<3 Chips

2 hours ago, Elizabetty said:

Hi Megan,

My entry date (Partner Visa 100) hasn't yet passed and I now have a letter of facilitation taking me up to next December. I haven't had to show any evidence of flights being booked etc and I know that this letter is being granted to others by the London office, but also the partner visa processing office in Queensland. It's definitely taken one source of worry away, for now anyway.

To get the letter I emailed my processing centre, London, directly (after the new process was put in place), having had no luck with the generic Home Affairs number/complaints email. 

Hope this helps you.

Hi Elizabeth,

I don't suppose you can give us the email address you contacted for the London branch?

When I tried to submit a query via the Contact Us section, the response I got was basically "visit the Covid19 section for more information"

M

Gahh... thanks paulhand! Really appreciate it.

I'll give that a go.

On 11/10/2020 at 08:10, Elizabetty said:

I don’t think all hope is lost... I know of one 309 holder with a first entry date this November who has already been granted a letter of facilitation (an extension in all but name) until next November . They wrote to home affairs and obtained this in response , so it is worth contacting via email, the complaints form on the website etc. I’m drafting something now, hoping they will be lenient given the ongoing situation. 

Morning Elizabetty / all

Hope everyone is still hanging in there and like me, in slight disbelief that we'll be opening the first day of our Advent calendars in about 6 days.

Anyway... to business!

Are you able to confirm which Home Affairs links you used when you/your contact lodged their "complaint" requesting for an extension?

I lodged mine via https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/contact-us, Ithink i ended up selected that i was making a general complaint about the visa section, provided our visa ID etc, and brief message requesting an extension due to the ongoing pandemic but I've had a reply this morning saying:

>>

Please note that regarding the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, the Department of Home Affairs is working closely with the Departments of Health, Agriculture and other agencies as part of the whole of Government response.

The latest information can be found by visiting:

·         Department of Home Affairs – COVID-19

·         Department of Health - COVID-19

·         Smartraveller - COVID-19

Our Feedback Form enables us to respond to clients who provide us with suggestions, compliments and complaints about the service the Department of Home Affairs provides. As the matter you raise is a general enquiry, it is not possible for the Global Feedback Unit to assist you with this matter. The information on our website Department of Home Affairs – COVID-19 may contain the answer to your enquiry.

<<

Has anyone else lodged a query and received a response yet?

The most likely explanation is me choosing the incorrect options but I thought i chose the ones relating to Visa and Partner Visas.

In other news - after 3 attempts at trying to call me at 5am, I've managed to answer a call from DFAT (i registered on the DFAT website as an Aussie citizen looking to come home). Just 4 simple questions asking if still overseas, still looking to come home, did i want to come home by the end of the year and finally when i did come home, was it for relocation or a holiday.

On 10/10/2020 at 08:19, PerthLondonGirl89 said:

My partner is constantly telling me to chill and relax and it will be fine, I should probably listen to him too This visa process has honestly driven me mad, the things we do for love eh!! 

Don't worry, I was (still am) the same - stressing about it all and clinging to any bit of positive news or hope!

That being said - Elizabetty's news is fab! Took me a while to try and work out where/how to contact them - but then i re-read what Elizabetty said again.

They don't make it easy to contact them, do they?!

Fingers crossed for all!

1 hour ago, PerthLondonGirl89 said:

I have tried to contact Home Affairs on +61 2 6196  0196 which is the number on this link https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/contact-us/telephone/outside-australia but just get a dial tone – this could be to do with my phone and not the number though. Just to check though @<3 Chips,  @Elizabetty and @megan987 is this the same number you called or if not what number did you contact? I doubt I will get a different answer if I do get through to someone but who knows!!

Hi PerthLondonGirl89

That's the same number i used.

Careful if calling from a mobile though - a 9 minute call costed £17, and ended up having to call twice as i was hung up on when they tried to transfer me to a different department).

But definitely agree with what PaulHand said - along the lines of take it with a grain of salt, the first guy I spoke to ummed and ahhed a lot, the second guy i spoke to was a bit better but did get the feeling the poor guys are just used to answer/field phone calls.

If you do end up calling - let us know how it goes!

Thanks to Paulhand for linking me to this post.

Hi Marco

I'm in the same situation as you - I'm Australian and my partner has been granted a 100 visa, with an entry by date is early Feb21.

When I've called Home Affairs, I was told they can't extend the date BUT if we do end up arriving after the entry by date, we can apply for a waiver (or extension) claiming extenuating/exceptional circumstances.

I would hope that because you've been knocked back by the airlines and had your flights cancelled or rescheduled - they would see that it wasn't through fault of your own.

But just the thought of possibility that the visa grant may be cancelled makes me incredibly anxious.

I'll try calling again this week and see what they say - sometimes i think different people on different days can provide different or more insight/information.

23 minutes ago, paulhand said:

Thanks for attaching marco_l's post - sounds like he's in the exact same situation as me - so may follow his thread as well.

and thanks for your response, much appreciated.

 

 

On 08/09/2020 at 23:12, wrussell said:

Yes they can. Have you looked into passage by ship? - not a people smuggler enterprise or a floating brothel.

Interesting (the possibility of date extension, not the floating brothel!)

Any idea how you/I manage to successfully arrange this? I called Dept of Immi twice and both times I was told that wasn't possible.

What's the secret word?

Hello fellow PIOs

I have been trawling PIO and the internet for information or advice but have come up trumps.

I'm an Australian citizen and my partner is British, after a couple years of gathering relationship history and lodging the application he/we were granted his Partner 100 via back in February this year. Hooray! But our elation and relief was shortlived as Covid19 took over the world.

On our Visa Grant, it states that his first entry must be before February 2021.

We will be living in Brisbane once we have emigrated. When I look for flights, everything seems like normal (pre-covid, Heaps to choose from!) - but in the news, there's reports that passengers' flights are getting cancelled or amended for almost no reason, or because they bought economy seats and they're prioritising the pricier seats.

We are also slightly apprehensive regarding the job market back in Aus - we'll be looking to jump into work straight away (after quarantining of course!), but i understand that unemployment is sky rocketing. We would be happy to work doing anything to start with.

When I called Home Affairs, they said they are unable to amend the Arrive By date - however if we were to arrive after the Arrive By date, we can apply for an extension claiming extenuating circumstances.

Is anyone in a similar situation where they haven't emigrated yet and have a set "arrive by" date? Or if they arrived after the "arrive by" date and managed to successfully have it extended?

Has anyone emigrated quite recently back to Australia? How were the flights - are the passengers spaced apart? What was quarantine like? How's the job market?