Rorz

Its hit or miss with who you get on the phone. They must get sick of being asked the same questions so you can understand from their point of view. They are just a call centre passing on the message and dealing with the mess the government has created. I wonder what the timeframe for the remaining 10% is? 2 years?

Processing times have changed for 75% of applications processed in from 12 months to 13 months

I would assume it is for background checks. IIRC i had to provide the marriage dates of my older siblings which was very strange. Havent spoken to them in years. Was a bit strange calling them out of the blue and asking them the date they got married.

Everything is slower there

Congratulations! Do you mind to give us a bit more information.? What nationality are you and did you apply online or paper based? Hope that is not too nosey There doesnt seem to be any method to their madness in terms of how they process applications going by what has been posted on this thread. Just need to sit tight and you will only get complaints dealt with if its been >15months since applying

I received no acknowledgement by email from my paper based application. I received a letter by mail in October explaining the changes to the criteria for citizenship will come in to effect July 18. When I called immi they told me that that letter and the debiting of the application fee from my account was acknowledgment in itself. I applied in June 2017 by paper from Sydney. Still no word on the status after 9 months. British & been in Australia for 11 years. The last 3 on Spousal PR. Not a complicated application. Hoping for approval soon.

See attached. All info on processing times available on the immigration website

Nope. applied early june still nothing

My application was posted and i was debited 2 weeks later. Not sure if that means they are starting to process it or not. They probably like to get the money debited early because they could earninterest out of it from their bank. 80,000 applications x $270. Thats alot of money. I was told to take the debiting as acknowledgement of receipt

Yes you can do this. IIRC You can do any edits up until you submit formally.

You need to take the individuals application into consideration not just the submittal date. There may be information missing from earlier submitted applicants. Some may be straight forward approvals where as others may be more complicated - background checks etc etc.

I received a letter today from the department today just to inform me that my application is being processed based on the existing criteria and to refer to the website for current processing times. I assume this letter was sent out on the back of my phone-call to the department last week asking for an update. They told me last week on the phone call to take the debiting of my application fee from my account as confirmation of application receipt so strange that they send a letter out now. To refresh everyone memory : Paper based application made early June 2017. This is the first correspondence I have had from them.

Hello @Jmreevo congratulations on your visa grant, not sure on the wages side but im sure you have researched Sydney, it is one the most expensive places to live in the world.The rent and purchase prices of houses in Sydney are exorbitant and shows no sign of slowing down. You would get more bang for your buck in Perth or Queensland accommodation wise. Sydney is a great place to live but you pay a price for it. Good luck on the new start. Great time to be leaving the british winter and into the warmth of Australia

I was wrong. I fall under the conferral category thanks Anne.

Yes I do have an existing online immi account from my PR application a couple of years ago but as I mentioned I submitted a paper based application for citizenship. I logged in to it to check in any case but no communication from the department. Citizenship application processing time on the website still says 90% processed in 21 days so not sure why i was advised 14 months on the phone by the department. My lodgement falls under the evidence based category surely? Australian Citizenship application type 75% of applications processed in 90% of applications processed in Conferral (lodgement to ceremony**) 10 months 14 months Descent (lodgement to decision) 59 days 4 months Evidence (lodgement to decision) 14 days 21 days

If nothing shows up on your police clearance then you will be fine

Spoke to DIBP today after being on hold for 2 hours to chase up an acknowledgement on my paper based application which was submitted early June 2017. They said the debit of the fee from my account should act as acknowledgement which is confusing because I have read on here that other paper based applicants have received acknowledgement letters. Anyhoo they said they have begun processing the on hold applications and it could be between anytime now & +14 months that I can expect to receive an invite to sit the citizenship test. It was originally a 2-4week wait before all this mess started. Im beyond frustrated. Application submitted: 08-06-2017 Residence City: Sydney Application type: Paper Application Processing center: Sydney office (I assume) Received email after 18th October announcement: No

Still cannot believe we found ourselves in this situation in the first place. What is the point of democracy, law or parliament if laws can be changed overnight albeit 6 months later it was rectified. It basically means any law can be changed overnight & enforced before discussions, voting and agreement take place. No case studies were done on the potential impact. The whole debacle has left a sour taste in my mouth. I lost a 2 year job contract because of all this delay. I hope everyone on here who has been affected gets a speedy processing of their applications, good luck to all.

Thank you for the response, no I applied by mail paper based application. Reason i choose paper rather than online is that i was unable to apply online due to the 20th April rule changes but their paper application form still had the old rules of 1 year PR.

Did you apply online?

The website will probably be behind in updating for awhile. I was still able to download a paper application form at end of May from their website that had the old (current) rules regarding 1 year PR before applying for citizenship.

Good news. I have seen on here mentioned that people have received a letter acknowledging receipt of their application. I have only seen the debit of the citizenship application fee from my account but no acknowledgement letter or email. Can anyone shed some light on this? Did everyone receive an acknowledgment ? I applied End May 2017, debited my account Early June 2017 but no communication from Immi at all. They were quick to take my money.

What is your wife's situation?

If what Sarah is saying is correct it would mean the changes are only effective from 1st July. Not sure on the validity of her comment though

This comment on Linkedin today might be of interest Such brilliant news today, the government retracted it's extremely unfair decision to retrospectively apply the 1/7/17 changes to applications lodged prior to 1 July. Best day I've had since 17/4/2017. https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6290805811287592960/