Timeline on 309/100 via applied for in London

[Shaggylom]

21 hours ago, Aussiebird said:

Applied for 309/100 May 23rd (from London).  Not heard a thing. I can see the police checks and medical being repeated next year as processing very slow and very long wait!

yeah we were told to hold off on those till about 6 months after we applied and were advised to not do it when the the immigration account said to as it could expire and have to be done again.  at least this is the info our agent fed back to us after speaking with their immigration contacts at the High Commission 

[TWright105]

1 hour ago, Shaggylom said:

yeah we were told to hold off on those till about 6 months after we applied and were advised to not do it when the the immigration account said to as it could expire and have to be done again.  at least this is the info our agent fed back to us after speaking with their immigration contacts at the High Commission 

We did medical when we got the rfi from case officer as didn’t want to have to re do if it expired.  
 

 

[Aussiebird]

We probably should have waited, but a lot of people we saying to front load as would be granted quicker?

[ali]

33 minutes ago, Aussiebird said:

We probably should have waited, but a lot of people we saying to front load as would be granted quicker?

Front loading doesn't put people any further up the pile - just means everything is there, probably saves about 4-5 weeks these days.  Generally, people on PIO usually suggesting waiting, particularly with the time it's taking for visa's to be granted.

[dasuw]

Hello everyone.

Thought I'd join this forum to share in the pain that is waiting for 309/100. My circumstances are as follows.

I am Australian as is my daughter. Wife is UK citizen. We applied in Nov 2018 in London, Police clearances done same time and Medicals done end of December 2018. RFI in April and then I moved to Australia for work. 2nd RFI in June (annoyingly since I moved to Aus even though it had been only 2 months, I needed a AFP police clearance which I provided straight away). Then no news to date. Wife came with daughter on tourist visa in July. 12 months but no more than 3 months per visit, already visited Singapore in Sep and now booked holiday to NZ for December. Going to have to leave Aus for the 309 to be granted so ideally would like it to be done prior to NZ trip but this hope is slowly disappearing with each passing day. I will be very annoyed to having to do the UK police checks again as we both have not lived in the UK for majority of the last 12 months so hoping some common sense will be applied by DHA but probably not hold my breath.

[GRS]

29 minutes ago, dasuw said:

Hello everyone.

Thought I'd join this forum to share in the pain that is waiting for 309/100. My circumstances are as follows.

I am Australian as is my daughter. Wife is UK citizen. We applied in Nov 2018 in London, Police clearances done same time and Medicals done end of December 2018. RFI in April and then I moved to Australia for work. 2nd RFI in June (annoyingly since I moved to Aus even though it had been only 2 months, I needed a AFP police clearance which I provided straight away). Then no news to date. Wife came with daughter on tourist visa in July. 12 months but no more than 3 months per visit, already visited Singapore in Sep and now booked holiday to NZ for December. Going to have to leave Aus for the 309 to be granted so ideally would like it to be done prior to NZ trip but this hope is slowly disappearing with each passing day. I will be very annoyed to having to do the UK police checks again as we both have not lived in the UK for majority of the last 12 months so hoping some common sense will be applied by DHA but probably not hold my breath.

@dasuwWelcome to the 309/100 November waiting room. Apparently i heard that in theory if you are no longer residing in country then that country's police check would be valid indefinitely, however the country where you are now residing that check is only valid for 12 months.  In practice....pft they still could ask for new police checks. 

For the 600 applicants - do you need to get health insurance in advance as i see it is question on application? i thought UK citizens would be covered under reciprocal medicare agreement?

[dasuw]

@GRS that’s good to know that previous police checks could be still valid which makes sense if your no longer living in the country . My AFP was done in June 2019 so still got some time with that but my wife is only on the visitor 600 visa so never originally required a AFP for her but now wondering since she is here even on a tourist visa , would it be advised to get one or wait for it to be asked...

I never showed medical insurance when applying for wife’s 600 . I did mention about the reciprocal agreement and showed her European health card. But when we arrived in Aus she was able to get a Medicare card since she has already applied for 309, it was allowed so medical care is generally fine .

[Ryem]

16 hours ago, ali said:

Front loading doesn't put people any further up the pile - just means everything is there, probably saves about 4-5 weeks these days.  Generally, people on PIO usually suggesting waiting, particularly with the time it's taking for visa's to be granted.

I think it's very hard to say which option is better at the moment. We front loaded (uploaded medical and police checks 2 months after applying). At the start of the year, people seemed to be getting RFI's after about 6 months (for example, people who applied at the end of last year had RFI's in May). So theoretically, if they did not get RFI's, their visas would have been granted in May. However, because of the RFI's, it seemed they were put into another pile - which then got granted this September. Also people who applied in Jan this year got RFI's in June and haven't heard anything since then - if they avoided the RFI the visa would have been granted in June.. I believe @Pegek had no RFI's an their visa was granted in 6 months - but that was Berlin. But yes, it is really hard to guess which route will be better. We're just trying to make it as unlikely as possible that we'll get an RFI as it definitely delays the process. But who knows what they might ask for..

Edited October 30, 2019 by Ryem

[Pegek]

9 hours ago, Ryem said:

I think it's very hard to say which option is better at the moment. We front loaded (uploaded medical and police checks 2 months after applying). At the start of the year, people seemed to be getting RFI's after about 6 months (for example, people who applied at the end of last year had RFI's in May). So theoretically, if they did not get RFI's, their visas would have been granted in May. However, because of the RFI's, it seemed they were put into another pile - which then got granted this September. Also people who applied in Jan this year got RFI's in June and haven't heard anything since then - if they avoided the RFI the visa would have been granted in June.. I believe @Pegek had no RFI's an their visa was granted in 6 months - but that was Berlin. But yes, it is really hard to guess which route will be better. We're just trying to make it as unlikely as possible that we'll get an RFI as it definitely delays the process. But who knows what they might ask for..

Hey @Ryem, I just looked at the date you lodged and when you did medical. They are quite similar to mine (lodged April 15, medical July 2nd) I think that’s a smart move as your medical would expire 14 months after application which should be super safe! Hopefully they don’t need anything else than what you have provided!

I keep checking in here to see how you guys are going, my visa came through on Monday (left Australia on Sunday night). They gave me subclass 100 straight up which was more than I ever dared hoping for!! 

Fingers crossed for everyone!!

 

[mhcornwall]

That's crazy. Huge congrats. Even though I imagine there are loads of envious people here.

Just out of curiosity, what is you circumstances with your application? E.g. kids etc, did you front load literally everything? Did you apply in the UK?

So many questions I know, but always good to have a yardstick

Sp excited or you and anyone here that gets the golden email.

Hey [mention=277910]Ryem[/mention], I just looked at the date you lodged and when you did medical. They are quite similar to mine (lodged April 15, medical July 2nd) I think that’s a smart move as your medical would expire 14 months after application which should be super safe! Hopefully they don’t need anything else than what you have provided!
I keep checking in here to see how you guys are going, my visa came through on Monday (left Australia on Sunday night). They gave me subclass 100 straight up which was more than I ever dared hoping for!! 
Fingers crossed for everyone!!
 

[Guest]

Good morning all. I applied for the 309/100 visa in June, no agent, uploaded lots of info but held off on the medical and police checks. We have been married for nearly 11 years so I am hoping that I will be granted the permanent visa without too much stress. But after seeing some of your posts, I am thinking of now getting the medical and police checks to front load before an RFI in the hope that it might be approved earlier rather than getting an RFI and then having to wait again in a queue. I am aware that both checks last for 12 months. When I look at the fees for the medical checks at the London doctor - Knightsbridge - (it looks like this is the only place?) there are two checks.

One check for Permanent applications £320 or one for Temporary applications £275.

Might sound like a silly question, but should we do the permanent one rather than temp, again in the hope they might just grant the permanent visa? 
 

Thanks all, it’s frustrating for everyone but nice to know I’m not the only one waiting in silence! 

[TWright105]

I had my medical in Knightsbridge and I didn’t have a choice they charged me £320 .

 

[PerthLondonGirl89]

2 hours ago, EsBear said:

Good morning all. I applied for the 309/100 visa in June, no agent, uploaded lots of info but held off on the medical and police checks. We have been married for nearly 11 years so I am hoping that I will be granted the permanent visa without too much stress. But after seeing some of your posts, I am thinking of now getting the medical and police checks to front load before an RFI in the hope that it might be approved earlier rather than getting an RFI and then having to wait again in a queue. I am aware that both checks last for 12 months. When I look at the fees for the medical checks at the London doctor - Knightsbridge - (it looks like this is the only place?) there are two checks.

One check for Permanent applications £320 or one for Temporary applications £275.

Might sound like a silly question, but should we do the permanent one rather than temp, again in the hope they might just grant the permanent visa? 
 

Thanks all, it’s frustrating for everyone but nice to know I’m not the only one waiting in silence! 

When you apply for the visa in the first instance you are actually applying for both the temporary and permanent visa together, so you would need the full permanent application medical for £320

Edited October 31, 2019 by PerthLondonGirl89

[dasuw]

We got the medical done in a clinic in Maidenhead . It definitely was less than £320 and only offered the one option . I don’t think it was a whole lot less but definitely cheaper as I remember not pursuing Knightsbridge because of the price .

[PerthLondonGirl89]

Ah yes, now that @dasuw has mentioned it I remember seeing that there are actually a few different locations other than Knightsbridge that do the medicals. We didn't look into these too much due to Knightsbridge being much closer for us. 

Just found the link which advises of the different locations. The cost may vary at each one, but you just need to make sure you get the Full Medical, HIV Blood Test and Chest X-Ray

https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/help-support/contact-us/offices-and-locations/list 

[Nitin]

Hi All,

I have been following this forum since early this year and noticed that RFI's are normally requested within 4-6 months. My wife applied on 22nd Feb 2019 and haven't had any RFI's yet. Medical and Police Clearances were pre loaded. Does it mean they do have all the documents they need? 

Thanks

[Guest]

10 hours ago, EsBear said:

Good morning all. I applied for the 309/100 visa in June, no agent, uploaded lots of info but held off on the medical and police checks. We have been married for nearly 11 years so I am hoping that I will be granted the permanent visa without too much stress. But after seeing some of your posts, I am thinking of now getting the medical and police checks to front load before an RFI in the hope that it might be approved earlier rather than getting an RFI and then having to wait again in a queue. I am aware that both checks last for 12 months. When I look at the fees for the medical checks at the London doctor - Knightsbridge - (it looks like this is the only place?) there are two checks.

One check for Permanent applications £320 or one for Temporary applications £275.

Might sound like a silly question, but should we do the permanent one rather than temp, again in the hope they might just grant the permanent visa? 
 

Thanks all, it’s frustrating for everyone but nice to know I’m not the only one waiting in silence! 

Thank you everyone your responses have been helpful  I had just assumed that It would cost the same everywhere, but I might look into this a bit more in case it can save a bit of money!

best of luck to everyone- hope something moves soon..!

[Flaire]

Hi everyone, update from me - I got my email last night that my visa is ready to grant!! Really pleased and relieved.

I've been in Melbourne since March on a 600 visa so need to leave within the next 6 weeks so my visa can be granted. 

Hoping more good news this week for others on here. 

[Butterflies1988]

Fantastic news. Congratulations! I saw some one on another group that applied December and was granted yesterday. Slowly moving ..surely the rest of January's have to be coming soon ! Fingers crossed !

[Poppysunday]

58 minutes ago, Flaire said:

Hi everyone, update from me - I got my email last night that my visa is ready to grant!! Really pleased and relieved.

I've been in Melbourne since March on a 600 visa so need to leave within the next 6 weeks so my visa can be granted. 

Hoping more good news this week for others on here. 

Congrats!! Just a question re your 600.... did you have a one way ticket? Any questions at customs in Australia going through? 

[ga_brysia]

2 hours ago, Flaire said:

Hi everyone, update from me - I got my email last night that my visa is ready to grant!! Really pleased and relieved.

I've been in Melbourne since March on a 600 visa so need to leave within the next 6 weeks so my visa can be granted. 

Hoping more good news this week for others on here. 

Finally some movement!

Huge congrats!

Fingers crossed for the rest now!

[Flaire]

2 hours ago, Poppysunday said:

Congrats!! Just a question re your 600.... did you have a one way ticket? Any questions at customs in Australia going through? 

Hi @Poppysunday, I actually had a return ticket - at the time it was cheaper and we planned going back for a wedding. I've been out of Oz a couple of times since arriving and I've never been asked anything at immigration.

I was never entirely sure how to answer the question on the immigration card - do you intend to stay in Australia for more than 12 months? I said no because I had a ticket back and knew I didn't have the visa status for it...until now. 

 

[TWright105]

3 hours ago, Flaire said:

Hi everyone, update from me - I got my email last night that my visa is ready to grant!! Really pleased and relieved.

I've been in Melbourne since March on a 600 visa so need to leave within the next 6 weeks so my visa can be granted. 

Hoping more good news this week for others on here. 

Fantastic news! Fingers crossed the rest of us January applicants will get grants soon!  

[KFR]

Hi Guys ,

So we also received our grant yesterday! (We applied 30th Dec 2018)

Strangely, we were already on our way to Melbourne from London just on a tourist visa and whilst we had stopped in Singapore to catch the onward flight we received the grant email! 

I nearly didn't even see it as I scanned my emails but missed it. Only when my partner asked if any important emails had come through just as we were about to board the flight, I double check and saw it! 

Hang in there all as Jan/Feb grants must be on there way very soon now. Good luck all and Take Care

[TWright105]

Just got the golden email, I’ve been granted 100 visa can’t believe it! Off to Melbourne on 29th December.

 

thanks for everyone’s support, and I hope that people that are still waiting get their grants soon!