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Hey @Deep88, I just checked mine and it's gone to finalised now. Hopefully yours has too

Hey @Deep88, mine is the very same but I wouldn't stress about it. They did say on the virtual ceremony that it would be 3-4 weeks before we get the certificate, and I believe the council needs to contact the council to confirm you had your ceremony etc. so I'm not expecting an immediate change I think it'll probably change when they actually process the certificate.

I am officially an Australian! Had my virtual ceremony yesterday - such a relief to finally be at the end of the visa odyssey. Thanks to everyone on here over the past couple of years - it's such a faceless system that it was really great to have some company along the journey

Heya @Mmmbop I think you're on the right track. I spoke to my local council this week because I wanted to understand whether they were doing virtuals yet or not. My understanding is that the Council set's the capacity they have to do the virtual ceremonies - i.e. how regularly they can run them (they need enough staff to coordinate them, run the tech, availability of the officiant etc.). They mentioned in their case that they actually can't have as many people in the virtuals as in the in-person ceremonies so they're really hoping to get back to the in-person soon (I'm in Melbourne....not bloody likely!). Once they have the capacity worked out i.e. can do 2 x Ceremonies on Thursday the X of September, they then notify the Department of the capacity, and the Department send out the list of candidates for those slots. Hope that makes sense!

Thanks @ramot. I'm attending on my own, as my partners application is about a year behind mine, so hopefully I'll find a friendly face there I can ask to be my photographer!

As @elderberry said no guests this time around, which is disappointing but understandable. Hopefully we'll all make an effort to take pics for each other at the ceremony

I received my invite for a ceremony in Port Phillip today. A bit surprised as it wasn't on their original list of ceremony dates, but obviously I'm delighted. Trying not to get too excited, as with lockdowns here in Victoria, there's every chance we could be back in one in two weeks time and it will be cancelled. If we make it to a few days before and no sign of a lockdown then I'll get excited

I've seen people on there who have applied for permanent moves and been rejected, where others were able to give them advice, so I still think it's worth it for tips about what documents to provide.

There's a really good facebook group called 'Australian Travel & Exemption Support' which is very active. People give information as they are approved - including the documents they provided, the text they included in their stat decs and any tips and tricks they've picked up. I'd highly recommend a look!

I have read here (but don’t have personal experience of it) that seems to suggest it does take that bit longer to go from test to approval if it’s at a centrelink rather than an immigration office. Can’t point to anywhere official it says that, but I’ve seen it come up anecdotally here. Fingers crossed it comes through for you soon!

@Melb User The timeline for a ceremony after approval at the moment is 6-7 months, so you're still inside the expected timeline. You only hear between 2-4 weeks before your ceremony, so you could still be just on the horizon. If it goes past that timeframe (6-7 months) you can follow up with the department but until then they won't do anything. It's a waiting game I'm afraid...

11 months from application to approval, but still awaiting a ceremony.

Hey Rob - may I ask what wording you used on the FOI application. I applied for one last week to find out about Port Phillip Council but was told it was 'too general a request' and not something the Department would answer. Would love to try again.

Oh I meant to ask - I presume it was via email?

Amazing!! Congratulations, that's so exciting!! I didn't get an invite for the July one it seems, but the fact I was approved just 3 weeks behind you gives me good hope that I'll get the September one!

I think it's just as bad in Sydney in terms of ceremonies - from what I've heard from friends. Though obviously their actual applications were processed quicker because they didn't have the shut down. But NSW having virtual ceremonies is definitely an advantage - going to try and try to get one of those when we relocate if we haven't heard from Port Phillip. In theory if it doesn't come up, I know we could apply for the exemption to go over seas for the 6 months without the ceremony being completed, but with the borders the way they are I'd be worried about our capacity to get back in, and the citizenship is too much to risk. Anyway, we'll all get there in the end!

Oh the four weeks notice is better than I thought, someone else had told me 2 weeks, and because we're moving mid-July I was getting nervous. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you for July! If you do get your letter, would you mind letting me know, so then I'll at least know they've gone out and I didn't get one

I'm not too far behind you so @VicApplicant. Yeah, I directly asked the question and was told it was 'general' not specific. I've nothing to lose by throwing it in again - will let you know if I've any success! Do you know if Port Phillip send the invites by post or by email by any chance - I may give them a call to find out. If you do find out about the waiting list - would you mind letting me know also please? I think July may be a bit optimistic for me, since they said 6-7 months, but I can dream! Haven't been to Ireland to see my family in over 2 years, so we're hopeful of applying for an exemption to travel over there for 6 months, but waiting on the ceremony to be complete to go.

I find it interesting to see how some people have gotten answers to FOI requests about numbers awaiting ceremonies. I applied for a FOI about Port Phillip council (we're moving shortly so I'm trying to understand the waiting list in both Port Phillip VIC and Inner West Sydney) and I was got an almost immediate response telling me that it was too general a request and not something the Department could assist with. Could I ask someone who's been successful above to share the way they worded their request please?

Hiya! I know it was suggested above that you were hoping to jump council and retain the same date for your ceremony, but I don't think that's what you're hoping to do - just retain your place based the date of your approval, which I think is pretty reasonable! I spoke to the department about this (we're considering a move) and the advice that I was given was that if I was to move Council now, I would be put on the new councils list and my position on that list would be based on the date of my approval grant. As each council has a longer or shorter list, more or less frequent ceremonies, it's impossible to predict whether it would mean your ceremony will be sooner or later because of the move. You could move to a council where your approval date puts you number one in the queue, but that council may have only one ceremony a year (an extreme example I know!) so in theory it might be longer than your current council where you could be position 200 but they have ceremonies every month. In short, it's very hard to know. I would suggest you just need to weigh up the factors for your move, and base them solely on that. Your ceremony will hopefully come around shortly anyway! Best of luck!

Hello! Someone helpfully put a link here before to how we could request information about how many candidates were awaiting ceremonies in a certain council area. I tried it at the time but it was down for maintenance and now of course I can't find it again. Does anyone know where I could check? I'm awaiting my ceremony (only a month at this stage so no drama). My council have helpfully posted their ceremony dates up until November (seem to be every two months) and I'm just curious to see how many are ahead of me. We're debating a move to Sydney from Melbourne, but if I thought I might be called in the next batch (mid-July), I think I'd stick it out here rather than moving my application & complicating things. Thanks!!

So I had my interview/test today. Was shocked at how fast it all went to be honest, had prepared myself for a 2 hour slot and had brought my study notes thinking I'd get some revision in I was literally in and out of the building in 15 minutes in Melbourne. I had my folder full of every document I could think of with me, but they didn't ask for a single thing in the end, just verified my name verbally and then passed me on for the test. I know this wasn't the same for everyone because the people to the left and right of me were getting out a lot of paperwork, so I'm really thankful. I had all of the paperwork with me to be fair, in case it was needed. Flew through the test in a few minutes thankfully (not bragging at all, just pure relief). My CO had said to me she wouldn't be able to approve me today (assuming I passed) because she was finishing up in 20 minutes and I wouldn't be done by then, but she promised to approve in the morning assuming everything went well. As I said, I was out of the building within 15 minutes, and went to the pub next door for a celebratory wine. I told myself not to check Immi, because she had said it would be at least tomorrow and I shouldn't torture myself....but because I'm so impatient I checked, and it was approved!!! Couldn't believe the speed of the whole thing - think I'm a bit in shock. Had built myself up for a few weeks wait to be approved. I was surprisingly emotional to be honest, can't believe the journey is nearly over. Just need to wait the 6 months or so for a ceremony now! I'll sleep well tonight!! x

Ah yes.... of course, I wasn't thinking. They do seem to pop up here and there throughout the day, so worth checking a few times if you have time, but otherwise at least you have your date to look forward to now.

There's a few just come up for next week if you check it now.

Yeah, I had a look initially at rescheduling but my appointment is pretty soon, so doubt I'll get sooner. There were loads of appointments in May when I looked and now when I've gone back in 20 minutes later, there's nothing until June. Although you might get a last minute cancellation if you keep looking, I suppose it just depends on if there's a need to move it forward or not.