Izzielizzie

Hello! We're moving to Melbourne (from interstate) and would be keen for anyone to provide updated opinions on primary and secondary schools in Point Cook? DS is quite shy, studious and introverted. We'd like a school with a culture where academic excellence is "cool". 

Because DS is in year 5, we're only considering schools that offer K-9 (or K-12 though I've not read of any). I've done some research but would love to hear first-hand advice please?

• Alamanda College - seems to be good on paper based on rankings, NAPLAN results, etc. Any feedback? How's the admin? Any bullying? How're the older kids??
• Featherbrook College - just opened this year - any feedback from parents who have visited or whose kids are currently enrolled there?
• Caranballac P-9 - read some not so great reviews so very hesitant - only thing is it's the zoned school for Sanctuary Lakes which seems nice (and safe?)
• Point Cook College - good reviews but also quite full?

Just concerned because of stories about teens in state schools (well, anywhere but there seem to be more horror stories??) - realise it can't fully be avoided but we'd like to lessen the chances of DS getting bullied and/or exposed to bad habits at an early age.

Thank you and hope to gain some advice and insights! 

PS. We're looking at the estates zoned for each school of course so any comments RE the same in relation to the schools would be great, thanks!

3 hours ago, syd2016 said:

So happy for you! You give us hope. I can't imagine the waiting that you went through. The floodgates of emotion must be broken and I can hear you yelling in joy! Congratulations!

Do pray for all of us waiting!

 

Thanks everyone! I hope you get yours soon - will be adding you all to my prayers.

@syd2016 @badaich87 @jess6 @Zee14042016 And yes, it hasn't fully sunk in yet - reckon I'll burst into tears when I drive to work tomorrow. My husband is still in disbelief. Ha ha ha!

Hope to see you guys in the citizenship forum next year (if they don't change residence requirements) otherwise, a few more years' wait is fine. We've had practice being patient. ?

Thanks everyone! HO HO HO - Christmas has arrived early in our household. We will celebrate with food and some vino haha! Best of luck to everyone - what a crazy ride!!

FINALLY - best news ever oh my god. After nearly a decade we're permanent residents!!! We got the grant early today. It hasn't fully sunk in yet. I haven't cried in relief yet! 

Thank you to everyone for the support and for sharing your experiences - it has made a big difference knowing we're not alone. I'm updating my details on the spreadsheet now, along with my signature here. 

Good luck to everyone - hang in there I know how shockingly rough the wait is - I hope you get your good news sooner rather than later! Shout out to my fellow comrades waiting for a year and longer @Zee14042016 @badaich89 @Raj1985 @Apr 2016 and to other Marketing Specialists @Jess6 - praying for you guys!!

39 minutes ago, Alice 1 said:

Yes plz u can add
Let see when we will have lucky email


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Hi @Alice 1 and @Ozbozz, can you provide the below? I'll add in your details:

• Is your country LR or HR (high risk)?
• No of people on your application
• Stream: Transition/Direct/Agreement?
• Nomination application date? visa application date?
• Dates granted? Document/s requested?
• Processing team (state)?
• Occupation

Ozbozz, already added you on the 'Jul 2016' tab - just need to add in your occupation, HR/LR and number of people, thanks!  

15 minutes ago, Alice 1 said:

Same here co requested my kids medical in December 2016
Submitted 4th Jan
Still nothing
It's been more than 11 months
My 457 visa finishing soon
If I call my MA he always say for wait
When I applied he said 6 months for processing
But god knows what's going on?‍♂️?‍♂️


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Hi @Alice 1, that's an awfully long wait! Did you lodge your nomination and visa around the same time? I hear ya - my employer's MA told us 4-6 months, ha!

Thanks @Ozbozz - hope we both get it soon already but yes, not wishing for it is probably the best recourse for now. Still doing my countdown to 28 days though.  By the way, can I add your details to the spreadsheet? Think it helps everyone being able to see how others fare.

20 hours ago, Ozbozz said:

Hey @Izzielizzie- my company did the nomination part and I did my own application. I'm on their as the contact so have been given a Bridging Visa of some sort. So I'm guessing we should be covered. We have a CO, named A of NSW PSE team - I sent her my wife's UK police check on the 11th Jan (the day it was requested)... but still nothing. Even logged in and notified I uploaded the doc.

Since then I have sent multiple emails to the them directly with no response. I use a mail track plugin to see when emails have been opened - each email sent has been opened within hours but no reply  

First i've heard of this 28 day thing? If so, its been way over 28 days for us

I'm usually a very patient person, but got to say - this process sucks so bad. They should at-least give you an indication of where you are at in the queue or something - we live in a digital world now...!

Oz

 

Hi @Ozbozz, I heard from IMMI that the CO who processed your nomination doesn't necessarily have to be the same one to finalise your visa application as they work in teams now. Technically, when they request for a follow up requirement, they give applicants 28 days to submit, after which, they theoretically, should pick up the case and assess. Supposedly anyway but I'm not sure myself.

You're not alone in getting the cold shoulder via email! We were asked for one form for my spouse (though info was already submitted in another form!) and we uploaded it the same day. We emailed and pressed the button confirming the same on the visa portal. Also rang them but we were told to wait after the 28 days since file automatically goes back to the queue! 

If you look at the spreadsheet (see link below) and also through this thread, some get lucky and their visas are granted swiftly after providing documents though. Others wait longer. We're over a year since lodgement now so haven't really been lucky but praying we get it soon. It's really ridiculous and painful.

9 minutes ago, Bevan said:

It's in my signature:

 

Nomination Applied: 13/10/2016 Approved: 10/04/2017

VISA Applied: 30/11/2016 Approved: 26/04/2017

Hi @bevan, CONGRATS! Just noticed that after you submitted the file two weeks after the request, you got PR the same day! Did you chase this? Ring them?

We were requested for form 1221 (for my spouse) about a week after nomination grant and submitted it on the same day however, when I rang to tell them, we were told it went back to queue and to wait for the 28 days...It's been over a year since we lodged so the wait is extra painful. We don't have a migration agent though and I already followed up once.

17 minutes ago, Ozbozz said:

Hey guys,

Been following this forum for a while - thanks for all your useful answers and random conversations. I've been in Aus since Oct 2013, was brought over by a telecomms company on a 457. Unfortunately the job wasn't what they made it out o be so I switched to IT consultancy... life was good! I since have applied for PR through the Transition Scheme...

• Nomination lodged - 29th June 2016
• Application Lodged - 3rd July 2016
• Extra docs asked for (wife's UK police check I forgot to attach... doh) - 11th Jan 2017

The good part is the nomination was approved 14th Feb 2017 (WOHOOOO).

But, still waiting on the application now...feels like time has slowed down! My original 457 runs out end of Aug 2017 - so my question is, will this cause an issue? Or do you think they'll put us on a bridging visa?

And one more complication (but a good one at that)...my wife is EXPECTING! And is due in October...so baOzcally having mild anxiety at the moment...

Thanks for listening

Oz

 

Hi @Ozbozz, didn't you get your automatic BVA sent your way after lodgement? Did you lodge your visa application yourself and is your email the designated email? If so, you would have received BVAs for your fam and that automatically activates once your 457 expires. 

But you should get your PR long before then? Do you know if your visa has a CO already? It's odd that it hasn't been granted yet? I thought they looked at requirements after 28 days??

We're counting down our 28 days so feeling anxious as well...

Hi @Vickiw89, over 12 months now as well. Congrats to all the new PRs and hope we see more grants this week! So sorry to read sad updates on the forum - pray that better things await.

Also, anyone here got their nomination approved and are still waiting after visa follow-up request?? We submitted form 1221 for spouse (form 80 wasn't enough) on the same day requested but apparently, it goes back to the queue(!?) so we're counting down the 28 days. 

Does anyone know if they will definitely pick it up again after that? Grateful it's in progress, but can't fully shake off the anxiety especially with the new changes.

By the way, if your lives are affected in any way by the (proposed) NEW citizenship residence requirements, it's not too late yet as the law hasn't passed - until June 1st, we can still send our opinion letter for consideration via citizenship.submissions@border.gov.au. Hope this shout out is okay?

Add your details to the EDITABLE version of the 186 timelines spreadsheet: https://goo.gl/7g7FjC

On 2017-4-21 at 5:30 PM, jess6 said:

I completely agree, I have been on that forum for almost a year and the spreadsheet has always worked well as an open document...

On top of that, people should be allowed to remove their info if they wanted to... At the end of the day, that's personal info and people do not necessarily want to share their email address... If they even have a gmail one...

 

Hi guys,

I agree and hope the owner is reading our messages and can open it up again. Personally, I wouldn't want to use my private email to edit either.

Oops, sorry, just read the replies and @jess6 provided an open link - here's a short hyperlink we can share to the editable 186 timelines spreadsheet: https://goo.gl/7g7FjC

32 minutes ago, Sue2017 said:

I got a cancellation advice from WA too, I think NSW applications are getting processed by WA team ?

Hmm maybe? But there are several recent ones from NSW and VIC too - maybe it just depends where you're allocated? Good luck to you too!

By the way, are you able to work on your BVA given the 457 was cancelled? Or do you have to wait for 186?

11 minutes ago, badaich87 said:

Just realised....They didn't let u cross your 1 year mark ?


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Yes, thank God - got it a few days away from one year but we're only halfway there SO we're not breathing until it all comes through - scared/happy, ha ha!

Oddly enough, I rang them last week and the lady said that visa hadn't been allocated but that she could not disclose information RE nomination. She also said that we were still technically within the 90% (processing timelines) as we hadn't reached on year yet! I didn't share this here, as thought it might give false hope. I'd actually told my employer that I felt the IMMI lady was subtly trying to indicate that my nomination had a CO - but we laughed it off to wishful thinking. Who knew??

Oh and the nomi grant states WA PESE..

44 minutes ago, badaich87 said:

Omgoshhh finally .... so happy for u mate.... so did u guys uploaded any recent business documents or only the ones that we submitted while applying ....??? Congratulations... that's is such a big ray of hope for all of us waiting for so longgggg....


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Thanks for the well wishes everyone! Longest wait of our lives after being here for so long - hope we hear more good news soon...can't really celebrate when we're only halfway through - we're still not fully relieved but so thankful! 

@mahenderntpc, have you followed up recently? Hope you hear good news soon!

@badaich87, yes, unbelievable - making peace with uncertainty is helping my sanity. RE updating documents, only thing I know is that my employer's MA uploaded updated employment confirmation to their account a few months ago in anticipation (given how long we'd been waiting). I also added my YE 2016 PAYG late last year along with some recent payslips.

Hello world! Happy to share that our NOMINATION was finally approved!

• Nomi lodged: 08 Apr 2016, Visa lodged: 18 Apr 2016
• Nomi approved: 05 Apr 2017, Visa: ???
• 186 DE Onshore, HR, Marketing Specialist

Details are on the spreadsheet. Hope this brings some relief to fellow DE and also early 2016 applicants (we haven't been forgotten!) - we still have to wait for PR though  but it's progress - good luck to us all!

@Zee14042016 @badaich89 @jess6 @APR15

21 hours ago, syd2016 said:

Hi Lzzie, One has to be real lucky not to fall through the crack to miss the 1st wave of approvals of a particular month. My take is "LR + Transition + SOL Skill" applicants are more likely to fall within the 6 months approval timeline.

It looks like a bus coming to pick up waiting passengers. No one knows number of seats in each sortie, time of pick up, next schedule of bus, or order of the queue which appears to get dis-oriented after each sortie and then the poor left out passengers look at each other's face trying to figure some logic behind why they are left out and someone got the ride!

Waiting patiently is a virtue!! I pray that mine and everyone's PR is approved asap. 

Cheers...

 

Yes, @syd2016 I agree although some HRs get approved quickly so I wonder if it's dependent on actual nationalities, ie. some countries are looked at less favourably in this Trump world. For instance, I read that Australia will now have stricter border processes for all flights coming in from the middle east, following the US and the UK. Just wondering if they have similar filters for visa applicants? Or maybe they cap per country. Who knows..it's all so secret isn't it?

Funny bus analogy - maybe they should've invested in a high speed train system given how much $ immigration brings in to the economy. By the way I think @scorpion69 is a software engineer - congrats mate, so lucky!

22 hours ago, Elliotkan said:

Hi @lizzielizzie

I think you are right.

Reluctant to say this but maybe we should put "luck" as a general answer to who gets approval first...

I do believe that occupation is a key factor which affects their priority... Got a bad feel as mine is quite general.

Anyway, good luck to you and me and everyone on this Forum...

 

Hi @Elliotkan, you never know - I had a good feeling and was riding the wave of optimism the first several months...until we went past 7 months and still nothing..and then 9, 10, 11 months and still nothing, ha ha. Now we're a few days from 365 and I'm a bit resigned and sad. I'd really like to know though what the maximum wait time is for a CO to be allocated - at least that much information would help us plan our lives better. 

Good luck to you - who knows, you might be one of the fortunate ones!

1 hour ago, Elliotkan said:

Hi Praveen Reddy

I think it's possible that the scale of business do affect processing time.

My friend who has recently found a job from one of the biggest Japanese general trading companies in Sydney got his 457 visa approved within just 5 days...

 

Hi @Elliotkan, it might be more than that - my multinational employer's been operating several decades in Aus, public profile includes 5000-10,000 staff in Aus with a revenue of $500M to $1B AUD a year. I thought that would mean a quick nomination approval, but we're waiting nearly one year now (Apr-2016) for both nomination and visa. 

If you backtrack in the forum, we've discussed this many times out of frustration and it seems random - at least based on limited information on the spreadsheet. Maybe occupation has something to do with it, volume of applicants per occupation? Supply/demand? Maybe country/nationality? Location within Australia? Some observations:

• IT/Nursing/Engineering/Teaching/University Academic occupations get processed quickly
• TRN generally a few months ahead of DE
• Based on limited data, seems they process 60-70% of cases per month, then move on to a later month with a few other grants trickling in thereafter

Or maybe it's luck based on the team we're lined up for and the cases they have. So much wasted time and energy on this process. In the end, all we have is today.

22 minutes ago, Zee14042016 said:

@Dale_g I can totally understand your frustration. There are other people on this forum waiting since Feb-April 2016 as well. We have been calling the department and getting the same response. Each time they say it should be allocated in another month but nothing ever happens. The only option they have left for us is to wait. However I wonder, how long do we wait - indefinitely?

Hi @Dale_g and @Zee14042016, I wonder what the maximum time we can wait is?? Surely, there's a ceiling??? Can someone ask their MA about this? That would help our sanity immensely and help us plan our lives better too. I'm afraid my last call to Immigration was too recent to bug them again, ha ha. We've been waiting 1 year now but seeing our peers waiting from 2015 scares me. 

On 01/04/2017 at 0:00 AM, Bikbik said:

Hi param I am waiting from June 2015 

could you please share more details what's going on 

that might be helpful 

thanks 

Hi @Bikbik and @paramsahota, so are your applications still 'RECEIVED' from 2015? No word since JUN and NOV 2015 at all?

No worries @badaich87, I'm guessing the key to our sanity is to have zero expectations as far as timelines go - and to not try to analyse why/how/when, etc. Looking forward to seeing an early 2016 grant hopefully soon.

@dev, the spreadsheets aren't abandoned - there are plenty of us still waiting from early 2016 and even, 2015 - I know a few are sporadically checking in and I'd be very surprised if they weren't eager to update once there's news to share. Most are probably tired of checking in..these days, I only check to respond to private messages as it's less stressful "forgetting" while we continue with the extended wait.

Congrats to the new PRs and hope we all get our turn soon! 

186 DE Onshore | Nom + Visa (Complete): April-2016 | Status: RECEIVED 

Add your details to the 186 timelines spreadsheet: https://goo.gl/bFWMIY

2 minutes ago, DE COOK said:

Hi

Izzielizzie

I am from HR country

processing centre NSW

4 ppl

Thanks

Thanks! Lastly, may I ask what document/s they asked for? Did you re-submit (expired while waiting?) or you had yet to submit? Thanks @DE COOK!

4 hours ago, DE COOK said:

Hi

After long wait 1year I Got My Nomination Approval.

I am half way of my Dream.

My timeline nomination lodged: 1st April 2016

visa lodged: 29th April 2016

Nomination Approval: 29th March 2017

Documents requested for Visa: 29th March 2017

 

Hi @DE COOK, CONGRATS and hope you get your PR very soon! I added you onto our spreadsheet - by the way, may I ask if you're from an LR/HR country? How many people are on your application and which processing centre please? I will update on the sheet - will give the rest of us hope! It's refreshing to hear from another APRIL 2016 applicant - I hope your nom approval heralds more good news for the rest of us waiting from early last year @Zee14042016 @Apr 2016 @badaich87 @Gary1985.

@paramsahota - Hi, have they never been in touch? Have you tried following up lately? What's your occupation? I can't see you on the spreadsheet.

@bradfords - I rang IMMI about this and was told that police checks from overseas don't need to be redone EVEN if we had gone for a quick visit after the checks - it's only affected if you have travelled to that place for X amount of time (I THINK at least 2 months) after the checks expired. IELTS has to be valid upon lodgement so it's okay if it expires before decision. As for the medicals, I'm not sure BUT a few years ago, we had a temporary visa application (while onshore) that took longer than expected and we were asked to redo it because it had expired...but that may be up to the CO's discretion? They should really review that practice - it's not our fault.

@syd2016 Of course, we're all in charge of our own perspective and yes, we all have our own unique circumstances.

We've been here nearly a decade now and have seen doors shut because of policy changes and unstable employers so yes, apologies as I'm coming from a jaded perspective. But thought I'd share my experience (in response to Zee) in case it helps others manage their own expectations. Because personally, it would've lessened my stress and anxiety had I not expected a swift turnaround. But of course, this is only my personal opinion and people can take it or leave it.

How long have you been waiting by the way?

Also, my employer has had other nominations come through before mine already, and the only differences are nationality and occupation so they are dumbfounded. So who knows how they're allocating really.

Good luck to all! I'll update the spreadsheet once I have any status changes.

Just to upbeat every ones mood (if it helps a bit) Australia is still much better than other countries such as US. Some of my friends are awaiting their Green Card since 2005/2007.

 

Friends, there is no point in sharing our disappointment on a daily basis. We have to take this situation with a pinch of salt and move ahead positively as we wait for our PR. We did best in submitting our application in the best possible way through good MAs, but beyond this there is nothing we can do. In addition to the factor of LUCK, there are various other factors (beyond our comprehension) for the long delay in CO allocation and subsequent approvals.

 

There is deluge of PR applications in Australia across all category, especially after restrictions in other developed countries. Australia has become a popular destination amongst prospective migrants and hence there so much pressure on the system. I also heard that the Dept. maintains categorisation (depending on revenue/profit/sector etc) of Companies who nominate their employees and has some bearing on the nomination approval.

 

We all are on the same boat waiting for our PR to fresh start our life. Everyone of us is just holding on to important decisions in our life and I am sure that everything is happening for a good reason. Lets be patiently positive and keep on sharing information, analysis, news, tips!

 

Cheers!

@Zee14042016 I hear ya. All the overthinking isn't worth it - doesn't help us in any way whatsoever! IMMI has a crap system and if they're moving on to subsequent months to hit targets, while just leaving other files unattended? I'd understand if they had already started processing but we don't even have a CO allocated yet so that means our files are just sitting, waiting.

Sure, they can't give an estimated MAX time for processing BUT they should commit to a max time for case allocation at least! So we're part of the 10% but 11+ months without even getting our cases allocated to a CO? What does that mean for our timelines?? But unless we pull out our applications, what can we do, hey?

@jess6, exactly what i thought before too - but our application is straightforward - extremely stable sponsor; no age/english/health/family issues, complications or exemptions; only submitted work experience in Australia, including 3 years with sponsor. Only possible issue is if they're culling or capping specific nationalities. But you might get lucky because they're still touching June files and you're from EU.

Just a heads up that in my experience, it seems that there's a strong element of chance in this mad process, ie. maybe files are lined up for certain teams and if you're unlucky enough to go to a team that has complicated, long case work, then too bad, so sad.

My only advice to all the ones who are early in their journey - lower your expectations and try not to think about it. I believe it made it harder for us because we were advised by employer's MA to expect 4-6 months given the simplicity of our case and our employer's history with IMMI. It's tougher when you have set expectations. I basically started waiting week on week, day on day from about October...finally stopped that nonsense, but still worry from time to time.

@Izzielizzie, @badaich87, @April16 ----> So I don't know whether to feel sad or satisfied with the new updated timelines. Because some of us have already hit the 11 month mark and still waiting, which would mean we may be in the 10%. Best is to avoid negative thoughts, however, each day this process only seems to get more complicated.

 

@jess6 - good decision. I agree with your analysis and think if I fall in the 10% may be i am queued for next year Good luck to you! Hoping for the best for all of us waiting since so long. Take care.

Oh that gives me hope - thanks @sunshine11111 - we've been here that long now too and IELTS is not YET expired so hopefully they consider that.

@badaich87, it's been a roller coaster ride for me - some days I can be positive but the last two days I've been a wreck. Lack sleep which probably hasn't helped...but then this extended visa process doesn't help that particular problem. Chicken/egg issue! :wacko:

Admittedly my overseas police clearance was 3 years old (i did nomination and visa myself without an MA so it obviously slipped my mind) having said that tho I have lived in Australia for 9years already so not sure how important the overseas clearance was. As for the IELTS test it expired 2 months after I lodged my visa.