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PR granted today!!! Timeline: RSMS 857 Visa & Nomination lodged 07/03/2012, acknowledged 22/03/2012 Melbourne PSE, Non-DRC Nomination approved 26/03/2013 857 Visa refused 24/04/2013 (applied for onshore, but should have applied as offshore, as I did not hold a "qualifying visa") 187 application lodged 26/06/2013 187 Granted today!! 04/10/2013 Sooooo happy!!! Currently enjoying a glass of wine at my desk Best of luck to everyone still waiting.

Sounds like your new agent is very knowledgeable about the options available to you. I think when it gets to this point, it's far too complicated to go it alone and the best thing you can do is find a good immigration lawyer and let them handle it. It's rotten luck you ended up with a bad agent the first time around, but I think you're handling it in the best way possible.

Hi SonicBlue - just a thought - as your RSMS visa has not yet been refused, are you able to apply for a 457 visa before the refusal comes through? This would enable you to keep working and also give you a substantive visa, meaning you will have a lot more options going forward. I got a 457 approved in 2 days, and it was 2 weeks before my RSMS refusal came through, meaning I was able to stay in Australia, continue working, and reapply for RSMS. Best of luck to you - this whole immigration thing can be an absolute nightmare...

A similar thing happened to me. My application was in a pile of applications allocated to a co who then had to take several weeks leave due to family reasons. When the co got back they had too heavy of a case load, so many of the cases were taken back and had to wait to be re-allocated to another case officer. Perhaps the same sort of thing happened with yours. If I recall, i think it took about a month to get a new co.

Just a heads up for those on a bridging visa waiting for a decision: it is my understanding that if you are refused a visa and do not hold another substantive visa, you cannot make a further application for a visa onshore. I.e. if you are refused your PR for whatever reason while on a bridging visa, you will have to leave Australia to apply for any further visas (as per section 48 of the Migration Act).

Hi Sonicblue, Unfortunately it seems that they can allocate multiple applications to a CO at the same time. It may be that your case officer had 10 new files handed to him on the same day, and yours had the bad luck of being at the bottom of the pile. It's very bad luck, but it seems to happen often enough. I would check in with MA to see if they've heard anything, but I doubt contacting the CO will accomplish much. Best of luck & hang in there.

Yes, student visa is only considered a qualifying visa for 857 for the one who completed the course. I could have applied for the 119 which did not require a qualifying visa. My understanding it that with the new 187, all this onshore/offshore/qualifying visa nonsense is irrelevant. If my approved nomination is still valid, I could potentially apply now through direct entry 187.

Yes, this is correct. Also confirmed by an agent I spoke with this morning.

You should be fine then mate, different situation. Best of luck to you.

Yes, I was the primary applicant, as I was the one with the permanent full-time position and an employer who wanted to sponsor me. My student dependent visa gave me full work rights while my partner completed his course, and I had worked the position for a year already at the time of applying. It's crazy to think I was ineligible to apply for an onshore visa, when I had full rights to live and work in the country. It seems like they've declined me on a ridiculous technicality, which frankly I think is unfair. I remember my partner and I read everything we could find about the RSMS visas multiple times before beginning the application. If I had even the slightest idea that I was ineligible to apply onshore, I would have selected the offshore option. And another thing, in the acknowledgement letter they send out after lodgement, they state "This email confirms that your application has been assessed as a valid application". I wonder what the criteria are for assessing this, as now I find out 14 months later that my application was never valid?? Mind boggling... Anyway, hopefully going to speak to a lawyer on Friday to get a legal opinion on the whole thing and some advice on where to go from here. If I discover anything useful or enlightening, I'll be sure to share.

MTR980, are you saying in your case it is your partner who is the primary applicant for the 857 visa?

"...did not complete the award course at diploma level or above for while holding her student visa for which the primary applicant was granted, and therefore does not meet 857.212(6) "

Hi MTR980, thanks for your input. Looking at my visa label, the conditions listed on my student dependent visa are as follows: 8104 Work limitation (It was a higher education visa 573, so in this case I could work unlimited hours) 8501 Health cover 8516 Must maintain eligibility 8518 Education arrangements (only applies if you are under 18, so not applicable) That's it. I think those are all the standard ones anyway. There wasn't a 'no further stay' condition on the visa. I really hope that you do not end up in the same situation. An excerpt from the decision letter is below - I've read it over and over and it sounds like I would have had to completed the same course as my partner to be eligible, which defies all logic if you ask me. If you find out anything from your agent in relation to your application, it would be great if you could post it here. Policy states that members of the Class TU visa holder’s family unit can seek to satisfy the Subclass 857 visa primary criteria if they meet all of the requirements outlined above. That is the member of the family unit who is seeking to satisfy the Subclass 857 visa primary criteria must have completed at least a diploma award course relevant to their current student visa. In other words, the member of the family unit seeking to satisfy primary criteria must have completed the same course for which the primary applicant was granted their visa.

Thanks Blossom, Got a 457 visa sorted a few weeks ago, so I'm ok there. Just have to decide where to go next. Pretty disheartened at the moment, so I'll probably reassess the whole PR situation once I've had a chance to clear my head and get over the initial disappointment.

Just applied myself.. which I have come to regret dearly.

Application declined. As I was a dependent on my partner's student visa at the time of application, apparently I was ineligible to apply for 857. I thought student visa counted as a qualifying visa, but apparently not the case if you are the dependent. Probably could have applied for 119 and been fine. That's an expensive and disappointing mistake...

Yeah, I rang this morning to find out if there was anything I could do or provide, and was told they were too busy and hadn't looked at my application yet. If they need anything when they get around to opening my file, they will send a letter. They didn't say how long it might be, just basically to keep waiting. I got the feeling the current cases they are working on could be awhile... hence my frustration!

Morning everyone, Just feeling the need to vent some frustration. It's been nearly 4 weeks since my nomination was approved and the co still hasn't looked at my pr application (which was sent in together with the nomination). Too busy with other cases. It's been nearly 14 months since I lodged my application now, and I'm so fed up with waiting. Even this forum is frustrating to me now because all I'm seeing is people who lodged between 3-11 months AFTER me, already getting their PR while my application is just collecting dust in a corner somewhere. Sorry for the vent, just so so so frustrated today.

There is an auto-reply providing the current processing times. However, if you send a legitimate email including your file number and a query that is not covered in their auto-reply message, they will respond to the email. I have sent many emails to that address regarding my application and received responses to all of them. Sometimes it takes them several weeks to respond, sometimes only a few days depending how busy they are. Fastest reply I've gotten to an email is 5 days.

email address for Melbourne is vic.pse@immi.gov.au if that's what you're looking for

So so jealous dutchmen, but congrats!!

I agree! I've been waiting over 13 months now... it sucks!

Docs to show evidence of lawful & active operation in Australia & letter from accountant stating that the business is a going concern and has the financial capacity to meet all employment obligations for a period of 2 years. The accountant was able to provide everything right away, no issues at all.

Update on my app: Finally got a CO! Requested additional info from my employer on 13/3/2013. Employer sent in requested docs on 18/3/2013. Nomination approved yesterday, 26/3/2013. Finally the home stretch I think...

12 months today!! No CO, all our checks have expired, and our current visa expires next week. But at least we got bridging visas Nothing to do but keep waiting. Oh and redo all our police checks/medicals in anticipation of that glorious day when someone finally opens our file and looks at our case...