Evening all,
I'm hoping someone can help me and give me some advice as i am very worried and stressed out and I'm beginning to lose hope!
I booked flights to Australia last year for myself and my parents. We are visiting friends who emigrated from the UK to Australia 15 years ago so we are very excited to go.
I applied for all of our e-visitor visa's at the end of December 2019. My visa and my mother's visa have been granted, however my dad's 600 visa is now under "Further Assessment" and we fly in two weeks time on 14th Feb!!!
I had NO IDEA that my dad's criminal convictions which were from 40 years ago when he was a young lad would even be an issue. How wrong was i?! If i had known how much information was required and how long this process can take i would never have booked the flights until his visa was approved!! :(
I applied weeks ago at the start of the month for a police certificate with ACRO and paid premium to have it within 2 working days. I only received the certificate 2 days ago as his records were so old they weren't even on the PNC and had to be transferred over from microfiche! As soon as i got the certificate i uploaded it straight away and pressed submit. I also included other supporting documents such as character witness statements, a letter of invitation from the friends we are staying with, a statement from myself and a copy of our flight tickets.
What i want to know is, do all criminal conviction cases get referred to VACCU? Or do some get approved without going to this stage? I have read loads of posts where people have been waiting months and even years to hear back!!!
Is there anyway our friends in Australia can contact their local MP and ask for help with his application? My dad hasn't had any convictions since 1978 and we are only staying for just under 3 weeks for a holiday!
I really feel defated at this point and i know the chances of him getting his visa are very slim. I feel very stupid and naive that i didn't do my research into this. We live and learn!!!!!
Any help would be greatly appreciated.