Processing time for 100 visa

[Guest]

thanks for that, but yes, thats where I've been emailing. We do get an automatic reply, telling us the 6-8 month timeline and a load of other bumpf so the messages are going somewhere!

I have a friendly agent who has given us advice in the past so our last ditch attempt this week will be to officially engage him and pay him to see if he can get anything out of them.

 

My understanding was (and this came from my CO over a phone call one day) if you've been given a timeframe then they would expect to process within the timeframe given. I'd get onto your agent and see if they can poke them to get into action as you've been waiting far too long now. An agent can often get much further than we might. I'd get your agent to really push for info and a CO to be assigned. A CO isn't assigned till close to the grant for the second stage, often a couple of weeks before so if you get one then you'd be close to a decision (which if you are ongoing, genuine and all that and can explain fully if you do spend time apart but show your shared life etc should go your way).

 

I do think this longer processing is perhaps a bit of a crock given plenty still seem to be getting their second stage within the standard timeframe and that immigration have not officially updated with longer wait times for the second stage. People are not being told 18 months to 2 years or anything, they are still being told 6-8 or whatever it is. Also that you've not been assigned a CO yet means no one has actually looked over your case and thought its dodgy or that it should be delayed. Its stuck there in limbo and actually needs a pair of eyes on it to assess it and get it moving finally. Once someone looks at it, you'd know as it would mean a CO is assigned and in the process of making a decision. Hopefully your agent can yell on your behalf and you'll see some action soon. And keep uploading evidence if you have room.

[Nemesis]

My understanding was (and this came from my CO over a phone call one day) if you've been given a timeframe then they would expect to process within the timeframe given. I'd get onto your agent and see if they can poke them to get into action as you've been waiting far too long now. An agent can often get much further than we might. I'd get your agent to really push for info and a CO to be assigned. A CO isn't assigned till close to the grant for the second stage, often a couple of weeks before so if you get one then you'd be close to a decision (which if you are ongoing, genuine and all that and can explain fully if you do spend time apart but show your shared life etc should go your way).

 

I do think this longer processing is perhaps a bit of a crock given plenty still seem to be getting their second stage within the standard timeframe and that immigration have not officially updated with longer wait times for the second stage. People are not being told 18 months to 2 years or anything, they are still being told 6-8 or whatever it is. Also that you've not been assigned a CO yet means no one has actually looked over your case and thought its dodgy or that it should be delayed. Its stuck there in limbo and actually needs a pair of eyes on it to assess it and get it moving finally. Once someone looks at it, you'd know as it would mean a CO is assigned and in the process of making a decision. Hopefully your agent can yell on your behalf and you'll see some action soon. And keep uploading evidence if you have room.

 

Thanks for the post - its really lovely how you are all trying to help (and keep our spirits up!).

We have uploaded several batches of evidence since the original; as we are apart a lot we have masses of financial stuff going one way or the other, plus shedloads of cards, emails, viber printouts etc etc - with multiple pieces on one pdf because of the limit of 60 documents but now we have reached the limit and can't upload any more.

I'm going to bite the financial bullet this week and tell the agent he is now officially engaged and being paid to follow it up with DIBP instead of just giving me snippets of what he has heard/seen on other applications. I'm not complaining he's been great, but I think as you say if he follows up officially he may have more luck than us.

[Guest]

Thanks for the post - its really lovely how you are all trying to help (and keep our spirits up!).

We have uploaded several batches of evidence since the original; as we are apart a lot we have masses of financial stuff going one way or the other, plus shedloads of cards, emails, viber printouts etc etc - with multiple pieces on one pdf because of the limit of 60 documents but now we have reached the limit and can't upload any more.

I'm going to bite the financial bullet this week and tell the agent he is now officially engaged and being paid to follow it up with DIBP instead of just giving me snippets of what he has heard/seen on other applications. I'm not complaining he's been great, but I think as you say if he follows up officially he may have more luck than us.

 

Aww, I often don't feel I'm being much use in the being helpful department for you guys but I'm glad our support and thoughts are welcome and help in some small way. I feel really bad for you guys, you've had not even a sniff of a CO being assigned and I can't for the life of me think its because of some drawn out processing time when as I said plenty of others are getting theirs in the expected timeframe. I really do think you've fallen into the void for some reason and your case has been missed or overlooked. If you've uploaded stuff as you've gone along its all good. And at least you can provide more if its asked for and you've a good explanation for why you are apart for a while at a time (plenty of couples are apart for work reasons for extended periods and so long as you can document this and show you are still a couple I really can't see how it could be declined. Also if you have an agent to help with this then that is could make a difference as they can guide you in how to deal with this and what to submit and reply etc if a CO does ask questions. Plenty of couples are unconventional in how they live is this day and age. Jobs can mean people are apart for months at a time (husband and I have been in this situation in the past) and lots of people work overseas or elsewhere and return 'home' to their partners in their time off.

 

I really hope you get to the bottom of this soon and your agent can really act and get started on representing you and making your case heard.

[Nemesis]

Good thing we had decided to go home. Eleven and a half months of waiting for the 100 and today it was refused. Grounds were that because my OH hadn't taken a permanent job here and was working part time here and part in the UK, we were not considered to be in a committed relationship. Irrelevant that we had already explained he wasn't going permanent until he had PR, then I could safely give up my job and move somewhere to join him. Huge volume of evidence submitted going back several years but its still a Go Away reply.

We could appeal apparently but would have to wait at least another 12 months to be heard and it would cost a pretty penny too. I begrudge paying any more cash to immigration.

 

Thanks to those who put up with us complaining about the wait, and we wish you all more luck than we had.

[NikkiM]

Good thing we had decided to go home. Eleven and a half months of waiting for the 100 and today it was refused. Grounds were that because my OH hadn't taken a permanent job here and was working part time here and part in the UK, we were not considered to be in a committed relationship. Irrelevant that we had already explained he wasn't going permanent until he had PR, then I could safely give up my job and move somewhere to join him. Huge volume of evidence submitted going back several years but its still a Go Away reply.

We could appeal apparently but would have to wait at least another 12 months to be heard and it would cost a pretty penny too. I begrudge paying any more cash to immigration.

 

Thanks to those who put up with us complaining about the wait, and we wish you all more luck than we had.

 

 

WOW! Was not expecting that.

So sad to hear - like you say; great that you have got other options to fall back on.

It sounds crazy as I would have thought a lot of people would remain cautious about jobs etc until everything was final.

So sad that after all this time it has been such a crappy conclusion.

[Nemesis]

WOW! Was not expecting that.

So sad to hear - like you say; great that you have got other options to fall back on.

It sounds crazy as I would have thought a lot of people would remain cautious about jobs etc until everything was final.

So sad that after all this time it has been such a crappy conclusion.

 

Thanks for your comments, much appreciated.

 

Not been a good couple of months, I haven't managed to get a job back home, well nothing permanent anyway, just some shelf stacking, covering holiday leave stuff like that, can't do it for long as my joints won't take it but I am considered too old to get an office job easily. So we are living on my OHs wage which is ok for now but means we have had a serious change of lifestyle, no more travel, no more holidays, we work or we stay home and watch TV. Not quite the life we had before, or the life we planned for in Australia.

I had to come back to Oz this month and dump most of the rest of my belongings as we can't afford to ship much stuff back. The local charity shops have done well out of us at least, as I've been here a good few years.

Still seems so stupid that we are all told don't make life changing decisions until you get the visa -and then the reason the visa is refused is because we tried to be cautious about those life changing decisions.

 

Ah well, onwards and downwards we go......... I just hope we can survive with such a different life to the one we planned.

 

Good luck to those still waiting.