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Hello, if you are like me and interested in how long it is taking the high commission in London to process applications for Spouse, Defacto and interdependency (Subclass 309 via the 47SP application), then please add your details to this thread. 12weeks is their standard quoted time but it seems some are granted much faster, especially if front loaded (Medicals and police checks completed prior to submission). Please add your details if you submitted a 47sp Application for Subclass 309 Spouse visa, including the following information: Application Submitted: Case Officer (C/O) Email: Visa Granted: Please also include any additional information, like if you front loaded your application (ie, included your police checks and medicals), and also any additional information that may be useful (like if you were asked to complete an 80 form, if and what type of interview was required). If there is a better thread out there on this topic, Please paste a link to it.. Here is a short history I have gathered so far: (Sorry If I missed yours! Please add, I will Edit the Post so the list below is always comprehesive.) APPLICATIONS IN PROCESS: 30th April: Sent Application (Frontloaded with 80 form). 6th May: We have had no news yet 30th April - Visa application sent (spouse visa 309) 5th May - Money taken from account 11th May - Email from C/O asking for further information (Police Check & ID card) Sent UK police check and form 80 also. 25/4 - App Sent Front Loaded 27/4 - Payment Taken 6/5 - Email from CO stating application and that processing times are currently 3 - 4 months 24th April: Sent application 24th April:Medical done 24th April, should be sent on 29th April, police checks almost ready, will send by first week of May 2009 28th April: payment taken 11th may: contacted by c/o, requested to send police certs and form 80, 11th may 13th may sent police certs and form 80 17th April sent 309: (front loaded with meds and police checks) 20th April: Received and payment taken: 23th April:CO contact requesting more evidence 27th April: Further evidence sent 29th April: CO requested further evidence 9th May: Further evidence sent 13th May: CO contact stating enough evidence and requesting phone interview: 18th May: Phone interview arranged Submitted 15th April CO on the 17th with the standard letter, & requested further information which all in all we managed to provide by the 24th April. On the 24th we had an interview where our CO said he would be approving the application we just needed to get the police checks. On the 24th i also asked about the processing times and he said average was 4-12 weeks. The police checks were sent off and received on the 28th April and since then we have not heard anything further from the CO. Spouse visa application and police check sent 21.1.09... c/o contact 30.1.09...medical done 6.2.09.....and still waiting... COMPLETED SUCCESSFUL APPLICATIONS: (Post Creator - SR1992s timeline) 3rd April 2009: Sent Application for Spouse Visa subclass 309, using forms 47SP and 40SP (Fully front Loaded wtih PCs and Meds) 6th April 2009: C/O Replied & Payment taken 7th May: Got impatient and Phoned CO to check if more info is required, no information given other than standard line "3-4months processing time due to backlog of applications". 15 May: email from CO stating that the 309 was approved. No additional information or interview was requested. 9th April - sent Spouse visa application via registered mail from Ireland (We frontloaded with meds & police checks (no form 80).) 14th April - application received in London 15th April - money taken out of account 20th April - received photos back in the mail 5th May - rang Aus House, as we've had no confirmation of receipt (supposed to confirm within 3 weeks of receipt of application). The lovely lady said our application was with a case officer and we should hear something soon! it was actually approved on 16th April - we just never received the email to say so Defacto App sent 2nd March 09, C/O contact 18th March 09, VISA GRANTED!! 20th March 09 Sent the app on 26th Feb, 09 Visa granted 19th March 09 Date lodged: 9th November 2008 Case Officer Allocated: 18th November 2008 Sent Form 80, medicals & police certificate; 15th Dec 2008 VISA GRANTED: 19th January 2009 309 Visa sent 17/10/08, Email from CO 3/11, more info requested 13/11, sent back 28/11, phone ints 12/12 & 05/01, VISA GRANTED 09/01/09! Spouse Visa Application posted 8/11/08 Meds done 8/12/08 Visa granted 15/12/08 Lodged application 12th September 2008, C/O replied 14th Sept 09, Telephone interview 16th September Visa granted 19th September 2009 June 11th 2008 - Sent off visa application! June 18th 2008 - Request for further docs & form 80 July 2nd 2008 - Granted Spouse Visa! Defacto visa submitted 21.05.08 frontloaded Police checks Payment taken 22.05.08 Meds done 23.05.08 VISA GRANTED 17.06.08 application sent 14/04/08, payment taken 16/04/08, CO assigned 21/04/08, police & meds requested 21/04/08, police cert sent 06/05/08, meds sent 15/05/08, VISA GRANTED 21/05/08 Cheers!

Go Matilda - Your Gateway to Australia - News Best regards.

Go Matilda - Your Gateway to Australia - News Best regards.

Here is the detailed changes in forms from November 2010 in all kinds of forms in DIMMIA website. I had noticed one thing here that they have removed all kinds of papers based forms from website and replaced them with Electronically forums. It shows they have completely ripped off old visa processes. Please click here for detailed changes in forms... http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/form-changes-nov-2010.pdf

As per title, apart from contacting the employer is there an offical way to get the summary?

Very helpful omnibus explanation from the MIA: MIA Notice: Changes to General Skilled Migration (GSM) from 1 January 2010 22 December 2009 — a. Skills Assessment for Onshore GSM applications: subclasses 885, 886 & 487 From 1 January 2010, applicants for Subclasses 487, 885 and 886 must have obtained a suitable skills assessment from the relevant skills assessing authority prior to making their visa application. If the suitable skills assessment is not provided with the application, the application will not be valid. b. JobReady Test (JRT) for onshore GSM applicants From 1 January 2010, applicants for Subclasses 487, 885 and 886 nominating a trade occupation will be required to undertake a JobReady Test as part of their skills assessment. From 1 January 2010, these applicants must have obtained a suitable skills assessment dated on or after 1 January 2010. Select Legislative Instrument 2009 No 375 There is a little information on the DIAC website about JobReady tests here (PDF). The information in the TRA website is “We will be providing more detailed information on the Job Ready Program on this website early in the new year.” c. Work experience requirements for offshore GSM Subclass 475, 175 & 176 applicants From 1 January 2010, offshore GSM visa applicants nominating a trade occupation will not be able to apply for a GSM visa based on meeting the Australian study requirement. They will have to satisfy the recent work experience requirement (12 months relevant work experience in the last 24 months). For the relevant legislation for the above points, see Select Legislative Instrument 2009 No 375 (see the summary of this instrument here) and Legislative instrument IMMI 09/143 d. English language requirements From 1 January 2010, the English language requirement for all GSM applicants who nominate a trade occupation will be a minimum of 6 in each of the four components of the IELTS test (Competent English) For Skilled – Regional Sponsored GSM visa subclasses 475 and 487, the threshold English language requirement will be an average of 6 in the IELTS test. e. Vetassess Skills Assessment changes Information about the changes to Vetassess skills assessments which take effect from 1 January 2010 can be found on the Vetassess website. In brief, the new assessment procedures mean that the qualifications must be in a field of study highly relevant to the nominated occupation, at least one year of employment in a field closely related to the nominated occupation, there is some allowance for extra work experience to make up for shortfalls in qualifications. All Vetassess occupations are classified as group al B , C or D, and these reflect different qualification and employment requirements. Please check the Vetassess requirements for particular occupations carefully. For subclass 485 applicants, the Vetassess skills assessment requires a qualification in a field of study highly relevant to the nominated occupation, but does not require work experience. The work experience will be required when they apply for another GSM visa after they have gained work experience. f. Student living costs A reminder that from 1 January 2010, for the purpose of calculating financial capacity for student visa requirements, the living costs in Australia for overseas students is deemed to be $18,000 per year. See the Legislative Instrument. SEE ALSO: Letter from DIAC regarding changes. (PDF) attached to this post. Cheers, George Lombard

Hi i'm sure this has been asked lots of times, but i can't find it fast. i was looking for a BASIC SUMMARY about the order of steps to emigrate. I live in the UK but want to move to OZ, i've got no relatives out there. can anyone help?

I have ofcourse done some research, this is what I have found : Sydney : 'capital' city, about 7 million people ( although someone mentioned 4 million officially ). Huge traffic problems due to bad public transport. Extremely warm in the summer, rainy and cold in the winter. Good job opportunities, loads of nice things to do, lots of tourists. Hugely expensive living, and even more expensive real estate prices. Unaffordable living for most people. Melbourne : Second biggest city in Australia with about 4 million people. Temperate climate, almost european-like weather. Traffic is a lot better here mainly due to the better public transport. The most 'european' of all Australian cities. Nice skyline. Rainy and cold in the winter, very warm in the summer. Good job opportunities since most big companies have their headquarters here. Many things to do, this city has it all except the weather. Reasonably expensive but still cheaper than Sydney. Real estate is expensive. Brisbane : Third biggest city in Australia with about 2 million people. Sub-Tropical climate : Warm all year round. Traffic is terrible with the most congested city in whole of Australia they have huge problems with their public transport and too many roads so pollution is an upcoming problem. Nice skyline, Tropical rains during the summer, dry and warm winters. Water shortages. Reasonable job offers, with many IT jobs available during good times. In recession, Brisbane is usually hardest hit. City is not located on the coast but a little land inwards on a big river with a big port which is in use. Reasonably many things to do, this city needs public transport to solve it's congestion issues though. Very expensive, almost to the level of Sydney. Unaffordable house prices. Real estate is unaffordable for most people. Perth : Located on the other side of the 4 'big cities' , Perth is isolated from the rest of Australia. Perth is the fourth biggest city with about 1 million people, but growing fast due to climate and wonderful beaches. Sub-Tropical climate like in Brisbane, traffic is reasonable, public transport is reasonable. No water problems, reasonable job offers, City is located on some wonderful beaches, in a beautiful location with beautiful weather. It's an isolated city though, but the area is certainly very nice. Many things to do, quite expensive. House prices have been dropping since April 2008, so they are becoming more affordable. Adelaide : Perth is the fifth biggest city in Australia, with about 900.000 population. Adelaide has a temperate climate with rainy cold winters and dry warm summers. Public transport is bad, but congestion seems reasonable. Job offers are low, especially during recessions, this town will get hit hardest during bad economic times ( last recession there was 20% unemployment in Adelaide ). This city is all about being laid back. Nothing moves fast, there's not an abundance of things to do, but the costs of living are cheap compared to the other big cities. If you like laid back style living, this might be the city for you. Gold Coast : I have no idea about the gold coast. It's supposed to be beautiful and the weather is supposed to be holiday like all year round. Maybe someone can post a Gold Coast review ? My ideal city ? Melbourne, located at Brisbane's position, with Perth's beaches, and Sydney's bays and Adelaide's laid back people :cute: If something in here isn't right, please tell me so I can amend it.

Hi All We have both got to write an account of our relationship so far,to send off with the visa application.My question is does it have to be handwritten or can we use our pc and just print it off? Thanks People....