kaoticturtle

CONGRATS

Fantastic news hope everything pans out as you want it to!

 

ps weird question but did you seem to find a big fluctuation in price of the tickets as you booked so close to flying date? We too will be booking the minute we get the visa granted and are scarred that the prices will be expensive if we book last minute...So far from looking on websites it seems like the prices don't change that much

Thanks!

Our experience may not be typical as we're currently in Japan travelling but we found that tickets prices were as expected. We're flying with qantas from tokyo to sydney. A couple of months ago when we first thought we might need to travel direct from Japan I had a look at prices on the qantas website for flights only a few weeks in advance. The prices I saw then were the same as we've just paid. I was expecting something horrendous but I don't think we're paying much more than ones bought a long way in advance which is awesome :-)

Hope that helps!

Fantastic - it's such a good feeling, isn't it?

Its awesome, I can't stop grinning

My visa has been granted!!! :jiggy:

We had to change our plans to enter Oz in April rather than July as originally planned. I emailed my case officer to double check i could go in on a tourist visa and just to ask if he had any more information on processing times. Out of the blue, rather than tell me I would have to take a trip to New Zealamd in May, he granted the visa. Its only a week or two before the 8 month mark, but it makes our life sooo much easier so I'm bouncing of the wall right now!

Its a relief too, I knew it was likely but until I got the letter I still had a nagging worry. It didnt help that we packed and shipped the house contents in November to go travelling so no visa would mean stuck on the other side of the world from all my worldly possessions

So exciting seeing August applicants getting notice of their upcoming grants. I am watching this forum like a damn hawk! I am (haha- or should I say, the fiance of) a Sept applicant, so I really cant believe we are almost getting to our month! The end of his tourist visa is fast approaching we would love to know a proposed grant date.... We are going to email our CO soon to see if we can get an answer from her... It cant hurt to email her. She always sends us very short emails so I'm a little intimidated!

 

Just wanna say - August (even early Sept) applicants, speak up if you have any news or notice from your CO (or if you have an upcoming grant)! There are people like me checking this forum every day just to get an insight into everyone else's timelines! Haha thanks!

Haha I'm an August applicant and unfortunately I can't give an update as I haven't heard anything. Its still 2 months away from the 8-9 month mark though so I'm not too surprised. My case officer is pretty tight lipped too so I'm a bit scared to send any chasing emails! We're just keeping ourselves busy and not thinking about it too much. Its amazing how quickly the weeks go by when we just get on with things and get stuck into planning what we're going to be doing in Oz.

Its great to hear everyone's news - its keeping me all excited about when mine will be granted I hope there's more news of grants soon!

All fixed again

I've put a comment in as well to ask people to take any filters off before they exit the spreadsheet. Hopefully they will!

I think I've sorted it out - someone had applied a filter which only showed some of the lines :-)

I haven't been on here in a while so thought I'd drop in to see what's been happening and unfortunately it looks like there aren't many visa's being granted at the moment - or at least not for members on here. I've got my fingers crossed for all the July applicants that you get good news soon!

As expected, I haven't heard anything further about my visa. I'm expecting it to be at least another 2 months, and probably longer, before I get any news. Here's hoping the next few months fly past for us all :biggrin:

So am I.

 

Take it from experience...it won't do you any good! It won't make you any less frustrated, in fact it probably has the opposite effect!

 

It takes as long as it takes. Generally speaking DIAC will tell you the processing time for your appliaction when you apply, and your application will be dealt with in that length of time. Over time, new applicants may be told a new, longer, processing time, but yours will generally still be dealt with in the time you are told. Every now and again, the odd random application slips through the net a little bit quicker. It's luck, not any magic to do with that person or application. If your application takes 9 minutes, 9 hours, 9 days, 9 weeks or 9 months of actual graft by a person to process it makes absolutely zero difference to you...it will still take as long as they said it would take when you applied.

 

On the plus side...generally speaking, if DIAC tell you it will take X amount of months, then it usually doesn't take any longer than that...it would be a nightmare if they said it took a certain length of time and then took double.

Thanks George I'm not getting too caught up about it and I've not been thinking about it much other than the occasions when I come on here - far too busy at the moment! I've accepted that I won't see any final decision until I've been told I will so there's no point hoping for anything earlier - even if some July/August applicants seem to be being told they may hear earlier. I haven't been told that so I doubt I will, although I may still keep a tiny flame of hope alive deep down :tongue: Thankfully I'm in a good place in that I'm with my husband as he's dual British/Australian so we don't have to be separated. I think I would be less relaxed if we were on the opposite sides of the world!

I do also appreciate that DIAC give an indication of how long it will take and, as you say, seem to stick to it. At least I have a pretty good idea of how long it will be until a decision is made. It would indeed be a nightmare for the estimate to be wrong, but possibly even worse to have absolutely no idea at all!

I will expect my projected April grant as it sounds like whether they can or not it won't come through before.

This was my original understanding and the reason I wasn't expecting anything before a minimum of 8 months from when I lodged.

If DIAC says that applications are not queued and capped, I believe them. They may not always tell the whole truth but they are not allowed to tell lies. And I promise that waiting times are not increasing because case officers are spending more time looking out of the window. If waiting lists are growing it is going to be down to one of three reasons:

 

(a) fewer staff working on partner visa cases

(b) more cases coming in

© more time consuming processing

And that's why I'd love to see inside To me, it looks like nothing is happening and that is a bit frustrating, but given the visas aren't queued and capped there must be a reason why they take so long when so much of the processing appears to be conducted very early on. I'm the sort of person that wants to know why :frown:

Many thanks!

Exactly right. I just want it sooner rather than later! And if people who applied after me are being told to expect theirs before I expect mine, then I hold a small sliver of hope that maybe mine will be granted at the same time, if not before, theirs. I may give VF a call in the New Year and see what she says?

I hadn't noticed that some people in August were being told Feb and March - I haven't been very good at reading all the posts in the past few weeks. If that's the case then maybe those of us in July and August will be a sort of crossover group that moves towards the 8-9 months with a couple in between at 6-8 months... Given June has been granted, I originally hoped that they couldn't wait until March to grant the July batch so there would have to be some crossover and people being granted before 8 months. So maybe that is whats happening and explains the difference between the phone conversation and the letter? We can certainly hope!

After seeing the grants over the past few months pretty much all coming in on the projected timescales, I had accepted that I wouldn't see mine until April at the earliest but given the times have just increased maybe the past grants aren't a good indication? VF was really helpful to me when I had to ask a question and my case officer was off on holiday so maybe it would be worthwhile getting in touch just to check what the current expected time is? If you haven't been in touch with her much in the past then I doubt she would be annoyed or anything similar

I would love to see inside DIAC as well and try to understand how they work. It certainly seems to me that the visas are queued and capped, despite DIAC saying that they are not! It is frustrating when you've spent all the time and effort putting the application together, only for it to apparently sit in a pile for over half a year. Maybe there is some other processing going on but from everything I've gathered (and the fact that processing times used to be 3 months!) there doesn't seem to be a good reason for it.

Hi. First time post.

 

Applied for Partner/spouse visa 12-07-2012, payment taken soon after, assigned CO (VF) 18-07-2012, all Police and Medical requirements completed and acknowledged 05-09-2012. Approximately 9 months processing time was stated, however seeing some of the cases here where a simple call helped speed things up I am looking for advice to do just that.

 

My (Australian) fiancee left the UK in September 2012 and has been over there in Australia since. I went over for 2 weeks in October and while we are in daily contact, we face not seeing each other until at least April. All we are waiting for is the visa grant. A phone conversation with VF back in October told me that they have everything they need in order to grant the visa, they just have to wait 9 months. Is this really true? I suspect not given that people on this forum appear to have got their Partner visas in 5 months in some cases. It has been 5 and a half months already and so I am hoping for something.

 

Any advice will be GREATLY appreciated.

Hi Superchuckles and welcome to pomsinoz!

Unfortunately the waiting times increased at the start of July from 5-6 months to 8-9 months. So, the people that have been having theirs granted in the last month or so are the last ones to have been within the 5-6 month waiting time. Those of us who applied after June are having to wait longer. From what I can gather, while the partner visas aren't capped and queued only a certain number are granted each month (which to me means they are capped and queued but clearly there is some distinction from DIAC's point of view...). Therefore, as the application numbers have increased they are now having to take longer to grant them. My understanding is that the case officers make an assessment fairly quickly as to whether you have submitted everything they need for a decision but then the application goes to the bottom of the pile for the actual grant. The waiting times seem fairly unmovable even if your application is very straightforward (e.g. married for many years plus plenty of kids).

In terms of people calling up their case officers and helping to speed things along a bit, this seems to be only working close to the grant date. I think what happens is that your visa comes up into the pile that can be granted (and has waited the time given when it was lodged) and when you call the case office it can sometimes jog them to grant yours then then rather than working through one or two others first. However, I don't think I've heard of anyone successfully prodding their case officer to grant their visa before the duration they were told when they originally lodged - which is 8 to 9 months for both of us.

I feel your pain but unfortunately there are lots of people waiting in different countries for their visa to come through so DIAC won't make a special exception as a result. There are people who decide that they can't stand the wait and move over on a tourist visa for the last few months. That would probably be an option for you if you can afford it. You can't work on while you are waiting and, as you applied offshore, you have to take a holiday out of Australia for the visa grant which makes the cost add up. There are people on here who have gone down this route who could give you more info if you want it.

If you can't do that the the only real consolation is that once its granted you won't have to be separated again and before you know it you'll have been living in Oz together for years

Got my 309 Visa on Tuesday. Stats are in my signature.

My advice to those early on in the process - be patient, don't obsess about it, use the wait to make the most of your remaining time in the UK.

 

All the best.

John

Congratulations!!! Have a fab time once you get to Oz :biggrin:

Hi all. Is it the usual practice to have your documents returned? We haven't had any returned (and not a word since all the checks lodged)

We didn't have any returned but there weren't any originals in our application (bar the police certificate and stat decs). We photocopied everything and have kept the originals.

Hi everyone!

I've not really been on for a while so thought I would give an update. Two weeks ago I hadn't heard anything from my CO after having done my medicals and sending in my police certificate back in September. Given we're having to pack things up soon to go travelling I went fishing for information and asked my CO if there was likely to be anything else needed as I wouldn't have access to my paperwork soon. It was a success! I didn't get an official letter from him or anything but he responded to confirm that he didn't need anything further at the moment. Also, I cheekily asked if he was able to tell me whether I was being assessed for the 309 or 100 and he confirmed the 100! I was really unsure whether we would get that as we don't have children and have only been married for 2 years. We've were in a defacto for two years prior and I was really careful about the evidence that I put in to make sure I could back up that length of time but still...I had heard that unless you had been married for years and years it was rare to get the 100 without kids.

yay!!! :jiggy:

You CO doesn't sound very nice. Mine has been very helpful all the time. She has always replied to emails the next day. As for your medical, The doctor who done mine said if I didn't hear anything by the following week then it was all clear. Hope that helps.

Thank you for this - it reassures me that the medical was ok given that I haven't heard anything. I know that I passed everything on the day so it would only be the blood test or the chest x-ray that could have thrown a spanner in the works. For both of those, I would imagine that they would let me know if something was found so at least I know the timescale is a week or two for that

We applied mid June, CO was appointed on 20th June, Medical was completed on 29th June, Police cert sent around July 10th.

We got our 'no further info required letter' on 17 July. We were never told if OH had 'passed' the medical or police check, but we weren't asked for any further info or clarification on anything, so taking it to mean he passed. Now all we have to do is wait.

 

best of luck with the wait

Unfortunately this doesn't reassure me! I had my medical on the 30th of August and my police certificate was stamped as received on the 19th of September so its now nearly 3 weeks later...

Hmm...I'll give him another few days and then email him later in the week if I still haven't heard anything. I'm soo envious of everyone else's friendly and helpful case officers!!!

Hi everyone!

I've got a question for those of you who are slightly further through the process than I am. How long was it from when you completed your medicals to being told that it was all clear? I did my medical at the end of August (5 weeks ago) but I haven't heard anything from my case officer to tell me that he has received them.

Last week I tried asking my case officer whether he had received my police certificate (it was a week after i had posted it so I didn't feel it was unreasonably early to ask) and I got a very short, very unhelpful response saying that he would be going through his mail in the next few days and if I had sent it next day delivery I should check with royal mail. If possible, I think he used even less words that I have there and I definitely got the "go away and don't dare to bother me again vibe"! I responded to say that I had sent it first class as I couldn't get to the post office so I would appreciate it if he could let me know once he had been through his mail. I've had zero further contact from him in the week and a half since but yesterday the certificate turned up back here and it has been stamped as received so I guess he did get it. He was so unfriendly though that I'm a bit scared of asking any more questions unless I absolutely have to! I was a bit annoyed actually. I know that their job isn't to answer questions about your application progress or offer advice, but I didn't think questions about whether they have received requested documents was unreasonable!

So, did you hear anything official from your case officer following your medical and if so, how long did it take? Also, I keep reading about a "no further information required" letter - or at least I think I have. Does everyone receive this and is this the way that you know your medical has passed? I think I'm starting to panic because 5 weeks seems like an awfully long time...

Thank you all!

KT

I've just got my visa whoooo hoooo!!!!!

Congratulations!!!! :jiggy:

My frontloaded application was received on 7 August 2012 and payment was taken on the same day. I had an email from my case officer on 13 August requesting I attend a medical. I also received police certificates and some evidence back in the post. I attended the medical on 15 August and should be received by immigration next week. I was surprised how quickly I progressed to this stage, however I am still to contact my case officer for a realist processing time as my application is obviously complete. However I am not sure why they are saying only a certain number of visas can be granted when these particular visas are not capped like others in the family stream. I am sure I will find out soon, fingers crossed, my partner is in the RAAF and so cannot come to the UK at the moment ashe is on a training exericse Being apart sucks but not knowing when your meeting again is worse!!!

 

Good luck everyone

That must be really tough but at least the process is underway... Fingers crossed you get a quick grant. Will your partner be able to come over to the UK after her training exercise?

Got our visa!!!

 

Here are the stats i added:

 

Application sent - 09/03/12

Request police check and medicals - 13/03/12

Medical completed - 23/04/12

 

CO SV and told mid august grant. Emailed MT to ask of possible grant and she did 2 days later!

 

Woohhooooo

Congratulations!!!! :-D

Hello. We sent ours out on Wednesday the 8th and heard from our CO on Monday the 14th. She said that the current processing times for partner/family migration is currently 8-9 months due to high volume of applications and only allowing so many to go through at a time. However, and here's the ray of light and hope, she does emphasize that each case is individual and that the process time varies from case to case. Here's hoping and praying that ours isn't long.

Thanks Chantel I'll just have to see what we hear once we have a case officer and keep our fingers crossed for a quick turn around!

Does anyone know when the waiting time on the high commission site changed? My application arrived with them yesterday so I'm guessing I'll get told 8-9 months once i get a case officer. I'd love 5-6 months but I was already expecting 6-8 so not too much different i guess. We're lucky as we're in no rush and are going to do a bit of travelling but I'd be gutted if we were having to live on opposite sides of the world.

KT

We now have our case officer!!!! YAYHOOOOOOOOOOO:ssign19:

Fantastic! It's all happening now for you

Hi all!

My turn to join the queue now too :-) I finally got my application in the post at lunchtime so it should reach the Australian high commission in London tomorrow. It's only taken 4 months to get everything together for it!?!?! I'm now sitting here mentally running through it all hoping I remembered to include it all. If not, I'm sure they'll tell me!

KT

Hey Brucey

I can't offer any advice as I'm completely new to all of this but I can definitely say that I sympathise with you! My husband and I are collating all our evidence at the moment (I'm a scot, he's the aussie) and we're looking at the pile of docs we've gathered wondering whether they really want to see everything that we think they've asked for? We've been living together for nearly 4 years now so there is definitely a lot... I don't think we'll fill 5 lever arches, but it will certainly be a good wad of paper that gets sent I think our approach is going to be to send 1 page from bank statements for each month for the past 12, then maybe 1 for every 3 months prior to that. That cuts the amount of paper down hugely but still gets across the message...or so we hope!

KT