Yikes2017

Hi Pete, As far as I'm aware the processing times shown are based on the speed that everything moved in the previous month and apply to all visa applications in the system -pending and new

Processing time has increased to 9 months for 190s. Happy Monday.....

Good to know as that's where we're planning to move! Any recommendations on places? We're thinking Mentone, Parkdale, Cheltenham? Will never he able to afford to buy in those places but are happy to rent somewhere that provides excellent lifestyle

I'm a primary school teacher

Hi llodza, Welcome to the waiting room! What your agent said sounds about right .... I've been waiting nearly 6 months now. We applied for a 190 to Victoria on 1st Feb. I've been checking the borders website for updated processing times but it's not been updated this month yet. I suspect that when it is it'll be changed from applications processed within 7 month to 8 months though

I'm jealous that you're there already! Lol. Whereabouts do you live? How long have you been in Melbourne? I'm so looking forward to arriving...

Not enough I'd imagine! I've looked at threads where people are taking hundreds of thousands and let me assure you that we'll be taking a tiny fraction of that! We're really throwing caution to the wind and hoping to land jobs fairly quickly. It's a risk but as someone once said to me "everything in life that's really worth while is a risk"

Yes, I feel the same. I'm relieved in a way that I don't need to check emails all the time but I now am on edge between 9 and 10 every day and really disappointed when I haven't had a call! Please God let my call come soon!!

That's how I feel! All the ones on and around my lodge date have been granted too! I stopped looking for this reason actually because it just started to worry me even more. Although it is the only source of any knowledge or updates......

There are lots of people on here who will understand your frustration. There seems to be a huge delay and backlog on visa grants at the moment. Even the agents are frustrated with the lack of communication and action from immigration. We all thought it would speed up this month being the new financial year but so far, no one has heard any good news as far as I'm aware. I lodged my visa app on 1st February and am still waiting....

Yeah, it is reassuring to know that we're all in the same boat. That's why I like this forum because at least we can understand each others' frustration and have a good vent! I contacted our agent last night and was told that I'd receive a call from them when it happens. Before 10am, same as you. I can stop checking my phone every morning now - wish I'd known that before!

Prosecco for me tonight anyway just to get through another weekend!!

It's hard to know whether to be happy with that news or not isn't it?! On the one hand, it shows that for whatever reason things are moving really slowly which is likely to prolong the painful waiting but on the other hand at least we're all in the same boat and it's unlikely that there's anything wrong with any single application

Hi, I'm a primary school teacher and, like Beaty, have applied for a 190 to VIC. Lodged application on 1st February and still waiting for visa grant?. As far as I know, primary school teacher is only on the Victorian state nomination list. I think it also appears on the subsidiary list for South Australia but that's not as straight forward to get. I say 'straight forward' but none of the process is actually straight forward no matter where you go! ?

@Dragonflygecko I meant to ask, did you use an agent? If so, when you got the news, were you emailed personally or did you not know until your agent contacted you?

Hi @Dragonflygecko Glad to hear your plans are progressing! The hope is that we'll move to Melbourne in September so she won't even have to start school here but in case of any more delay, I just need to go through the motions as normal as if she is starting in September with all of her other nursery class. She's December born so is one of the older ones and I think she'd strongly object if I said she had to continue in nursery when her friends were starting big school next door! Lol! She's got her induction day today but I've just been trying to play it down by telling her she's just going to play pretend in school for the morning with her friends and that real school for her would start in Australia. Luckily the nursery lot go into the school regularly anyway so hopefully she'll not question it too much. It is something that I was hoping to avoid though.... I hope you're right about the visas starting to roll soon. I'm trying hard to keep up my positive thinking!

@Simons One of the first things I'll do is inform my daughter's school that she'll not be starting foundation stage there in Sept! It's been playing on my mind that we're going through the motions of her starting school in the UK but hopefully that won't be the case. It'll be a bit confusing for her if she does have to start here and then we pull her out a few weeks in - I wanted to avoid that... Husband needs to do two online courses to be employable in Oz but can't do them without visa so we'll get on with that too. Also book movecube, flights and accommodation and start sorting rental. What will you do?

It's a nightmare. We have now been waiting 22 weeks. I had calmed down during June because I'd accepted the fact that it wasn't going to happen before the new financial year but I too was expecting everything to start moving at the start of this week and now I'm back to feeling anxious and constantly on edge about it all day and night. It's been a terrible year so far because I've done nothing but wait and moan and feel anxious! I now have this awful thought that it could come anytime this year.... or next year if I'm really unlucky! I dreamt a couple of nights ago that out app was rejected! The whole thing is sending me potty!

Hi Cowact, So, are you a temporary resident in Australia at the moment? I think an agent would be best placed to advise on this to be honest. I would tend to agree with you that it probably doesn't matter where you wait for your visa to be granted but I could be completely wrong! Best to ask an expert if you're concerned

You had me fooled for a second! It's hard to believe but one day this scenario will actually happen!

Hi Nelly, This is a good idea because I keep going backwards and forwards trying to work out when people lodged and how long they've been waiting compared to me! So a table is a good plan. Name Visa lodged Date Last Updated Date Grant Date Nelly 31-Mar-17 19-Apr-17 Yikes 01-Feb-17 24-Mar-17

Hi Cowact, Are you a 190? From what I've seen through chat room convos, 189s are generally issued quicker than 190s, despite what the borders website says. We're 190. Lodged in Feb. Sick to death of waiting and thinking about it all the time...

Oh dear. I don't know whether to laugh or cry. The borders website now says 75% of 190 apps processed within 7 months and 90% processed within 13 months... https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/190- Since I lodged in Feb it's gone from 3 months to 4 months to 5 months back to 4 months and now 7 months - there are no words! I've been looking into the financial year/ migration plan info and am hoping and praying that this is the reason for the slow down and that we'll all be receiving our much wanted grants in July/ August.

What date did you lodge? @Hibert

I'm not sure about limits for different offices but it would be nice to know because at least there would be a reason for our long waits then. I think the worst thing is having absolutely no idea where you are in the queue or whether or not there are any reasons for delays. It's honestly driving me mad!