cyril_au

Finally! I have the virtual ceremony scheduled for today (Fri 12th) morning at 10:15 AM. 

This makes my application's processing timeline be almost exactly 12 months (applied on Nov 6th last year): 6 months until the decision and 6 months until the ceremony. 

Hope everyone here will get their invite sooner than they expect!

Just got a confirmation from the Canterbury-Bankstown (NSW) council that they will commence virtual citizenship ceremonies starting from September. 

But does anyone know if a job offer that requires me to fly out of Australia is the reason good enough for the Department to consider moving my ceremony date closer? I don't have the actual ceremony date yet but it seems unlikely that it is going to be in September. 

Finally, attended my interview & test today (rescheduled from May 14).

Everything and everyone was just way too relaxed, lol.

I've got a nice and very talkative officer (she also shared some stories of her cultural background and talked a lot about the country from where her parents immigrated to Australia) and only been asked for my passport, birth certificate, and PhotoID.

The test itself was much easier than I expected,  it only took me 5 minutes and all my answers turned to be correct.

Now, I'm just waiting for the invitation to the ceremony (Canterbury and Bankstown). The status is still 'Received', though. Update: The status has changed to Approved in a few moments after I published this post.

16 hours ago, cg1000 said:

Congratulations on your test invitation cyril_au, just wondering if you provided any extra documentation to have gotten your test so quick?

I applied on Nov 2nd and haven't heard anything yet, also from Sydney NSW, and put Paramatta as test centre (as I thought it would be quicker, turns out maybe not).

Nothing special, really - just a standard pack: 1195, photos, proof of first entry, utilities bill, bank statement, passport copy (expired, my country's embassy was too slow), birth certificate (NAATI translated and the original one).

I've put NSW - Sydney as a preferred appointment location and Canterbury-Bankstown as my council.

One factor that might have affected the processing time (of course if we assume that it is not entirely random) can be that I applied exactly in one year time after receiving my PR status, so I would expect they didn't need to make any further enquiries into my penal clearance status with other countries.

Just got an appointment letter last Friday! So happy that it didn't take longer, I applied on Nov 2020 and now will have my interview & test on May 12 (Sydney).

My partner got the invitation the same day with me, but applied 2 days latter - Nov 8th.

To satisfy the residency requirement of your citizenship application you need to show to the Department that you have resided legally in Australia for at least 4 years in total with 1 of them in the Permanent Resident status.

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/citizenship/become-a-citizen/permanent-resident#Eligibility

Quote

• away from Australia for no more than 12 months in total in the past 4 years, including no more than 90 days in total in the past 12 months

It means that you can just add two weeks you stayed back in January 2019 to the overall time you spent in Australia.

You need to provide information about all the trips you ever made, but the police check is not required unless you spent at least 12 months (all your trips) in the US since you got your PR in Australia. Just contact the DHA, but if their system asks for the police clearance then you will most likely have to get one.

Unless DHA eventually finds that you have lied on your initial 186 application (i.e. you had intentions to leave the employer before your visa was issued and they will have proofs of that), you can leave the company even without citizenship granted.

But if they do find your 186 application to be bogus it can put your citizenship application at risk as well, there were some AAT cases (not 186, though) where the current citizenship was canceled because of the previous permanent residency status (basis for a citizenship grant) cancellation.

Submitted my application today 58 minutes past the eligibility date, lol.

I still can't believe it's been whole 4 years since I first arrived in Australia! 

1 hour ago, AppleTheFruit said:

Hi guys,

 

I got my golden email this morning! It's been a tough way to get here, 189 -> 190 -> 457 -> 186 DE.

Never give up if you really want it, fight for it, adjust your own mindset.

Hope everyone of you get your golden email eventually. You have my best wishes.

Thank you for all the information sharing and all the support you guys give when everything seemed so dark.

Best!

Wow, you have the strangest list of visas that I have ever seen before. But anyway, congratulations! 

17 hours ago, wrussell said:

You cannot apply for a nomination, your empolyer must do so, and must pay all the costs associated with it.

If you go to my website pinoyau.com and use the contact form I shall have a look at your case, if you wish.

That's correct. Just tell your employer that it is apparently illegal for them to ask an employee to pay any fees associated with their nomination or sponsoring you for PR:
https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/employing-and-sponsoring-someone/sponsoring-workers/learn-about-sponsoring/cost-of-sponsoring

You only need to pay the costs of your application which in my case were around ~6k for two persons (government fees). 

There is no point in using a migration agent unless you have some legal complications with your case. Any agent will have to ask you the same kind of questions the form does. I've gone through the 186 TRT process last year and I didn't have any issues at all filling the form with mine & my partner's details. We've got decision in two months from the application date.

The time it takes to fill the form is usually no more than 1-2 hours. Then you'll have to collect and witness a few documents - the same kind of thing if you were applying through an agent, except for the witnessing part. 

Good luck anyway!

On 27/05/2020 at 16:20, jadee said:

Hi everyone! Thank you for your reply replies! 

 

We are due to apply in August - does anybody know if we can open up the applications online prior to this date- to start "front loading"  I think they call it? i.e. Make a start on uploading all the relevant documents? Then being in a position to simply press the apply button when eligible in August?

We are trying to make good use of our time in lock down  

 

Good luck on your applications! 

 

Take care 

You can just choose to apply for the ministerial discretion which will allow you to proceed with the rest of your application form, but just make sure not to submit it and correct it at the time of your actual application date.

By doing so you can find out the full list of documents you will need to provide with your application, so you can start collecting them prior as it might take a while when government agencies are involved. 

4 hours ago, Sere said:

I can’t find the 2018/2019 it stopped at 2017

Jul 2019 - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1INy6sxuUIisgLOT7CcskWLjQjHV_6yVvUBRHceWE_a0/edit#gid=747523473 - check tabs at the bottom. You can just look at finalised applications where s56 was requested

50 minutes ago, Sere said:

Hey guys I know someone asked already this question but I can’t find the answer 

how long pass until the case officer look again at your application after you submitted the documents that she requested?

Someone says they look after the 28 days are passed and someone says after 6 weeks 

You can check the average time here https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1INy6sxuUIisgLOT7CcskWLjQjHV_6yVvUBRHceWE_a0/edit#gid=1377925411. Chances are low that your S56 will be processed prior to the 28 days deadline, but it seems that it is equally unlikely that it will take them more than twice of this time. IMO

32 minutes ago, Kinnu said:

What if you’re on a bridging visa?

Your right to stay in the country is solely based on the conditions of the visa you are currently on.

If your main visa (457/482/...) is still valid you can check its conditions. Otherwise, if your main visa has expired and you are now on the Bridging Visa you can check its conditions as well:
- Bridging Visa A - https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/bridging-visa-a-010#About
- Bridging Visa B - https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/bridging-visa-b-020
- Other - https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing

55 minutes ago, Jerita said:

What is s57?

http://www.hopeearle.com.au/News/10/HopeEarle_News_What_To_Do_When_You_Receive_A_S57_Natural_Justice_Letter.html

2 hours ago, grr said:

How did you guys go after accepting new job offer? Is it fine to accept a new job while you are still under 2 years with after 186 Visa nomination/approval

I believe it only depends (as SOMV mentioned) on how badly your employer wants your visa to be canceled (so they bother to fill the complaint with Department of Home Affairs) AND on whether they have any evidence to support their complaint to Department of Home Affairs OR whether they complain and it is evident that you didn't have any plans to stay with the sponsoring company after 186 is granted i.e. you don't have any good explanation why you have to leave now and why that wasn't a case when you lodged your visa application.

No one can give you an exact answer to the question, as it pretty much depends on your particular situation. I never heard about anyone (and was unable to find any case on the internet or on AAT) whos 186 was canceled because of the provided ENS / RSMS answer is false or misleading information.

35 minutes ago, Maria Carolina said:

Congratulations!!

Did you do your medicals without request or you waited for them to ask? Thank you! 

Yes, I did them straight away. In general, I just tried to make my application as decision-ready as possible. If I knew that the Disclosure Statement was required with NZ police clearance I would have provided it as well... But anyway, 1 extra month is not much time to wait! 

Other guys from my company received the decision the same day the nomination was granted (in ~2 weeks after it was lodged), so I'm guessing the fact that the company used the big immigration services provider and also that the company itself is relatively big has made a difference - but it is only my speculation. One guy also used an immigration agent to lodge his visa application.  

Yay!

I've finally got my golden e-mail this morning - was just randomly checking my e-mail inbox on the way to the office. Fortunately, they didn't issue any additional S56 requests (even though my AFP is expired since 20th Sep) and granted the visa straight away. 

I didn't expect myself to feel so happy before I applied. Maybe, it is because of all the time I was actively waiting for it. I can't even imagine how some of you guys here feel waiting for months already - really hope you will get your PRs shortly!

Good luck to everyone still waiting! 

24 minutes ago, Hex said:

@Swoop Hahah, true!

It's just worth remembering that no 2 cases are the same.

It is just a lack of transparency that makes the assessment process to look a bit of unfair. Two cases can take a different amount of time only if they have passed the initial assessment stage - then particulars really matter. But many cases haven't progressed any further even with their nominations being approved... So, why not just to tell people waiting that there is preferential treatment of some sort based on X, Y and Z...

21 minutes ago, Tops said:

I'm just holding on til I'm in month 18 only a month to go hehe

It says 15-18 so it's in the timeframe 

I don't know why people stress out after a few months when the time lines are there for a reason 

Because for some reason many people being assessed in the first few weeks and applications with exactly the same content sitting there for much longer. 

The only reason why I want my application to go through as quickly as possible is to be eligible to apply for citizenship next year - just when 4 years mark is reached. You can never know how will the current legislation change in the future...

26 minutes ago, Sere said:

I still don’t understand why they are taking so long 

i mean after they see all the documents and everything what are they waiting for?

There are thousands of cases like yours and only a limited number of case officers who process them. Each document has to be viewed, checked, sometimes verified.  

20 minutes ago, Jerita said:

 

I heard from everybody if your Nomination approved than your VISA will be approved maximum in One month. But Now it’s sad that you don’t know what’s happening 

Just check statistics from here, it has never been the case: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1INy6sxuUIisgLOT7CcskWLjQjHV_6yVvUBRHceWE_a0/edit#gid=1461046829

2 minutes ago, Jerita said:

My All documents are expiring next month and who will be coping the cost of it 

There is a good chance that they won't request you to redo all the expired documents, but there is no guarantee...