kiwi_sparkles

Do you mean for the 461 application to be approved? We applied in March of this year and are still waiting.

I've heard a few people have been approved this week - their applications were submitted (onshore) in November 2017. It's all secondhand information of course. Could be wrong.

Nope..... still waiting.....

Wanted to post a mini update as my OH's application has finally been acknowledged. We know it won't be processed any time soon, but at least it's in the system at long last... .only took five months to be logged !

Thanks! I swear it's sending me grey!

Tried calling to see whether our application has been uploaded into their systems yet. The call centre person agreed it should have been uploaded within a couple of weeks of being received, and a notification sent to us. We know that hasn't happened. They checked everything - passport numbers, address, emails etc - no record of our application, even though we have the courier receipt dated 19 March. Also got told to check our Immiaccount payment (as we had to prepay the fee) as the application needed to be made within 30 days of submitting payment.... Sure enough - even though both the application and payment were received on 19 March, the Immiaccount thinks there is no application associated as the payment hasn't been claimed and it's sitting there waiting for me to request a refund. So frustrating! The call centre person doesn't know whether we should apply again or wait. Just to be clear - I'm not complaining about processing times. I'm just annoyed that no one seems to know *what* has happened to the application in the first place.

Ooh, that's nice and quick!!

@paulhand you are an excellent source of intel Here's hoping our application hasn't fallen down the back of a cabinet somewhere. @Joycey90 that's great news indeed. I'm currently looking at the temps in Brisbane, where it's coming into winter.... and it's warmer than our London summer. Hurry up visa!!

It probably won't help much, as we lodged in London. However we've not had any acknowledgement, other than the confirmation from the courier to say it was delivered back in March. From my digging around on the web, it seems some people have received acknowledgement in the past, and other's haven't. At one point I did ring the number on the immigration website and some poor bugger (it goes through to Oz, and it must have been about 3am over there) went off to look in their system. They said all the 461 documentation gets uploaded into the system (which begs the question, why the hell do we have to send paper docs in the first place?!) and that he couldn't see that it had been uploaded yet... But as Paulhand says the world has been in lock down, so while it's annoying I'm not surprised.

Thanks! Just had to look that area up as I've not heard of it and I think it may be a little bit too far from the CBD. I'm keen for low crime area (there's no kids so school's aren't an issue) but ideally it would be walking distance, or no more than 15-20 mins by train/river, to the city. Not sure how crime in Brisbane compares to central London, but I suspect (although may well be wrong!) that Brisbane is a bit safer therefore being closer to CBD should be OK..... famous last words!

That is interesting to know about timescale for applications submitted in London. I can only hope that it's still fairly short, although COVID will be impacting things now for sure. There must be a lot of this stuff that can be done remotely if people are working from home. However it doesn't seem like they are processing anything right now as the timeframes on the website have stopped being updated. I started tracking them in March (more out of curiosity than anything else), but they've stopped being updated as Jay M pointed out. I am willing to bet that its definitely NOT due to low volume of applications.

Does anyone on this thread have any updates? Finding other peoples experiences for 461s applications is proving tricky. Lots of peeps posting info on other visa types, but not 461! Processing time, as of 28 Apr 2020 is now 33 months for 90% (I am sure it was <30 at the start of 2020) but strangely I'm sure the 75% timeframe has dropped since last month, from 27 to 25 months. I am now keeping a spreadsheet to track this - mostly out of curiousity. We only lodged my husbands application last month, just before the COVID lockdown began here in London so I think we are going to be in for a loooong wait. I rang the customer services team a few days after I lodged it (an Aussie number) and they said we should get some sort of acknowedgement and a reference number once the data has been transferred into their system, but to call back in a month if we've not heard anything. Called them on Monday, and they say it's not in their system yet. Suspect it's sitting in a post room gathering dust given everyone is working from home now.

Yeah that's why I also mentioned an apartment. However it's more about checking out the different suburbs, seeing what areas we think we'd like best. Because even staying in an apartment won't really be like living there.... as it's all just fun when you're on holiday.

No motels. I've nothing against them (we use them a lot when we do US road trips, and in NZ) , but for this trip, given importance of the visit, I want to stay somewhere extra nice. So it'll either be a hotel, or an apartment. If we end up in New Farm or West End then hopefully somewhere with a river view!

Thank you! Sounds like we are in the right track. Now the fun bit - to research some nice hotels

Thank you - will take a look!

Grrr, typing on my phone and it posted before I finished the title which should have said reconnaissance!

We are looking at relocating to either Auckland (I'm a kiwi, although lived in London since 1999) or Brisbane. I've not been back to Brisbane since I was 16. My husband (British) has never been. We are planning on heading over for a weeks reccie and to see if we can envisage living there. Will be looking at having a relocation agent take us tour while we are there. Can anyone recommend a suburb to stay in for our trip? We are in our 40s, and want somewhere close-ish to the CBD, with cafes and restaurants. Not fussed about nightlife as such, but we do love a good brunch! My husband is a Londoner through and through, so it needs to be fairly lively so that he doesn't get withdrawal symptoms the minute we touch down. Based on my own research, I'm thinking West End, Paddington or Bulimba. Is there anywhere else worth checking out? Thank you!