Jellybean T

1 minute ago, AKB said:

Good news at last - request for 2nd VAC came in this morning.  Nearly there with our 143

Congratulations

7 hours ago, KATE PHUONG LAM said:

Hi All

Finally after 42 months and 3 days, i just got the GRANT email last night

Goodluck to you all

 

143 lodged on 15June15

Contacted by immi for health check and AOS on 01/04/18

Applied AOS on 09/04/18

AOS done on 27/08/18

Case officer assigned on 29/10/18 and request for form 80 and AOS approval letter

FINAL VAC request on 29/11/18

Visa Granted 03/12/18

Congratulations

I think all of us in the queue were expecting to be there in the timescale quoted when we applied but due to ( I think it was a 40%) increase in applications in May/June 2014, the waiting time has got longer and longer. If you look at peoples timelines you will see applications from June 2015 are being processed at the moment, your applications is 3 years after theirs. Hopefully the temporary 5 year visa will be passed next year and possibly this could allow you to be there sooner.  Nothing worth having comes easy so be prepared for a long wait but people that been granted their visas say it was all worth it. We are hoping to be there about this time next year!!!

Great news... every day makes a difference.

Yes Alan that is exactly the sort of feedback we need. Some sort of queuing system that lets us know how many people are in front of us. 

Put like that it sounds very depressing!!! It would be so nice to know how many applications were lodged each month, eg. if there were 2000 in June 2015 but only 800 in July we would expect a long processing for June applicants and July applicants would be processed quicker. It’s the not knowing how many are in front of you that’s the killer.

Shelagh

Congratulations 

If you go back to pages 702 to 703 you will be able to read all about this. Catlady is correct in what she has told you and knows better than the rest of us in the queue as she has gone through this process herself.

53 minutes ago, Marilyn said:

What is an AFP?

 

I would also like to know what AFP is??? It would be nice if everyone added their time line and then it would be easier to follow progress.

7 hours ago, Merryweather said:

I thought you might like to hear about what life is like after the angst and stress of waiting for the visa (143) and the dreaded AOS!

 

We have now been here, in Oz for the best part of 10 weeks

I spent the first week in a slightly delirious jet-lagged fog. Daughters met us at the airport with big smiles, flowers and balloons. I had always thought that at this point I would burst into tears with relief and pent-up emotion. But I didn’t – far too embarrassing!

Once we got back to daughter’s apartment and had had some breakfast (we landed at 6 a.m) she whisked us off to Coogee Beach to paddle in the ocean. Apparently, it helps to ‘ground’ you and alleviate jet-lag. It was lovely, if freezing   . . . but didn’t work! 

Her apartment is minutes away and the views are stunning – but it takes a cool $1½ million to buy a two bedroom (fairly basic apartment here) and the rents reflect that. D2 had booked the day off, as it was a Friday, but D1 had to go in to work. We spent the rest of the day unpacking and trying to stay awake!

 

It is only just beginning to percolate through that we are here for good and not just a nice long holiday. In those first couple of weeks we did some touristy stuff: the cliff walk from Coogee to Bondi, the art galleries, the walk round the harbour and Circular Quays – always stunning and great for people watching. However, we did spend a good deal of time doing ‘paperwork’ – going into government offices to apply for driving licences, Medicare cards (health) and, for me, a Working with Children (Disclosure and Barring) certificate. Just in case I manage to get some work. I have applied for a Senior’s card which will enable me to apply for a Gold Opal Card - a pre-paid travel card This Gold Opal will allow me travel over most of NSW for only $2.50 a day! The perks of being old? Partner has spent ages looking for work and we have also spent a good deal of time on our laptops looking for a car. Daughters have been generous in offering us the use of theirs – but we needed one and managed eventually to get one just under budget.

 

We had no sooner arrived - it felt to me - than we were preparing to leave to move into our ‘borrowed’ accommodation (we are ‘house-sitting’ daughter’s manager’s house, which is going to be re-built) We have been here a week and our new ‘pad’ is rather nice and it will be a bit of a wrench to leave it after Christmas to look for something we can afford! It is an area of large detached architect-designed houses (there are a lot of them around in Sydney) I suppose our house is a bit old-fashioned, but it is roomy, has a large terrace, a tiered garden, a huge ‘rumpus’ area (whatever that is?)  and a pool. So, I suppose can put up with the fact that there is only one socket per room . . . . . .. . . 

 

The day after we moved into this house daughter 2 and I sat out on the terrace in the twilight when she got home from work, complete with gin and tonics. Paradise, we thought, until we realised it was also ‘complete’ with mosquitoes! This occasioned a trip to Bunnings (B&Q or ‘Bloke Heaven’) to arm ourselves with as many devices and repellents we could lay our hand on.

 

 At the back of this house is a ‘reserve’ or park area which is a tiny bit of tropical forest. Every morning we awake to the sound of screeching lorikeets, cockatoos, ravens with calls like crying adenoidal children, and kookaburras that sound like fighting gibbons. Amazing – but bloody noisy! Not so much twitter, chirp, cheap, but SQUAWK! SCREAM! and ‘Kookaburra’ for “GET THE F**K OFF MY BRANCH!"

 

Sydney is huge! We had to drive to North Sydney last week to look at a car. It was amazing to think that this was all rain forest only 230 years ago. What have we done and continue to do to this world? And I am fully aware that we are just as culpable – just by being here. A sobering moment.

 

Of course, the whole point of this uprooting and expense has been to be with ‘ma girls’ and it has been fantastic. There have been some teething troubles, which I expected. It’s not easy for anyone to live with adult children, or them with us, and we have had to ‘get to know’ each other again. But so, so lovely to be close.  

 

The car we have bought is an automatic and it has taken me longer than the average pensioner to get used to it! Keep wanting to change gear and don’t know what to do with my redundant left foot! To complicate things even further, the windscreen wipers and indicators are the reverse of what I was used to in my trusty old Yaris. I blame my mild dyslexia/dyspraxia! Although I have practised on the warren of streets that make up this estate – I have not yet ventured onto the main road. Primarily because the ‘main’ road is like a motorway with 3 lanes on each side. Lots of cars and gigantic lorries going very, very fast (or so it seems to me!).

It would appear that many bus drivers also want to become part of the race and fancy themselves as Formula One competitors. Got on a bus the other day and was greeted by a beaming – completely toothless – driver, who proceeded to hurtle down the road with South American Dance music throbbing from his cab. (Sydney is very multi-cultural.) Passengers NEVER get out of their seats before their stop. They just ring the bell and wait for the bus to come to a safe and complete standstill – especially if Billy Whizz is at the wheel!

 

My partner has now found a job (which was an essential element of our move – both financially and psychologically!) and the pay reflects the cost of living here.

People here and at home keep asking me how I feel about the move/transition, etc. Well, I miss my friends and family. I need to make some friends/contacts of my own age! I miss a decent Indian take-away – but the simple answer is – my kids are here and I don’t want to be anywhere else!

Hold on in there, everyone! It's worth it

 

 M 

Hi M, Thank you so much for taking the time to share your first experiences of your new life. You know that most of us on this site love reading success stories as it’s what keeps us going and staying positive that we have made the right decision to move to the other side of the world in the later years of our lives. 

We are heading to Adelaide if we ever get this elusive visa granted..... we never thought we would still be waiting but it looks like it could be this time next year before we can start our new life with the family. 

Please keep posting and letting us know your progress... it's great to read happy stories. 

Shelagh

1 minute ago, Elbert said:

Most of may lodgers are still waiting to get for interview call. Worst thing about centrelink that they don't even give you correct information.

when we applied we were told that somebody ll contact us within 28 days. but when we called after that period, lady on the phone told us that it can take about 16-18 weeks. but now even 18 weeks have been passed and still haven't heard a word from them.

When did you apply for your visa? The more I read about the AOS process the more I dread it. Just when you think your nearly there you have more stress heaped on you.

3 minutes ago, CPV2015 said:

Hi everyone, my parents got 2nd vac payment requested yesterday. Done payment today by bank cheque. Now waiting for final visa grant...so exciting. Been a long wait till now. I wonder how long from 2nd vac payment to visa grant

Congratulations !!! A long process but now light at the end of the tunnel .

5 minutes ago, Michael S said:

Anyone submitted 143 late in 2015?
My parents submitted theirs around NOV 2015 but yet to hear a word yet. =(

Hi Micheal, We submitted our on the 8th December 2015 and are hoping for May 2019 for the Visa!!! But who knows!

Lolly T.... Congratulations and thanks for sharing your good news. 

Congratulations..... 

8 minutes ago, Qflyer said:

Friendly bump...

Think I know the answer to my own question (which is to get an agent) but just wanted a sanity check...

Hi Qflyer... if you go down the root of an agent it really doesn’t matter where they are based as most communication is done via email and phone.  For your own peace of mind I would suggest all communication with the agent go via yourself .... otherwise you won’t know what’s been asked and answered. Regards your Dads health I have no idea what medical things have an impact on the health check... Sorry.. I wish him a speedy recovery. Best of luck. Shelagh 

6 minutes ago, surfersj said:

That's also my understanding, so certainly hasn't shrunk for me!  Applied July 2015 and was hopeful of visa approval around October/November this year, but now looking like next March  

I would still think you could have your visa by the end of this year. It would be nice to have some clarity on the time scales being quoted. Also how many applications are in front of us.... each month is different, there could be lots of applications during May and June just Incase the fees went up for the new financial year and then a drop off for a few months when they didn’t go up. I know we all are waiting much longer than the time schedule expected and it’s very stressful. We are also getting older and may not pass the medical by the time our applications come to the top of the list so you don’t want to sell up just in case. If they can produce a queue for the 103visa why can’t they provide one for the other parent visas. Make life a lot easier for us. 

6 minutes ago, LindaH27 said:

Thanks that’s a huge improvement. And 38  - 40 months for 173. 

Anybody want to hazard a guess as to why the wait time has shrunk so much? ?

 

I think this is the time scale up to the 31st July .. not for future visas that have not been issued yet. Could be wrong!!

8 hours ago, bridgie said:

Yes, he threatened to resign and cross the floor with other rebel MP's to vote against the govt, however with Malcolm back flipping on the Paris Emmision targets that crisis has been averted....for now. Peter Dutton is in a curious position in that he is probably the second most powerful in the govt but his seat in Queensland is at risk in the next election. The only real option for him to be safe is to run for PM and then hope the Liberals win the next election. He has the backing of Tony Abbott and Barnaby Joyce and other powerful figures in the party. Having listened to all the rhetoric this year over Immigration and how the country can't cope etc etc. My guess is that the Liberal party will run this hard in the coming election. What this means for all of us in the waiting room is more uncertainty and worry I'm guessing. I would suggest that everyone becomes well versed with the issue because ultimately it affects us all. Like a lot of us, we thought we would have our PR's now having been in Oz for nearly two years. The back sliding of dates mean we have to leave in just over a week and wait off shore to see what hand is dealt to us for a return visit.

 

I try to stay positive and leaving freezing Melbourne to return to sunny Spain for a hopefully short visit is a cross I'll bear

 

What part of Spain are you returning to? We live in the Costa Blanca area and are heading for Adelaide hopefully!!!

4 hours ago, purpleal said:

This loophole needs to be closed. An adult of 27 should be applying for a visa in their own right. 

I agree whole heartedly. The 143 visa is for parents, there a few enough 143 visas and someone of 27 years old is not a child so should be applying for a different visa. This loophole definitely needs to be closed. This may sound hard but unless the person is mentally or physically disabled I can’t see why they are entitled to a Parent Visa. 

Thanks Bridgie for taking the time to share that info... if it wasn’t for people like you sharing your experience we wouldn’t know what was available, as trying to get information out of the power that be is not easy. I notice from your time line we are only a month apart ... hopefully get our visas the first half of 2019. Cheers. Shelagh 

54 minutes ago, Rosiejaq said:

You missed us as well...rosiejaq lodged 6.8.15

 

You missed us as well....lodged 8.12.15. Hopefully still visas left when it comes to December!!!!

59 minutes ago, Marilyn said:

I have been told off twice and have apologised to all concerned - I have only been on here for 2 days ...lesson learned

Don’t take it to heart... you were only trying to help and everyone should check things out for themselves. If they criticize too much people will stop posting and that would be a shame as I for one love reading the posts and learning something new.

14 minutes ago, Mrs Depp said:

My parents just had a call from their agent and have finally received their visa

So happy right now.

I can't thank you enough for getting me through it. You are all marvellous and I wish you all the very best in this parent visa roller coaster!

Cheers, 

Clare x

 

 

 

Congratulations Claire, A long and stressful wait but all worth it in the end.

Congratulations!!!! A long time coming but definitely worth the wait I’m sure.

4 minutes ago, MikenC said:

Thanks. All my time line is in my signature