knowing how long the visa would take, first to get together ...then 5-6 month wait to be allowed back in ...isnt hindsight a wonderful thing ????:no:

That's a long time, I feel for you, no wonder you want to get back. I'm quite lucky as my husband lives over here with me but after nearly a year and a half in England he's ready to head back to Australia too and I'm in need of some sunshine, not loving the "summer" weather this year :laugh:

I have MC ..She always replies to any Questions Iv asked almost straight away ....Told me I will be finalised Mid Aug .... fingers x

I've got MC too and she told me mid-August also, really hope that doesn't change, don't think I can cope with an extra month of waiting

5 weeks and counting and then it should be Visa o'clock for me :-)

Any other March applicants as excited as I am????!!!! Can't believe we are nearly in July. Almost there!!!!!!!

Yep, extremely excited. Really want to get going now :-)

Would really like to book my flights but when I mentioned this to my mum she was not impressed with the idea and told me not to put all my eggs in one basket, so will just hang on until the visa has definitely been approved.

Have started to sort out clothes etc. so that we can ship these over in the next month or so, so that's been keeping me occupied :biggrin:

Really hope there's not much of a delay as my husband and I have planned a commitment ceremony in Brisbane for the end of November for all the people that couldn't come to our wedding over here last year (and also a chance for us to have a proper wedding reception). Also my husbands visa expires at the beginning of Feb next year so ideally I would like everything to go to plan and for my visa to be finalised in mid-August like my CO has said it will :-)

Hey there,

Yes, you will need to clean your bike with Jeyes fluid. Also walking boots etc if you have them. This weekend will be spent cleaning bikes!

Happy cleaning!

C

Would this work for Horseriding boots as well? If so, where can you buy it?

Thanks :-)

I agree with DaveS, Spouse Visa's aren't capped. I applied for mine in mid-March and have been told by my CO that I'd have an answer by mid-August, so that fits with the 5 month timeline

This is just so nerve wracking. Life can't begin propery until we have this bleddy visa.

I know! It's driving me nuts, everything depends on this visa. Think I'm starting to annoy people with how much I go on about it :laugh:

Has anyone got MC as there CO??

Hey, I have MC too :-) Haven't been in contact with her much but a couple of weeks after she had my police certificate and my medical results I e-mailed her to ask how much longer I'd have to wait and she said I'd have an answer by mid-August (I submitted mid-March) so another 10-12 weeks of waiting for me, not good as I'm really impatient :laugh: