LucasC

We just got our visas. I say we as in my wife (I'm Australian) and I say visas because we applied for 2 in the end. She got approved both the 600 and 651 visa.

The reason we got it was because she applied for a cancellation of the 651 application after waiting 45 days. It then mysteriously vanished from her immi account. We called several times and finally got someone who actually seemed like they cared and tried to help. He recommended we cancel the cancellation as this would take up to a month and processed this request for us. This meant that someone looked at her account that same day and just processed everything.

We're so happy. After 50 days, 4 different flight and hire car bookings and a lot of stress, we can finally return home and introduce our 18 month old boy to his Australian family.

11 minutes ago, Culterguy said:

I don't know if anyone else saw Simon Calder giving the big thumbs up to Australia, from Sydney Harbour this morning. If anyone can bring this thread to his attention,  it would be interesting to see if he can blag a visit to the visa service office and find out what the@£$%^ is going on. Or at least he can caution those applying to 'get your visa fist" before booking flights and save all the stress we have been through. I don't know how to get in touch, he does Twitter, I don't.

Good idea. I saw that bit on BBC this morning and it wound me up.

I might give it a go. I encourage others to do so too.

https://www.simoncalder.co.uk/contact/

In other news we actually tried to cancel my wife's application this morning and apparently that's different too. You need to notify them in writing and who knows how long it takes to process it. Rather we've also applied for the 600 class visitor visa that costs £85 since you can't apply for 651 again whilst having an open application.

I highly doubt we'll get the response we need so I'm starting preparations to make the 26 hour journey alone with my 17 month old boy.

7 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

Have you tried emailing evisitor.helpdesk@homeaffairs.gov.au

Yes. Every few days for the last month. Also tried with the local MPs where my parents live. They can't do anything.

We're going to try applying again and if that doesn't work I'll just travel alone with my infant son as his visa was approved immediately.

The visa processing times have been updated to 90% of applications processed in 30 days. We just called up since my wife's application has been 43 days thinking they might be helpful. Nope. Even after it's passed the won't help. They just say to sit and wait for a response. 

Has anyone on here waited for more than 43 days?

4 minutes ago, KamilB said:

Hi!

Have anyone waiting for Visitor 651 too long try to withdraw their application and reapply again for a visa? Does it help anyone to speed up the process?

Cheers!

I'd like to know this too. My wife has received an exemption 2 days after her application however the application was made 39 days ago and still nothing. Now that the borders are opening to everyone, I'm guessing immigration will be dealing with loads more applications which might slow things even more.

32 minutes ago, LisaC said:

I am so frustrated and confused as to the process and reasons for delays. They say they are prioritising those with exemptions but this is clearly load of rubbish as I have my exemption and I am still waiting on my eVisa which I applied for on 20 January so ahead of this person who doesn't even have an exemption. I did it in the right order; eVisa first so I could include my TRN on the exemption and also included my Visa Grant Number from a previous visa this apparently helps. Exemption came through a few days after I applied and have gone in and updated the eVisa with a copy of the exemption but still nothing.

Obviously it is great that you have the eVisa but how can they say they are following a process when they clearly aren't. I have never had an issue getting an eVisa before and my daughters ones were granted in minutes. We fly in 2 weeks but I might have to cancel if we don't get anything soon.

Have emailed the address someone earlier recommended but not holding out much hope to hear anything back which is also frustrating as when you know people are getting theirs granted quicker and without an exemption in place it makes you wonder if there is an issue but as no one has requested anything and no one will talk to you, we are left in limbo.

Sooooo annoyed and stressed

I feel for you. We've been waiting since 9th Jan. We got a request for more information on Monday 31st for a photo of my wife's passport. Random request but I immediately obliged. Nothing has come back. 

Hi all, i just noticed on the immi website they've updated the processing times. Perhaps they've got through the backlog of when the borders were closed and are getting back to normal. This is promising. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/evisitor-651

On 19/01/2022 at 09:49, LucasC said:

Hi all, I've been following this forum for advice on my own situation so thanks to everyone for sharing. I thought I would share my own situation with you.

I am an Australian citizen trying to return home from the UK for a visit with my Greek wife and infant son who is British. I applied for both evisitor visas on 9th Jan and my son's was immediately approved. I applied for exemption on the 10th Jan using the TRN from both visa applications and received approval of exemption for both on the 11th Jan.

We are still waiting for my wife's evisitor to be approved. I have since tried sending an email to the evisitor heldesk email address that someone kindly provided but after 48 hours the application hasn't moved.

I had no idea that the evisitor visa would take so long and given that it's been 8 days following a successful exemption I can only assume that we've slipped through the net into the 7 month processing pile

Hi all,

This morning my wife got an email asking for a picture of her passport. I'm hoping that after adding it to the application that is is processed. We've changed our flights to 13th Feb. Has anyone else been asked to provide more information? And if so, did it take long to respond to what you gave them?

15 hours ago, barbaragilloran said:

We're still waiting for my husband's visa.  That's 5 weeks now.  My daughter in law has now written to her MP and his office said they would contact Home Affairs.   No idea whether this will make any difference or not.  Can certainly relate to all the stress and anxiety!

5 weeks! That's so disappointing. Ours is 3 weeks and counting. I wonder what the longest is anyone has waited here? I think I'll get my family to try the MP thing. Can't hurt, we've tried everything else.

We applied for the exemption straight after the visa application using the TRN but after 2 weeks still nothing. My son's visa was approved immediately without any exemption. So random. 

We were meant to fly out this Saturday but have had to push all plans and flights back 2 weeks. Let's hope that's enough time!

2 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

My 651 visa has been granted.  Oh the irony.  The day I find out I can no longer visit family in Perth I get my visa approved. 

That's great news but such a shame about about the restrictions in WA. They were meant to open up on 5th Feb. Very disappointing they went back on their word. I bet a lot of travel plans are disrupted.

27 minutes ago, barbaragilloran said:

Yes.  I think its arbitrary.  My husband and I got travel exemptions really quickly. (Parents of permanent residents)  My visa came through 2 days later on 24 December.  My husband is still waiting.  We have tried the email address to ask for help but no reply.  We edited his visa application to  add in exemption confirmation.  Again no response.  So frustrating.  Cant think of anything else to do.

 

Do you mind me asking if you are both the same nationality? I'm thinking that because my son's was approved immediately (he's British) and my wife's (Greek) is still on the processing pile that they process nationalities in an order of priority.

We're due to travel on 29th Jan but that's totally not happening. Lucky my employer is being flexible and my bookings can all be moved 2 weeks into the future. But how long can I keep doing that??

3 hours ago, Tulip1 said:

It seems it’s very hit and miss.  I applied for an evisitor on 27th December and I’m still waiting.  The exemption came through within two days but still no visa.  I have sent two emails over the last 10 days but still nothing.  Very frustrating.  I just hope it comes through in time for my trip.  I don’t have the luxury of putting the trip off by a few weeks or until the visa comes through.  At work we have a strict one person off at a time policy and if I miss the time off I’ve secured I’ve had it.  Fingers crossed we both hear soon, good luck. 
 

I’m tempted to do another visa application but I’m not sure if that will mess up my existing one and the TRN wouldn’t match what I put on my exemption application. 

Thanks for sharing. So long as you're confident you entered all the details correctly I wouldn't reapply. We added a PDF of the confirmation of the exemption to the visa application but it makes no difference since it's linked to the TRN. 
It's disappointing that even though the exemption is granted and the TRN is linked to it that the visa isn't then automatically granted. It's bizarre. 

Hi all, I've been following this forum for advice on my own situation so thanks to everyone for sharing. I thought I would share my own situation with you.

I am an Australian citizen trying to return home from the UK for a visit with my Greek wife and infant son who is British. I applied for both evisitor visas on 9th Jan and my son's was immediately approved. I applied for exemption on the 10th Jan using the TRN from both visa applications and received approval of exemption for both on the 11th Jan.

We are still waiting for my wife's evisitor to be approved. I have since tried sending an email to the evisitor heldesk email address that someone kindly provided but after 48 hours the application hasn't moved.

I had no idea that the evisitor visa would take so long and given that it's been 8 days following a successful exemption I can only assume that we've slipped through the net into the 7 month processing pile :(