The Constant Traveller

Hello everyone, I just wanted to let you know that I will be leaving this forum now, seeing that my partner and I have finally received our PR. Thanks everyone, particularly Kimmo, for your great support, regular updates and kind words, it has been a great help. I am keeping my fingers crossed for all of you that you will be getting your visas within a very short time now. Things seem to be moving quickly at the moment so let's hope you guys are next in line.

Congratulations!

Indeed. A quick jump across the pond to validate our visa will be the next step and then we will see how things pan out. :-) Any news at your end? I had a strong feeling that my CO was only waiting for us to upload our stuff so that she could tick all the boxes and send off the grant letter. Honestly, if we had uploaded everything the day she contacted us the first time, I believe we would have had our visa the next day. Maybe they are in a hurry to get rid of us now?

Thanks! Yesterday I felt like celebrating but then I found out that my partner now wants to stay put for at least another two years. This is what happens when a decision has been pending for too long. People get on with their lives and motivations change. More obstacles and challenges ... oh well, at least I am used to it by now.

Thank you. Keeping my fingers crossed for you guys!

Sending documents to the CO via email is also fine. My CO belongs to Team 34/Brisbane. And now the good news: We got our visa this morning! I had just sent off an email to my CO telling her that I had just uploaded half a ton of relationship evidence and asking if there was anything else I needed to do and in response I got my grant letter pretty much straight away. :-)

Hi Kimmo, Yes, the email states which team is processing the application. There wasn't much in the initial email. Just a "Please see the attached information". With the email came three word documents. One was titled 'Client Service Information' and was an explanation why they are collecting data from applicants and what they are doing with it. The second one was a letter, which told me that the department has begun considering my application and that they are requesting more information from me within the next 28 days. It also talked about an attached checklist (which wasn't attached) and there was another attachment that described in more detail the information that I am supposed to provide. There is a link on this website that I have used to upload my documents: http://www.immi.gov.au/e_visa/general-skilled-migration-attachments.htm. The system is very basic. There is a drop-down menu where you can choose which type of document you want to upload (domestic PCC, foreign PCC, Form 80, relationship evidence, passport, etc.), a field where you can write a very short description and an upload button. Once you have uploaded your document it appears in a table alongside the description you wrote. A bummer is that you cannot update or edit it once it is online, so any mistakes you make (typos, wrong document) stay online. By the way, our medicals were done on Monday and on Wednesday the system already showed them as finalised. That was quick!

Which team is your CO? It will be interesting to see how long they will take to process our respective applications. My partner and I got our medicals done yesterday and I will upload all my documents before Friday. I am still waiting to receive a couple of stat decs and need some stuff signed by a lawyer.

Congratulations, I did not realise that you finally got a CO as well. That's great news.

Hi Kimmo, The PCCs were actually the easiest, they shouldn't take long at all. I have been in contact with my CO and other than PCCs, Form 80 and medicals the department wants up-to-date evidence that my partner and I are still in a relationship and haven't broken up since we lodged our application in 2008.

I'd love to know what checks they are doing that can take up to 15 months.

This seems a very long wait, even if you should come from a HR country and they are doing security checks. What was the last thing you heard from your CO?

It is a litte bizarre because it almost seems as if they haven't looked at any of the stuff we sent them in 2008. I asked my CO what types of evidence I need to provide and she pointed me to a website where there is a list of things you can attach to your application as evidence of a de facto relationship. We did attach all of them in 2008. I am now going to send them new (not only updated) statutory declarations from myself and my partner (previously we did a combined one and apparently they do not like that) and three new ones written by friends of ours. I did not have the first ones in 2008 witnessed by a solicitor so I will have it done with this new set of declarations, just to be on the safe side.

By the way, my online status has not changed yet, so obviously there is no direct or immediate correlation between CO assignment and online status. One thing that is puzzling me is this one: "Please provide evidence of your continuing de facto relationship. (Please refer to the attached information sheet, which details types of documentation required)." There is no attached information sheet, at least nothing remotely to do with relationship status and how to prove it, so I am in the dark about what kind of documentation they might accept. My relationship status has not changed, everything is still the same as it was five years ago when I initially sent them various documents to prove that my partner and I had an ongoing relationship (lease, bank statements, utility bills, statutory declaration from friends and family, etc.). Any idea what they might want now? The same stuff all over again?

Hi everyone, it seems I have got a CO! It is someone from team 34. She is requesting more information, most of which I won't be able to provide within 28 days, I reckon, for example a new passport. I will do my best, of course, but some stuff will come with a delay.