Hi Steve,
I’m sure you didn’t intend to patronise me, nor to insult my intelligence, although I’m afraid it did rather come across like that. However, I’m neither confused nor am I even in Australia yet.
As I previously mentioned to you when you emailed me, I’m still in the process of completing my application for 188C and am now awaiting an invitation to invest which I already have the help of an agent to do. I was merely expressing concern at how much processing times for the next stage appear to have increased since Leni applied and hope this is not an indication of what it will be like when I’m at that same stage, especially if she was only expecting to wait 1 year rather than 3 years. I’m fully aware that it changes according to the situation at the time and it will be several years before I can even think about applying for my 888 visa. I also expressed sympathy for those frustrated on bridging visas, especially if they are still living in rented accommodation and ultimately spending more than if they’d purchased a property despite the additional cost of stamp duty or FIRB fees. I will need to make some decisions to mitigate against this and it’s more around judging how property prices are likely to be impacted over the next few years. I don’t think even the experts get that one right all the time.