perthling

Hi Barry, sorry to hear your news, but yeah atleast it's not an outright rejection you still have a chance to get a positive outcome. Best advice is to get an agent with extensive experience with applicants w/ criminal convictions. My husband and I consulted with Mr. Mark Northam (http://www.mnvisa.com) he gave use really good advice. Next thing to do is read all the attached documents in the email, especially the Ministerial Directive 65. Essentially you have to address all the issues there especially the part they specified "subparagraph 501(6)(d): in the event the person were allowed to enter or to remain in Australia, there is a risk that the person would: (i) engage in criminal conduct in Australia." Come up with all the documents and proof that after your last incident, you have repented and reformed and is now a law-abiding citizen. Don't just use reference letters, also include any charity or volunteer work that you have done, if you have gotten any further education to better yourself and any objective evidence that you wont and are unlikely to "engage in criminal conduct". Good luck. (Please note that I am not a migration agent and this is just based on our experience. There are several migration agents that post in PIO and am sure they will have more valuable advice so please consult with them)

hi mike, sorry for the late reply. sadly there is no result from vaccu yet.looks like urgency is not vaccu's main priority. here is a timeline of our interactions with vaccu: Feb 5: Received Notice of intent to refuse base on character grounds March 3: Submitted my husband's documents May 8: Emailed VACCU and asked for an update to wc they replied within the day saying my husband's documents will be forwarded soon to the delegate of the minister so a decision can be made. I'll probably email VACCU again on the first week of July to ask for an update. Hopefully the start of the new financial year will usher in some progress in our case. Lastly, my husband has not gone out of Perth WA yet, and hos not tried for a bridging visa B (so he could travel) in the fear that he will not be able to travel back into Oz. Job market in England is not good at the moment and he wants to save as much Oz dollars while he can work there.

i received the same email u got in march 29, they replied that to me in the last week of nov 2015. hope u dont mind me askng, have u done a lot of travelling or have any convictions?

hi empathy, did the cse officer say/hint why your case has taken this long?..

any update guys? just realized my husband and i had crossed the 300 day mark (10 months) since applying for the 189 visa on august 2015. still patiently waiting though. i had emailed VACCU on the first week of May and they replied that my husband's records will be passed on to the delegate so he/she could decide on my husband's criminal history. hopefully we will hear some news after july 1 when the next financial year starts.

hi lisab, congrat on your visa grant! did DIBP/ VACCU contact you for further information with regards to your husband's previous convictions or was your application pretty straight forward? and which migration agent did you use? thanks in advance!

hi rachel, my husband and i are still waiting. here is our timeline: Aug 2015 - applied for 189 visa submitted PCCs and medicals Oct 2015 - CO asked for form 80 and 1221 for husband (husband is the one with convictions from the UK) Feb 2016 - received notification of intent to refuse base on character grounds from VACCU March 2016 - submitted our docs to support husband's good character ( he never did jail time for any of his convictions) May 2016 - i politely asked for an update on my husband's case by email and a kind officer replied and said my husband's docs are going to be passed on to the delegate of the minister so he/she can give a verdict. I will try to get in contact with VACCU again after two months..dont want to pester them as they've been open that these cases take a really long time good luck to you

hi binoyski, so sorry to hear your news. have you seen the refusal letter? As far as I know if the application is refused and the applicant is offshore there is no appeal rights. Even if there is a possibility of an appeal, it could cost you $$$$. I already inquired with our migration agent should our case be refused, he quoted $4500 for his services and another $1800 just to apply for an appeal to the Tribunal. It will probably take such a long time too Your agent might be right to just apply again. Don't claim points for work experience and just compensate with excellent IELTS or PTE score. Your skills assessment will be valid for a number of years, and I'm sure your a remarkable professional, you deserve this don't lose hope

hi saacor, no news on the grant for us. however i sent an email to VACCU last monday asking for an update (after two months of submitting our documents) and a case officer replied that my husband's case has progressed and documents are now being prepared to be reviewed by the delegate. hopefully we will have an update in the next few months and we can finally plan for the future. how about your case?

hi arthur, thanks for replying:) life happens i guess. good thing they didnt give a definite ban. a couple of years of no reoffending should turn the tide in your favour. best of luck with everything!

Hi Sechi, i'm no migration agent just felt like sharing our situation to you as my husband had similar offences back in his earlier years (damage to property and battery). we applied for a Skilled Independent 189 visa on August 2015 with me as the primary applicant and him as my dependent, submitted police clearances and form 80, 1221 around that time and we received a notice of intent to refuse based on character grounds for my husband last February 5. We learned that our case was forwarded to Visa Applicant Character Consideration Unit (VACCU). My husband never got jail time for any of his offences and its been more than half a decade since the last offence but others who commented on this thread are right it is an uphill battle. We replied on March 4 with all the documents we could get to support that my husband has turned his life around, has repent and reformed and does not pose any risk to the Australian community now. With all the community orders, did you get a suspended sentence too? because even if its a suspended sentence it still counts for DIBP. can you get recommendation letters from maybe your community service officer or someone of authority that could objectively say that you have changed now? Ideally it would be in your favor if several years has passed since the last offence so there is enough time to prove that you have reformed and have changed ways (not re-offended). At the end of the day if Oz is really your dream i say go ahead and seek advice from a MARA agent with a lot of experiences with applicants who have previous convictions. We got really good advice from Mark Northam (http://www.mnvisa.com). He was very compassionate with us and suggested several ways to help my husband's case. Everyone will make mistakes once or twice in their life, it's your determination to move forward that should define you as a person. Good luck!

none so far..it has been almost 8 months since we lodged our visa application and 1.5 months since replying to the notice of intent to refuse base on character grounds. seems like no one has heard how long VACCU takes to process/address such cases hoping for the best, preparing ofr the worst

Hi Arthur, I've been silently following your thread and I'm saddened with your news. You and your partner must be devastated. Did you get a notice of intent to refuse your visa or did they just outright reject you? Also in your rejection letter did they indicate that you could appeal? Lastly is there a ban period where you can only try to apply for a tourist visa after a certain number of years from March 30, 2016?

hi binoyski, sorry to hear your dilemma. but don't lose hope a lot of people have come out of an "adverse information received" notification from DIBP with a positive outcome. get new reference letters from your manager and HR and anybody of authority from your company to testify that they know you have been working for the company for X number of years. Maybe you could also ask your manager to include a reason why he doesn't answer unidentified calls, i.e. trying to avoid phishing or marketing calls etc. How many days did they give you to respond? Try to dig additional documents to link you to your company payslips, tax returns etc. I know of one guy who passed 47+ pages of docs to prove his employment..Good luck buddy don't lose faith

sadly no../ he first entered Oz in 2013 and has never went out since. we did declare all his convictions in our current visa application, submitted his AUStralian and UK police clearanced and submitted a detailed background on all offences even before the case was sent to VACCU

Hi guys good morning. was just wondering if anybody here had an experience with VACCU and how long did they take to give an evaluation on your case? I applied (onshore) on August 2015 for a 189 visa with my husband as my dependent (he is currently working in Perth). Sadly our case was forwarded to VACCU because my husband had a some convictions in the UK during his earlier years. VACCU issued a notice of intent to refuse last February 5 and we replied on March 4 with all the documents we could gather to prove that my husband has spent the last six years turning his life around and abiding by the laws. These included a background of all offenses, references from UK and Australian employers, training certificates and CVs, letters of support from co-workers, friends, family and even one from his probation officer back in the UK. Now my husband and I have been separated for 7 months and and would really like to be reunited, regardless of the outcome of our application. My husband said if after two months from today and still no result from VACCU, he will apply for a bridging visa B and travel to the Philippines to be with me. That would be lovely but I'm just scared that after one month of vacation and he returns to Perth on a Bridging Visa B and he declares his convictions on his incoming passenger card is there a chance they won't let him into Australia? or worse put him in immigration detention?? *I've been watching too much Border Patrol* Any insight will be much appreciated. Thanks!

Congrats MiM!

Hi Liam, Good morning Did your friend get his visa in the end? Me and my husband applied for PR (August 2015) and we got a notice of intent to refuse based on character grounds last Feb 2016. We replied last week with all the documents and references we could get to prove my husband is a changed person now..Really hoping someone had come out of a notice to refuse with a positive outcome

Hi PomCop, My husband also has a number of offences back in the UK from 5-10 years ago. I would definitely suggest you consult with a MARA agent, like Westly Russell or Mark Northam. Very good advice we have gotten from them. Preparing your character references is good, however it is desirable to let a considerable length of time to pass so that DIBP could see that you'e had time to reform & repent for the bad action. Jail time isn't the only criteria that will indicate you fail the character test, nature of the crime as well as who you had a fight with will have an effect. If it was violence against a member of the minority group then it would look worse than normal. Your skills assessment and IELTS will be valid for a number of years so you dont have to worry about that. Again have a word with a good agent they will know the best course of action. Best of luck

oh i never even though of that in that way. thanks for the advice

oh i actually didnt take any offense from your reply thank you for the well wishes

Hi Quinka, thanks for your insight. yeah we know it's an uphill battle but i love my husband dearly so we're going to give our best shot. if all else fails, then it's not the end of the world. My husband is more valuable to me than anything else (including a visa) so that puts things in proper perspective. Still hoping our MARA agent could help us get a positive outcome though. to give you guys an idea: number of convictions - more than 5 recency of convictions - last incident in UK was 2010, then after that one drink driving fine in Aus in March 2014 nature of convictions (domestic violence is especially problematic) - sadly most of the incidents involved fighting non disclosure on landing cards - unfortunately he didnt declare them when he arrived in Aus on October 2013 non disclosure on visa application form - we disclosed everything on our current application evidence to support reform of character - we already submitted work and character references for him personal statement of circumstances - we also submitted a detailed statement on all incidents, including how he has changed since that time Yeah I just wish somebody else will be saved from all these troubles if they are thinking of applying and have a similar case to my husband. At the very least get a well experienced MARA agent. All we were considering before was the condition that no jail time already means they pass the character test. my husband has never been jailed before only charged fines and sent to community service but that's it. all his problems were back when he was in his young 20s. Anyway, hopefully they see that he has matured from that time.

Hi Que Sera Sera and Pom Queen, thanks for your replies. Yes we are in contact with a migration agent that has a lot of experience with applicants with previous convictions. He seems very encouraging despite the fact that it can be a reality that we will be refused based on this. Still, we will try to get a positive response from DIBP. Unfortunately my husband did not declare his previous conviction on his passenger landing card. Que Sera, could you share what happened to your two friends who didn't declare their convictions on their passenger card? Were they still able to get a permanent visa to Aus?

hello, just wanted to share our status with you. this morning we got a letter from VACCU (the external agency doing character checks on applicants) containing a letter of intent to refuse based under s501 of the migration act. basically says that they might refuse our application based on my husband's previous criminal record. they are giving us 28 days to respond. if we dont respond in 28 days, they will decide on our case based on the documents they have now which is my husband's passenger card back in 2013 when he first arrived in Aus, online visa application, form 80 for husband, Australian and UK police clearance, and a FORM 1023 where we detailed all his offences and provided a background on each offense and how my husband has repented and changed for the better since then. We're still not losing hope and we are planning to reply within 3 weeks time. As of now we have reference letters from his mum, former employees and a few from his Australian friends. I'll have to write him one and ask his brother who lives in Sydney to write him one as well. Hoping for grants for everyone else! Keep the faith XX

hello, just wanted to share our status with you. this morning we got a letter from VACCU (the external agency doing character checks on applicants) containing a letter of intent to refuse based under s501 of the migration act. basically says that they might refuse our application based on my husband's previous criminal record. they are giving us 28 days to respond. if we dont respond in 28 days, they will decide on our case based on the documents they have now which is my husband's passenger card back in 2013 when he first arrived in Aus, online visa application, form 80 for husband, Australian and UK police clearance, and a FORM 1023 where we detailed all his offences and provided a background on each offense and how my husband has repented and changed for the better since then. We're still not losing hope and we are planning to reply within 3 weeks time. As of now we have reference letters from his mum, former employees and a few from his Australian friends. I'll have to write him one and ask his brother who lives in Sydney to write him one as well. Hoping for grants for everyone else! Keep the faith XX