carahunter4

Hi @Ozzie yes we did write and supply a statement each which we attached. It did seem odd that we then had to fill in a load of similar details though. To be honest I only wrote a short bit on the form and then wrote 'see statements'!! I hope all our info is ok but I'm sure if not they'll let us know.

Thanks @carahunter4

 

I've made a list of things we needed to supply and ticked it off. However, we didn't do the 80 or the 1221 as from what I've read they might only be for HR countries or if they do ask, we can fill out on request. I wasn't sure about having to write a statement (each partner and sponsor)? We haven't done that yet but from looks of it our case won't be looked at for a while. (They must be amassing a huge amount of money with all the $6k applications!!).

 

Did you and your partner write a statement each? It's just odd as we've included all that info online in our account so seems odd we need to do this, scan and add the same info?

Hi all,

Welcome @Ozzie and @benemar

@ashabree, I thought the system was complicated to understand once I started to upload everything too. I've just decided that if they need anything else they'll ask and I've got plenty of back-up info I can provide. I am also focussing on Christmas now, I do love it :smile:

I've been keeping an eye on other threads and it does seem like there is some kind of delay at the moment. Up until July time people were getting CO's or requesting medicals/police checks after a couple of months but it seems to have suddenly halted. Don't know if they are focussing on other visa's for a while or something and then perhaps they'll catch the partners back up - who knows! It's frustrating having people about a month ahead of me that still haven't heard but at least I know there's no chance of getting mine until after so not anticipating any contact any day soon! At least into the new year now. I'm just hoping to have my medicals and police checks requested before we want to put the house on the market in spring time because at least we know it's just a formality after that.

@koalakate how are you doing?

Thanks for the update. Congratulations and good luck with the move.

Hi everyone, I've kept track of this thread for a while but never posted. Just wanted to update as applied on 23rd June and received grant through earlier this week, so a bit under 5 months! Went straight to 100, wife is the Australian citizen, we've been married for 2.5 years with an 18 month old child.

 

We're looking to move around June 2017 to Brisbane so now trying to get our heads around everything that needs to be sorted!

 

Thanks to everyone that has provided updates and advise - has been a real help in getting an idea on grant times etc. whilst we've been waiting. Good luck to everyone who has applied and is waiting to hear!

@koalakate my husband has a skilled visa subclass 190 which is a permanent residence visa, we validated it on our honeymoon October 2015 (just within the one year timeframe). We really need to move before October 2017 to fulfil his 2 year resident return visa requirements (to carry on going in and out of the country freely after the initial 5 years of grant). However, we'd actually love to move out sooner if possible, any time from May.

I've had a look on the high risk thread and they are saying that even with interviews they are getting their visa's through in about 8-9 months. So I think even if there's a bit of a backlog at the moment they should still come in quicker than that. A migration agent advised on another thread that 309's are being granted in about 6 months. Most people seem to get their visa's roughly about 2 months after they upload medicals & police checks so I think you're still on track at the moment. If they are concerned about anything or need more info then they will contact you so no news is good news. I'm sure you will be fine but if something needs dealing with then it will just take slightly longer to sort.

Have you been checking your immi online account to see if there's any sign your account has been accessed? I'm curious as to whether it shows up if a case officer starts looking into our files.

Yes, I worry too as I haven't lived in Australia since I was a child. I am a citizen, have a passport and my son got his passport etc but I still have a small niggling doubt they might say my citizenship has been revoked or something along those lines and I'm not a valid sponsor.

 

What visa does your husband have?

Hi,

I had loads of social evidence prepared but I called Australia House for advice and they said not to send all that as we had enough evidence to prove we are a couple.

I sent: Marriage certificate, joint mortgage statement, Joint account statement, statements from two friends describing how long they had known us (a friend each) and how they had watched our relationship blossom and they both came to our wedding and socialise with us etc), a statement each describing how we met, how our relationship developed, what our future plans are. We described some other bits like responsibilities in the home on the main form when applying. We added two photo's, one of us with all our family at our wedding and one with a group of friends. We sent the usual stuff, birth certificates, passports and passport photo's. I also had to include my decree nisi from my divorce.

We met 3 years ago but I put down the 'official' date of being together as Dec 14 as that's when we moved in together. We got married September 2015. We are both born and bred British but my husband was just completing his visa when we got together so it was too late to think about adding me on then so that's why we have to do it this way.

I really hope our application is OK. I also had to explain that I had a visa with my previous husband but it expired a couple of years ago because I broke it off with him and so didn't move over there. I didn't have my old passport or visa number but I'm hoping they will be able to find the info ok if needed. I'm a bit worried about this but others have suggested this could actually go in my favour if I've been accepted before. We couldn't find the number of my husbands visa either but Australia House advised that they would be able to look that up electronically without a problem.

I'm just going to be glad when they ask me to submit my medicals and police checks so I know it's just a formality after that. But I've accepted that I'm unlikely to hear before Christmas.

I'm sure you and @koalakate will hear soon

ps we also added a copy of passports of the friends that gave statements as suggested by Australia House. They also advised us not to certify anything as we scanned in original copies of everything.

Hi @koalakate & @carahunter4 - quick question (if you don't mind me asking), how much info/docs have you uploaded already? Just want to see if we've done the right thing. Thank you!

@Alycat would you mind telling us what your circumstances are eg married, kids, how long you've been together etc

Thanks

Got our visa granted today!! Just under 5 months.. 4 months and 25 days to be exact! So happy to be getting the ball rolling now!

That's fantastic news! How exciting, I'm really pleased for you :smile:

Got our visa granted today!! Just under 5 months.. 4 months and 25 days to be exact! So happy to be getting the ball rolling now!

Hi Oliver,

Before I submitted my application I called Australia House in the UK and they were very helpful. I was advised if submitting the statements from the UK that Uk friends can write the statements and they do not need to be on Official stat decs. We just had them written like a formal letter and signed. We were also advised to provide copies of the passports of the people who wrote the statements. I was also advised that if sending in scanned original copies that they did not need to be certified. I haven't heard anything back yet but this is what the Australia High Commission in the UK advised me. They are very helpful, I would definitely give them a call - I called them a couple of times.

There is thread on here where we are keeping an eye on the current timelines people are getting. It seems most people are getting them through about 6-8 months although some have got them approved in 5 months. I think it does seem to depend on how straight forward the case is eg Married for 10 years to an Australian citizen would probably go through quicker. There is another thread which also seems to be high risk people and they seem to be taking around a year or so as they get called in for interview. I am no expert in any way but this is the info I have picked up. Like Snifter said, prepare for the longer just in case.

I hope that helps, if you decide to submit come and join us on http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/58449-summary-spouse-visa-processing-times-offshore-uk-please-add-your-stats.html. If you read back quite a few pages you can get some info.

Cara

Thanks very much for your reply, that will help a lot I have a couple more questions:

 

- If you generally have 12 months to move to Australia after medical/police check, at what point in the process of application do they usually request these? I.e. do they request them 3 months after initial application was made? 9 months? etc.

- We have a tenancy agreement that we can show (in both our names), but all other bills are in my name. My partner then transfers me a set amount each month to cover the bills. Would submitting a bank statement and highlighting this be good enough? Or do you think this isn't even necessary if we submit photos together, holiday receipts together, tenancy agreement, along with statements from Australian citizens (partner's family and friends).

Thanks for your reply Mark,

So you front loaded your medical and police check then? I did think about doing that but I thought that wasn't advisable? I don't want to mess anything up. Also, if I wait for the CO to ask for them at least it gives me an idea of where my application is at!

I had my medical and police check done pretty much as soon as I applied, as I don't really do hospitals and didn't want the constant worry of the medical on my mind!

 

As with all the other comments re CO, it's just a waiting game, my CO phoned me once, before approving my application!

 

Good luck......

Thanks for the advice snifter it's much appreciated. That's fine by me because at least we would know the case is being worked on and I'm assuming if it gets to that point and they don't ask for anything else then they are happy with the rest of the paperwork.

If they start working on our case though, wouldn't it show up on our online Immi account? - I log on and check it every now and again to see if our paperwork has been accessed and the dates changed.

You will be asked to undertake those but it may be just a general email and your CO may not introduce themselves or anything, just ask for medical and police check.

Thanks for the advice. Surely we will need to hear from a CO before visa grant time if we haven't done the medicals & police check though?

I'm not too worried about the waiting times at the moment because we don't want to put our house on the market until spring time anyway. However, it's just the peace of mind to know I will be granted the visa! I would say I'm somewhere in between straight forward and complicated!

It's quite normal to not be assigned a CO for a few months or hear anything. It's also possible to not hear from your CO at all till visa grant time. This has happened to some people.

Thanks for posting @ashabree, yours does definitely sound straight forward so I'm sure yours will get dealt with quickly once you have a CO. At least you know you're not alone now @koalakate - good luck to both of you, I hope you hear very soon. I was really hoping to hear back before Christmas but I think that's looking unlikely now as I'm only 7 weeks in. We're lucky we got in when we did though as I would imagine the waiting will get worse after the US election. Apparently both the Canadian and Australian migration sites crashed!!

If either of you chase up again perhaps ask roughly how long it is taking to get allocated a case officer to manage your expectations? They might tell you.

Lets all stay in touch :hug:

Oh @koalakate - when I saw your message pop up I was so hoping to hear good news! :frown: Have you tried chasing them up again?

Is there anyone else out there that is waiting for a CO or has recently been assigned one so we can get an idea of timescales please?

Any news from anyone? 12 weeks in no sign of a CO!

@snifter thank you for the info that's really helpful :smile: So it seems that once the medicals and police checks are submitted it's just a formality and a case of waiting.

@koalakate - hopefully if they filled the quota in October and stopped processing then you will get your CO early November, this week! Fingers crossed we get in Novembers quota too!

@Jordan01 that's fab news, congratulations!

I can see why you got granted quickly as yours was a pretty straight forward case.

Congratulations again and good luck in your new life :-)

@carahunter4

I have been with my husband for 22 years and married for 14. I am Australian by birth. We applied for our 2 daughters citizenships back in April and they both now have Australian passports, so it was just my husband to sort out. We're all very happy he has been granted his visa, especially to be given the subclass 100 straight away. Our case officer was really lovely and helpful and answered all of my questions. It is definitely possible to get the visa granted quicker than the time stated but like you said it depends on each case.

That's wonderful news!! :-) I'm so pleased for you. :smile:

So it is possible to get a visa in about 5 months, I guess it depends on each individual case and how busy they are at the time. May I ask what your situation is?

Today is a great day, 309 and 100 visa granted today. 20 weeks and 2 days of waiting over. Our new adventure can finally begin

Great, thank you. I was pretty sure that was the one but there were others advertised - I think they are companies offering to do it for you like the migration agents.

There is only one option. https://www.acro.police.uk/police_certificates.aspx

Hi all, I thought I'd get prepared while I'm waiting so I was wondering if anyone could point me in the right direction to get my police check please? There seems to be more than one way and I want to go through the official route which I'm sure is the quickest & cheapest..............

Thanks

I'm glad you've been reassured, I'm sure you'll hear soon.

I called the Embassy today and a helpful lady answered, eventually. She said not to worry, my case was being processed, but there was a back log at the moment. So that explains why I haven't been assigned a CO yet. There must have been an influx of applications over the past couple of months... Brexit? School holidays? I feel reassured, however.

Thanks for the info, well most people on here that are low risk seem to be getting their visa's 6-8 months so fingers crossed it's not longer than that. I've seen a high risk thread where they are having interviews and they seem to be taking around 12 months. It does say that low risk is higher priority and it doesn't differentiate them on the UK website so perhaps that's why a lot are coming through quicker. The most frustrating thing is not being able to plan when we can go! Well I'm at the beginning of the journey, only a month in so I need to just keep busy and not get too carried away with it all! Not easy though as we're so excited about going!

It's great to have the support on here and I'm looking forward to hearing peoples updates. Good luck everyone!

It could just be taking them a little longer to process your application if it's a bit complicated, try not to worry (easier said than done I know) - it wouldn't hurt to call them though. I really hope you hear some good news this week. Where and when are you moving to Aus?

Yes, that's the main reason why I am worried as most people seem to have had a case officer assigned within 6-8 weeks of late. I'll wait a little longer and then I might call them. I'm off to the London Embassy tomorrow to lodge my son's Australian passport application (my son is not from my current marriage but is a citizen by descent). Maybe this adds a layer of complexity?? Who knows! I'll definitely let you know when we hear anything.

We want to move to Brisbane but not sure where yet until we start looking for work but it's a bit son for that as only lodged my visa 1 month ago and we'll have to sell the house. We're just slowly starting to do a bit of organising to be prepared as possible when the time comes. The dog has had her rabies jab (can't travel for at least 7 months after) and we're getting shipping quotes. So exciting but I'm trying chill about it all at least until I hear from our case officer. We absolutely loved Queensland when we went out last year but only had a week there as went to Melbourne & Sydney too.

Im originally from Adelaide, but job prospects look better in Queensland. It's a huge relief that we can stay with family, we're hoping to do a bit of exploring first and have some adventures, although we will have to get our girls into school. Where about are you looking to go in Oz?

Low risk partner visa's are priority 1 out of 4 categories.

http://www.border.gov.au/about/access-accountability/service-standards/family-visa-processing-times

Five months!! How on earth are they going to achieve that with the current backlog?!

Fingers crossed it shouldn't be too long for you now, it's great that you've got family to stay with to get you started. We didn't have tome to go to the sunshine coast when we went there last year but we've heard it's amazing. We just can't wait to explore the whole area more :-)

@carahunter4 @NikkiLondon

we are hoping to go in February, if our visa is granted. We are going to stay with my cousin in Caboolture which is north of Brisbane but eventually we want to be living in the Sunshine Coast. We have already started some organing in the hope that our visa will come through soon, the waiting game is an excited but anxious one.

**** This message was supposed to reply to Koalakate ****

Most people seem to hear in a couple of months so I'm sure you'll hear very soon. I wouldn't worry about too much info, I think the worst that can happen is it takes them a bit longer to look through it all. Your case officer might just have had a holiday so is a bit behind. You could try chasing up and see what they say. Got fingers crossed you hear next week, keep us updated.