BecWortho

Congrats Matt & TP1!!

Fingers crossed for the rest of the fen applications before December!!

Congrats EllieBS and lillianne!!

This week has turned out to be a good week in the way of grants!

February applicants, I hope you all receive your grants soon, and I would recommend sending off an email to enquire when you can expect an answer as the 9 month deadline is fast approaching!! It does seem to do the trick!

Hey Bec,

 

Who is your CO?

Thank You everyone!! I hope those feb applications that are still waiting will get theirs soon.

It is worth noting that we emailed our CO on Monday and recieved an email from him Tuesday afternoon saying he had approved the VISA that day, straight after the grant letter came through.

It is starting to seem like they are only granting when prompted by the applicant... IMHO

Ellie I had DP.

Forgot to mention its Subclass 100 Permanent as well!

Grant Received!!!

What a relief! So happy, 8 months & 21 days after application!!

29 days until we are standing back on Australia Soil and I can hug my family... Cannot Wait!!

:ssign19:

I'm moving from England to to Australia in December.

I'm 16 years old and 17 in January and have done the first few months of my year 12 AS level course here.

School starts in Australia in February apparently so I was wondering whether I'd be restarting year 12 or starting in year 11 as I'm lead to believe that in Australia it's year 11 you start your final qualifications before university.

If anyone can help it'd be much appreciated.

Thanks

Hi! The Australian education system is very different from the UK equivalent. It also varies depending on which state you are in? Where are you moving too??

If I understand correctly you complete your A Levels in years 12&13?? The Aus GCSE equivalent is year 10 and A level equivalent is year 12. So you would be starting year 11.

Do you attend colledge now? I completed my HSC (Higher School Certificate) in NSW at TAFE which is like colledge, you are treated more like an adult than at school so you may want to consider this also.

Also in NSW Maths and English are compulsory.

Happy to answer any questions you have

Becwortho no visa? Im gutted for you monday must be your day Fingers crossed x

No, nothing yet. The OH has said he is going to email the CO tomorrow so fingers crossed it comes this week!!

If anyone is over 8 months waiting and thinking that they shouldn't email their CO - DO IT NOW!!!!!

 

I emailed my CO this morning at 8 months and 18 days to inform him of a change of address and ask politely how the application was going - to which he replied "Thank You"...he's never been much for replies but this one sent me over the edge. "Just give me something - please! I'm dying here!"

 

I burst out crying...thinking that's it, something's wrong. Then, about 5 mins later, I notice a London phone number calling me. I nearly didn't answer I was so upset! But it was the CO on the line - "Would i like him to issue the visa today?" Erm, yes please!!!!!

 

Just received it by email - I have it! I am so happy!

 

8 months and 18 days later I got my PMV. Hope everyone who's waiting gets theirs soon! xxx

Congrats Jo!!

I also have DP, why do you think it was that he called you before emailing the grant? Could it be because of the time restrictions associated with the PMV?

I'm trying to just wait out the week but that does worry me as the OH has changed his number since submitting. Saying that DP has never called us before he always emails.

As I mentioned previously he told us that the visa would be granted in November, November 10th being 9 months, I was planning to wait only until next Friday to email him as we fly on the 1st and I want to make sure the OH's visa is granted ahead of time.

We are both people obsessed atm checking his emails every 15-30mins lol. THIS IS KILLING ME!!!

8 months, 19 days.

Well let's hope that since it was so quiet last week and now you've received your grant so early on a Monday that this is a sign they plan to have a productive week this week and we will see loads of grants!!!

You bloody ripper he got IT yippppeeeee ! And a 100 visa too!

 

 

Thank you to everyone on here for your support. Xx

Congrats Coxy!! So happy for you!!

Do you think the email prompted it?

Hi I'm Dane,

I am looking for a Carpenter to take me on as a Mature Age Apprentice. I'm 31.

I am extremely driven and a very hard worker. With an interest in all aspects of Carpentry and Joinery.

I have researched Mature Age apprenticeships in Aus and have found that employers do gain extra incentives for taking them on.

I am willing to do whatever it takes and I will work with you as a labourer to begin with if you are unsure about committing to an apprenticeship straight away.

It is important for me to tell you this isn't just a job for me, its a career that I have been dreaming about for the last 5 years whilst my partner and I have been travelling. I don't want to just be qualified I want to be an expert in every aspect and I want to build my own house as well as others.

We land in Aus 5/12/14 and I will be ready and willing to work from 10/12/14.

This is my partners account please feel free to contact her and she will pass it on to me. Also if you know of anyone that may be willing to take me on, please pass this along.

Thanks,

Dane

Thanks everyone, I emailed Sigapore Air and I they took my seating requests via email, I then received an itinerary from them yesterday showing my seats as I requested (two seats one being an aisle in the first leg, and two seats one being a window, top deck, for the second leg!)

They are both night flights, the first leg departing 13:05 however I do struggle sleeping on planes, that's where the red wine comes in (and the aisle seats!)

Singapore Air also suggested that should the OH want migrant baggage allowance we should go to the airport between now and our depart date with the Visa (when that finally comes through, 8months 15days today!) to have this approved. We don't live in London, this seems like a bit of a mission.

My question now is does anyone know of a Partner Visa holder (permanent) being declined the baggage allowance at the airport on the day of flight?

What MaggieMay said, they should only contact the applicant or discuss with them. As the sponsor you are not on the application, its not a joint application, its for one person only and that is who they deal with. You are simply sponsoring them, you filled out your forms for that aspect, job done.

I wasn't complaining I understand its DPA etc. I was also offering this as a reason that Ellie had not been emailed back.

Does anyone know where I can purchase Black Pudding near Newcastle and the Hunter region??

Strangely enough my Aussie mother is requesting it as she hasn't had any since we were in Lochness 4 years ago!!

I have seen similar posts about Sausages suggesting an Irish brand at Coles in WA, do they stock this brand on the east coast too??

Any help would be great!

Hello everyone,

 

I am a longtime lurker first time poster to this thread.

Our visa timeline is as follows:

Submitted online: 15/02/2014

CO (VF) assigned: 19/03/2014

Medical/police check submitted: 16/06/2014

 

I am currently in Melbourne and my OH is in nottingham waiting for the visa. His life has been on hold these last 3 months just waiting for the visa to come, he's missed several job opportunities in australia and as I'm sure you all know its very frustrating. He has called Europe Services Centre twice now since we hit the 8month mark asking for a date when we can expect a decision to come through to book tickets and was told that all they could tell him was the 8-9month mark, when he asked to speak to our case officer they said we were not allowed to directly speak with them. I know several people here have commented how they have been in touch with their case officers and even know what office hours they work. When our case officer first contacted us it was through the general email. So my question to you is does anyone actually have a direct number for their case officer? and what has been peoples experience with VF? from previous comments she seems to be rather prompt at getting her visa done in a reasonable timeframe, but i feel like my emails are being ignored and the waiting is so excruciating.

Hi Ellie

You say your emails are being ignored? Did you email the general email address which was posted earlier today? My OH has emailed our CO 4-5 times using this email (and replying to the last email we received from him, so the subject line would be the same) and we have always heard back within 2-3 working days.

Has your OH emailed your CO as well, I know that on one occasion that we did call no one would speak to me in regards to his application (This seems like a STUPID rule considering the visa we are applying for but what can you do!!) perhaps this is why you haven't received a reply?

Fingers crossed for us all next week!!

So gutted I now have to wait until Monday this is way to painful !

Damn Coxy I had my fingers crossed for you!!

Bec did u call up maybe you said you where accompanying them so they never gave u the other price.

I did phone them as I had questions when I was still considering my options but in the end I just booked it online and the boxes arrived a few days later.

Now I just need the motivation to pack!!!

That's odd coxy we had our boxes delivered last week but booked flights yesterday. They didn't even ask me if I was Uk or Aus citizen or if we had flights booked etc, and I was only quoted air or sea. We also have only 8 regular and 3 large boxes...

Hmmm, I have managed to log in however I am getting the below error message when trying to select seats, maybe its too soon after booking??

We regret that seat selection is not allowed as your booking contains waitlisted or unticketed segments

Thank you Kelly and Matt, Just trying to figure out how to log in now!! Fingers crossed for some decent seats!!

We fly December 1st, exactly 5 years after I landed in the UK... I'm so excited to be going home!!

Today we booked our flights with Singapore Air (eeeeek, I'm coming home Australia!!) now i'm after some advice from those of you who have travelled with them before.

Firstly, the OH wants to know if it's a free bar?? :rolleyes:

Secondly, I have seen in other thread that you can choose seats, I booked through the flight centre and I wasn't given this option, do I now have to wait until check in and take what I can get?? Or can I log in somehow??

Also, We have a 12ish hour stop over in Changi Airport, is it worth doing the free 2 hour tour?? I know that its the best airport to have a stop over in and there is a bunch to do there.

What sort of currency should we take with us?? Will they accept GBP and AUD??

You say that you have photo's from holidays, do you still have the booking confirmations or ticket stubs etc? I am assuming that he is British and therefore wont have stamps to match but at least with confirmation emails or e-tickets it would state that you both have traveled together.

It is important to just be honest, if there is a lack of evidence explain why. But include anything and everything you can, as snifter said it doesn't have to be in joint names just being delivered to the same address in the same time frame, etc.

Given that you only have 5 months remaining on your visa you may need to consider applying for a UK Partner Visa if you want to stay together while your Aus Visa is being processed (approx 15 months). I made the call to extend my UK Partner Visa for another 2 years as I didn't want to leave him behind. Once approved you can then also use this as evidence towards your Aus visa. The processing times on the UKBA side of things are MUCH shorter.

GOOD LUCK!!

Hi. I am flying with Singapore in a couple of weeks. I emailed the web enquiry and they have confirmed new migrants have 40kg each full seat paying passenger. Only clauses are you must not have activated your visa and u need to check in at the airport where they will check your visa! Simple as! :-)

Hi Kelly Do you still have the email address as I am having trouble finding this on the website?? I am flying with Singapore on December 1st!!

Matt19811981;1936625766]Good morning one and all,

I am new to this forum but have been reading it for the last 6 months or so as i have applied for a subclass 309 visa. I applied on the 19th feb, all medicals done, police checks done, no probs with application and just waiting. We are now in our 9th month and am hoping that my visa is here soon so me and my partner can fly out by the end of the year. I suppose my question is 2 fold, one, has anyone else applied around this time and got their visa? our case officer is DP? secondly, some people have mentioned that they sent an email to their CO and this helped speed up the process, how did you email them? via the website? or replying to the email they originally send?

Look forward to your responses...

Hi Matt!!

Coxy1804 and I both applied on February 10th, we are still waiting for our grants.

My CO Is DP also, we emailed him around a month ago by replying to one of the emsils he had sent us and recieved a reply 2 days later. You can try emailing him for an update, my OH and I are trying not too as he pretty much gave us the go ahead to book flights for december 1st so we are just trying to be patient, whilst checking his email 10 times a day lol!!

Fingers crossed we all get some good news this week!!

Congrats Lozza! Fingers crossed for us next week Coxy!!

I can relate, I have seen my Parents but not my brothers and sister or any of my other relatives in 5 years, my flights are book for 5 years to the day I arrived in the UK!!

I have had so many great experiences here, I've had the opportunity to travel and build a career and experience so much but the homesickness has won out!! I miss my family!!

The OH is equally excited tho as he sees this as a new chapter and an opportunity to change career and build a better life for ourselves!!

But this waiting whole process has been a rollercoaster!! I want the grant so I can get off!! Haha :tongue: