SUMMARY: Spouse Visa Processing times OFFSHORE-UK. Please add your Stats.

[Guest Savannah1]

Thank you - yeah I know what you mean about waiting but I guess as long as I get the visa then it will be ok! Good luck to you too.

[Guest Thamby]

picked up my visa today in singapore easy peasy!.... passport stamped took 10 minutes

[Guest TaniaandRob]

Hiya Everyone. Rob's visa was approved today! Stuff is shipped, we are all packed and moved out of our flat - staying with family, I am delivering my car to its new owner on Sat and on Tues we fly! It's all happening! :jiggy::spinny::jiggy:

 

Application for 309 sent: 12/09/10

Application recieved, CO confirmed and money taken: 14/09/10 - told 5-6 months wait CO=RF

Extra info requested: evidence of relationship and police check sent 3/10/10

Emailed requesting ETA of visa 29/11/10: Out of office reply on holiday from 19/10/2010 and will not return until 29/11/2010.

Recieved email 29/11/10: "Please be advised that due to current processing times for partner visa applications at the London office you can expect a finalisation date for your application of around the beginning of February 2011."

Emailed again in December asking if we could have a date? - Reply received Feb 9th it will be processed.

[mcsyl]

HI EVERYONE,

 

Here is a quick update of my case.Yesterday i spoke with my CO - D.P. and he confirmed that the progress of my visa application is going smoothly and he is looking to approve it in the next 4 weeks. Appl for PMV subclass 300 - 19.10.2010. We are still kicking our self why we didn't go for 309/301 .The CO said we have really strong case. Anyway we have to go trough another appl 820/801 after our marriage

[junellew]

Congrats to you all that have got them. I'm still waiting. Was advised end of feb even though I applied 3rd Sept......I phoned last week and she said "end of Feb, just like I told you. Its all been approved, just a matter of pressing the button" and then she said "unless anything changes" whats that meant to mean?!! Tempted to ring in some reason that I have to go like NOW and see if I get it! he he!! :wink:

[Guest pegeen]

any updates ? Im waiting anxiously applied the end of oct!

[Guest TaniaandRob]

We have arrived in Oz and it's raining! Still warmer than Yorkshire though. Good Luck everyone else who is waiting!

[Guest hbuckley]

Apologies for the late update...after having the processing fee taken out of my account on 8th August 2010 we finally got the de facto visa on the 24th of January. This was one week before we flew out and whilst we were travelling through Africa!

 

We had JF as our caseworker and used Global Visas to check our application and submit it. Would I use Global Visas again, perhaps but they weren't brilliant but they were helpful. In the end however it did feel like JF was doing us a favour in granting the visa a couple of days prior to the 6month deadline!

 

We spent two days in London and then flew to Melbourne on the 2nd of February! I have now been gainfully employed for 3days so it has been a complete whirlwind. Struggling to find a flat but I think that is simply par for the course. I would also recommend bring as much documentation such as previous bills, rental references and bank statements as possible.

 

If anyone has any questions please feel free and I'll answer them as best I can.

 

First impressions of living in Melbourne is that something's are more expensive, something's are less expensive and most thing's are better quality! Good luck everyone, it really is worth it.

[junellew]

We have arrived in Oz and it's raining! Still warmer than Yorkshire though. Good Luck everyone else who is waiting!

 

congratulations - hope you are having a ball! Never mind the rain hey, it won't last forever!

 

We have been told ours is to be granted 26th Feb - just a few days under 6 months. Just can't wait to have it in our hands!

[mcsyl]

any updates ? Im waiting anxiously applied the end of oct!

 

What's the exact date of your appl pegeen? Mine is from 19.10 and i have been told last week that my visa will be granted in 4 weeks.:biggrin:

[Guest sarafin]

I just rang my CO who had not replied to any emails and he told me he has been transferred to a different department and gave me my new CO's details (SP) so i rang her and she told me everything is looking fine happy with all my evidence and my visa will be approved between 10th April -10th May.

 

My application was received on 10th November.

 

YAY!!!!

[Guest NikBrad]

Hi all,

 

We are new to this forum, however over the last few months my partner and I have found all the information to be very helpful and comforting!! I am Aussie and my partner is English and so far our time line has been:

 

Application received at AH: 22nd September 2010

Email received from CO (initials LG) requesting police check and medical: 27th September 2010

Police check received: 29th September 2010

Medical done: 7th October 2010

 

We have emailed our case officer in early December and also mid January to see if we could get a more specific time of when we can expect a decision, however our CO has always been quite vague saying the standard 5-6 months, so last week of Feb (next week!!!) to last week of March. Does anyone else have this CO as I haven't seen the initials mentioned? Just want to get an idea of when we might get that much awaited email, most people seem to getting approved around the 5 month mark at the moment......

 

Thanks!

[llessur]

Am getting very excited now - we are due to apply for the 309 visa at the end of April when we will have finally collected 12 months of evidence of us living together. Annoyingly we have been living together for at least 18 months already but as we did not originally plan to leave the UK so soon we were a bit slack in getting my OH transferred onto the bills etc so we thought best to wait until April when we will (hopefully) have a good solid case and lots of evidence.

 

Am thinking we probably won't frontload meds and police checks as I want to keep a bit of flexibility over the validation date - I'm trying to stretch it out so we can do this xmas with my family in the UK. I'm not sure about the idea of a 40 degree xmas day but I'm sure I can get used to it :wink: It's a tough life...

 

We're heading Adelaide way at first so that my OH can spend some time with family and friends - she's been in the UK for about 4 years now and misses them a lot. However, Melbourne is the intended final destination as we both love it there - I'm from Brighton in the UK and there's a lot of similarities between the two cities. One's just a little bit bigger....

 

Anyways, just thought I'd say hi and I'll get my stats added to this thread as soon as the application goes in.

 

Best of luck to everyone who's playing the waiting game!

[Guest ryoun]

Just landed in Melbourne this morning after a four day validation trip to Auckland (beautiful place) so I am now finally a fullly fledged Aussie permanent resident. Got the email saying my CO (MT) was ready to grant the visa last Thursday and got on the first flight i could get (without breaking the bank) on Tuesday. My timeline:

 

20th September - Application posted to Australia House front loaded with police check

 

23rd Sep - CO assigned and requested medical - told standard 5-6 month waiting time

 

29th Sep - medical completed

 

December - flew to Melbourne on ETA - partner had a teaching job starting end of January and it just made sense to go at the same time for us (no house to sell, kids etc, and my contract ended at the end of the year anyway).

 

10th February - depart for grant notice recieved

 

15th February - a few hours after landing in Auckland, got my grant notice, Sub class 100.

 

After seeing a post on this thread that someone got their visa early by calling their CO, I emailed mine on the off chance and she replied within an hour or two telling me to get on a plane and she'd grant the visa. She'd last contacted me in January to say my grant date had been moved forward from March to Feb. So sometimes it is worth just chasing it up - but that said, i was really lucky with my CO - always replied to emails on the same day, usually within a few hours. She even told me really early on that she was pretty sure the visa would be granted (although she stressed no guarantees), back in October.

 

So all in all, 21 weeks or four and a half months. Hope this is helpful. Now just need to find a job!

[Guest shakeyboogaloo]

Hi NikBrad, we also have LG - agreed, these initials don't seem to come up very often. We applied about 10days after you. Gotta say, she doesn't give much away... But after some politely worded email harassment (due to my other half awaiting the visa in London having job offers on the table here in oz), she did go as far as to say that we'd be approved "around mid-March". This would put it at just after the 5month mark from acknowledgment of app, if it happens when indicated. Assuming you are on the same "timeline-bus", I'd figure your stop should be coming up in 1-2weeks? For the record, I am an Australian citizen by birth and my partner is British - so we applied for her 309 visa offshore at Australia House whilst I was still in London, before I left to take up employment in Sydney with the faith that the approval would happen and she'll be here in good time! Risky business, but calculated risk in that I know we're genuine and we made sure we provided ample proof to that end. Still - it's a nail-biting time until you get that email with the magic number!

[Guest Savannah1]

Hi guys

 

Just wondered if anyone has heard of their application being declined. I guess its just nerves as meet all the criteria and had lots of proof of our relationship but just anxious to get there now. Had rental agreement for 13 months previous to app, sharing of funds through bank transfers, loads of joint trips with all booking details, boarding passes etc, statements from friedns, photos, phone bills, joint invitation etc etc but just keep getting standard repsonses. Was told my CO has all the required info from me from day 1 (after submitting medicals and police check) but just wanted to check. Still being told late part of April for it to be processed. Any help welcome! Thanks

[Guest TaniaandRob]

Hi guys

 

Just wondered if anyone has heard of their application being declined. I guess its just nerves as meet all the criteria and had lots of proof of our relationship but just anxious to get there now. Had rental agreement for 13 months previous to app, sharing of funds through bank transfers, loads of joint trips with all booking details, boarding passes etc, statements from friedns, photos, phone bills, joint invitation etc etc but just keep getting standard repsonses. Was told my CO has all the required info from me from day 1 (after submitting medicals and police check) but just wanted to check. Still being told late part of April for it to be processed. Any help welcome! Thanks

 

 

As far as I have been able to see if they say they have all they need they will say yes if you are british. They tend to only deny people from at risk countries or who cant give them adequate information which they say you have.

good luck

[k8bug79]

Hello,

Just wanted to check something re medicals and police checks with you. i spoke to Australia house the other day and they said that we could request that the meds and pcc were requested just before visa grant to give us a long lead time before we have to move. She just said to write a letter saying we were in no rush. Has anyone done this and does it work? We are hoping to lodge the application in Aug allow 6 months to get it granted (hopefully) and then have about 10-11 months before we have to move or validate. But looking at recent time lines it seems that co's request the meds and pccs almost immediately. Has anyone done it the way I have been advised?

[Guest NikBrad]

Hi NikBrad, we also have LG - agreed, these initials don't seem to come up very often. We applied about 10days after you. Gotta say, she doesn't give much away... But after some politely worded email harassment (due to my other half awaiting the visa in London having job offers on the table here in oz), she did go as far as to say that we'd be approved "around mid-March". This would put it at just after the 5month mark from acknowledgment of app, if it happens when indicated. Assuming you are on the same "timeline-bus", I'd figure your stop should be coming up in 1-2weeks? For the record, I am an Australian citizen by birth and my partner is British - so we applied for her 309 visa offshore at Australia House whilst I was still in London, before I left to take up employment in Sydney with the faith that the approval would happen and she'll be here in good time! Risky business, but calculated risk in that I know we're genuine and we made sure we provided ample proof to that end. Still - it's a nail-biting time until you get that email with the magic number!

 

Shakeyboogaloo, it is so good to hear from someone with the same CO and with the same responses as we have had!! Fingers crossed we are on the same 'timeline bus' and we should have some good news next week or the week after....!

[Peach]

Hello,

Just wanted to check something re medicals and police checks with you. i spoke to Australia house the other day and they said that we could request that the meds and pcc were requested just before visa grant to give us a long lead time before we have to move. She just said to write a letter saying we were in no rush. Has anyone done this and does it work? We are hoping to lodge the application in Aug allow 6 months to get it granted (hopefully) and then have about 10-11 months before we have to move or validate. But looking at recent time lines it seems that co's request the meds and pccs almost immediately. Has anyone done it the way I have been advised?

 

Normally, when the CO requests medicals and police checks it is a sign that the rest of your application is in order and ready to be approved (they don't want you to undertake the additional expense until they're clear that they can offer you a visa).

 

As most of the processing time is taking by your application sitting in a pile waiting to be looked at, I can't see it being any problem asking your CO to hold off on requesting them from you until they have a clear idea of your grant date.

[Guest pegeen]

Applied to AH on 15th Oct last. Heard nothing yet so hoping to hear in the next 4 weeks!

[Guest NikBrad]

Hi all,

 

We are new to this forum, however over the last few months my partner and I have found all the information to be very helpful and comforting!! I am Aussie and my partner is English and so far our time line has been:

 

Application received at AH: 22nd September 2010

Email received from CO (initials LG) requesting police check and medical: 27th September 2010

Police check received: 29th September 2010

Medical done: 7th October 2010

 

We have emailed our case officer in early December and also mid January to see if we could get a more specific time of when we can expect a decision, however our CO has always been quite vague saying the standard 5-6 months, so last week of Feb (next week!!!) to last week of March. Does anyone else have this CO as I haven't seen the initials mentioned? Just want to get an idea of when we might get that much awaited email, most people seem to getting approved around the 5 month mark at the moment......

 

Thanks!

 

We got our visa approved today!!!!! Words can not describe the relief and happiness I am feeling right now!! And our visa was granted exactly 5 months to the day of sending it to AH. We leave for Brisbane (Sunshine Coast) at the end of March.

 

Good luck to everyone else waiting - I guarantee it is such a good feeling! Shakeyboogaloo, hopefully yours is only a few days away as well! :biggrin:

[Bezza]

Just thought I would say a quick hi to everyone! I have just joined this forum as have recently sent off my application for a visa subclass 309. Its great to see that it seems to be taking around 5 months for the visas to be processed.

 

My visa application was recieved on 9th Feb - the CO requested meds and police check which I have now completed so fingers crossed! Our plan is to go to Oz in Sept this year - can't wait!

[junellew]

Just wondered if anyone has or has had case officer with the initials SV??? I am struggling with her! Keep chasing my visa and she gave me the date of 26th Feb after much persuasion then when I call today she says "that was just an estimate" and that they're really busy and I have to wait. It's been over 6 months now and I want it!!:mad: She is always really short on the phone as well and I think "I paid hundreds for this visa, wouldn't mind a bit of decent customer service" . Anyway, rant over! :wink: just wondered if anyone else had any experience of her?

 

Ps - Hi Bezza, good luck with your visa, hope all goes well!

[Guest Welshfem]

Hi All, I just thought I'd update. We received an email from our CO saying that mine and my Son's visa's are ready to be issued. We submitted in October 2010 and it came through 1st March 2011, that's a month before they said it would arrive...woohoo!!

 

Good luck everyone!!