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

[amanda74]

20E per document? :no: yikes.

my boss did mine for free. although I'm sure she'd probably strangle me if I asked her to certify anything else. :laugh:

When does everyone want to be in Australia by (obviously pending a VISA approval). We're aiming for the end of November.

 

Yip €20 per document but that just sums up Ireland....ROI actullay stands for Rip Off IReland, not Republic of Ireland! :mad:

 

I'm actually Scottish but have living in Ireland for 6 years (where I met my Aussie husband). We're desperate to get to Oz as we've taken massive pay cuts over the last year and the future's not looking any better. As soon as the visa's through, we're offski.

[Guest sinead]

20E per document? :no: yikes.

my boss did mine for free. although I'm sure she'd probably strangle me if I asked her to certify anything else. :laugh:

When does everyone want to be in Australia by (obviously pending a VISA approval). We're aiming for the end of November.

 

Same!!! well October, November.. I still want me VISA NOW though!!!:biglaugh: I just want it!!! are you all waiting to get visa's before booking tickets???

[mrspotatohead]

yep. i'm going to very patient and wait for the visa.

although, i'm going to start photographing our stuff this weekend and slowly start selling all of our non-essentials on ebay as we dont intend to ship everything. that should keep me busy for a few months! :wacko:

[Guest]

If you've paid the agent to act on your behalf and communicate with you, I'd be demanding more than that!! This is the second time I've seen someone say the agent only talks to them when they have to. I'm not saying they should be a counselling service, but surely they should be giving you a little update regularly? You've paid them your hard earned money afterall...

 

Either way Laura k....I'm still on the edge too, and I didnt use an agent. :laugh:It is a painstaking process waiting on something that you have no guarantees of receiving. :wideeyed:

 

It’s so frustrating… :arghh: when he contacted me to obtain a further police check (as per my case officer’s instructions) I asked how long I am likely to be waiting….his reply was that it could take two weeks, three months, four months or over six months…..that is very frustrating to hear! However, I do think that Peach is right!

 

We first engaged our migration agent last July. We intended to lodge the application in October because that’s when my working holiday visa was due to expire. I left Australia and my partner (an Australian permanent resident) stayed there. When I got home our agent advised us not to lodge until December, then December came and he advised us to hang on until early 2011. We took his advice but the visa didn’t end up being lodged until March! So far, in this process I have spent five painstaking months living apart from my partner. He came home for 7 weeks at Christmas so we have been managing and he will be home again for a month at the end of this month.

 

I was so upset initially because I intended to lodge my application five months ago….. It was great to have my partner home at Christmas but it was hard to enjoy it because we hadn’t even got our application in by the time he had to go back to Oz.

I often cried out of frustration because I felt as though I had no control over it but now that our app is finally in, I am happier because I feel that we now have a stronger application because we waited.

 

The worst part for me is that by the time we get an answer, we will have been living apart for 10 months (almost a year of our lives)…..!

 

My other fear for our application is that we were living apart for 5 months when we lodged the app….having said that, we have a lot of financial evidence for that time and my partner was here with me for almost 2 months of that time. Also, the reason we were apart in the first place was due to immigration laws so they will take that in to consideration I suppose!:eek:

 

So I am waiting patiently (not) to get back to my partner in Sydney!

[Guest Gwyndra]

Hi Everyone!

I've been reading your posts, and although our application was lodged back in Nov 2010, here i am waiting with you all......so i guess i'm part of the March Gang! Yay!!!

 

My OH is a very casual, layback fellow living in Yorkshire...I am happy to say that he's going to email our Case Officer (AB) on Monday 21st March to let him know the police check and medical checks have all been arranged and that he (AB) should have them on his desk by now...... I find it frustrating being way over here in Australia - being far away from my guy is rubbish...last time we were together was AUGUST 2009!

 

Anyway...here's our stats:

 

2nd Nov - Application sent

9th Nov - Money taken

17th Jan - My OH called Australia House....after hearing nothing so far.

31st Jan - Case Officer sends an email introducing himself - Hooray!

2nd Feb - Case Officer requests more proof of relationship

3rd Feb - Further proof supplied

17th Feb - Case Officer asks for Med Check & Police Check

1st Mar - Med checks completed & medical centre says will send directly after 10 working days

3rd Mar - Police Check applied for - They say they will process in 5 working days.

 

Judging by the 5-6 month turn around....reckon we'll hear something by end of April.

 

Just spoke to my englishman - we're both 'over the waiting' - it's getting boring. I said 'ah well - good things come to those who wait' Well that must make us two a couple of Saints!!!!

 

Hope you're all hanging in there ok just like me! Its soooo nice to know i'm not the only one in this world experiencing the sheer frustration of waiting for a visa stamp.

 

All the best!

 

 

Gwyndra:shocked: (this is me after reading all the posts) ha!

[mrspotatohead]

Laura k & Gwyndra; I can only imagine how you are feeling! It must be so difficult to be away from your OH. I'm a dual citizen, so have been living with my OH in the UK for the past 4 years (we have a little boy who's almost 2). I hate waiting, but it must be so much harder for you.

 

Gwyndra: It took a really long time for you to get a case officer! Do you think this was due to the Christmas Holiday period?

 

Laura k: If waiting made your application stronger, it will be worth it, and you'll be back with OH before you know it.

 

Dont worry, September will come around in no time!! Perhaps the March gang should charter a plane in October!!! :biglaugh:

[Guest Gwyndra]

Laura k & Gwyndra; I can only imagine how you are feeling! It must be so difficult to be away from your OH. I'm a dual citizen, so have been living with my OH in the UK for the past 4 years (we have a little boy who's almost 2). I hate waiting, but it must be so much harder for you.

 

Gwyndra: It took a really long time for you to get a case officer! Do you think this was due to the Christmas Holiday period?

 

Laura k: If waiting made your application stronger, it will be worth it, and you'll be back with OH before you know it.

 

Dont worry, September will come around in no time!! Perhaps the March gang should charter a plane in October!!! :biglaugh:

 

 

Hi Mrs PotatoHead (like your name hehe!) Yes i believe the delay in getting a case officer was due to Christmas holidays....We let a few weeks go by til we enquired 'cause we considered there'd be delays due to the busy holiday period.

 

Laura! Oh Boy! I know the frustration so well - It's been 18months waiting for me and my english gentleman.....It's been really difficult...lots of tears and generally missing each other sooo much. I have managed to keep myself extremely busy - that way i'm not pondering over it so much. This helps! I speak to my OH on the phone daily.....We know that when we're finally together it will be totally worth it. Here's to all us patient people...

 

I reckon the March gang should meet up for a big celebration !! We are situated in Echuca (2.5 hours north of Melbourne, on the Murray River) The OH is moving from busy city life to country life. Quite a change for him I'm thinking. Take Care everyone!

 

Gwyndra

[Adelaide]

Firstly, how do you put your timeline on the bottom?

 

Secondly, mine was finally handed in to AH on Thursday as we didn't know that AH don't accept applications by courier! grrrr luckily our agent has a UK contact in London so we got it directed to him and he waited for over an hour to submit it for us.

 

Not had word yet if they've taken a payment and frustratingly we will only know if we have a CO through our agent and he's in NZ.

 

My application was front loaded so I'm hoping it's not delayed too long as they were done Feb 2011.

 

Good luck to all the March people! :biggrin:

[Guest Tillyloola]

I'm off to Australia on Friday on a tourist visa. Going to stay there for three months and then come back to the UK to wait for my visa to be sorted. I haven't seen my husband for two and a half months so I really cant wait to get over there.

 

So excited, just need to take my kitty cat round to my brothers and I'm done.:smile:

[mrspotatohead]

Tillyloola: Thats great your getting over for a few months! Where abouts in Aus are you going? While your there do you think you could eat charcoal chicken, chicken laksa, king prawns, about ten cherry ripes and a rainbow paddle pop for me? :biglaugh:

 

 

Gwyndra: I'm liking the sound of this celebration!! I'm always up for a party mind you!

 

Adelaide: If you go into your profile, you need to edit your options to change your signature at the bottom. BTW your agent is in NZ? Are you and your partner both in the UK?

[Adelaide]

Thanks potatohead! lol yes we are in the uk, company in london but MA in NZ.

[jomac]

Does anyone know if there is a time frame that the docs are valid? I planned to submit my application in November, so had medical done in October and our supporting statements (form 888) made by family/friends, were also dated and witnessed in October. We decided to delay applying as we were getting married in January and had other things to sort out, but we are now ready to resubmit application. Does anyone know if my October docs will still be valid? Also, can I send in scanned copies of my husband's 47sp and provide originals at a later date if asked?

[Guest Tillyloola]

Tillyloola: Thats great your getting over for a few months! Where abouts in Aus are you going? While your there do you think you could eat charcoal chicken, chicken laksa, king prawns, about ten cherry ripes and a rainbow paddle pop for me? :biglaugh:

 

 

I'm going to Emerald in central Queensland for the three months, my husband works out that way so he's going to be able to come home each night, rather than me have to be on my own when he's on his 10 day on part of his shift. After I have my visa, were planning on the Sunshine Coast.:smile:

 

I will be eating the king prawns by the bucket load, but my first stop is going to be the Cheese cake shop. I'm just praying that they still do the white chocolate cake. I'm wheat intolerant but the suffering would be worth it for that.:biggrin:

 

Does anyone know if there is a time frame that the docs are valid? I planned to submit my application in November, so had medical done in October and our supporting statements (form 888) made by family/friends, were also dated and witnessed in October. We decided to delay applying as we were getting married in January and had other things to sort out, but we are now ready to resubmit application. Does anyone know if my October docs will still be valid? Also, can I send in scanned copies of my husband's 47sp and provide originals at a later date if asked?

 

Your medicals are valid for 12 months but you really need to get the application in now. Just because they are giving us a 5-6 month timescale doesn't mean that they cant change it when ever they feel like, plus there can always be an outside chance that there may be a problem with your application and it may take longer than they quote anyway (this hardly ever happens but you need to be on the safe side)

 

The only other problem that I see may be the fact that when you get your visa grant, you may only have until October to validate the visa. I'm not 100% sure on this because it may actually go on the date of your police certs rather than the date of your medical, and I'm assuming that you don't have them yet.

[MicheleW]

I'm going to Emerald in central Queensland for the three months, my husband works out that way so he's going to be able to come home each night, rather than me have to be on my own when he's on his 10 day on part of his shift. After I have my visa, were planning on the Sunshine Coast.:smile:

 

 

 

I will be in Emerald and surrounding areas on and off for the next four weeks so maybe we will run into each other in town. :biggrin:

 

Have fun out there, it is not for everyone but I love it there - the people are so friendly and there are some cool things to do in the surrounding areas, such as Rubyvale where you can go gem fossicking.

[Guest sinead]

Morning all!! ive had a rite belly laugh this morning reading all the shenanigans on this thread!!! We're all so impatient!!! :biglaugh: Im not exactly sure what i keep coming in for!!! LOL!!! nothings changed!! still bloody waiting.. Do you think the people who applied in March are looking around the August mark?? I WANNA BOOK ME TICKETS!! speaking of which?? are any of you brave enough to book tickets before you get the VISA?

[Guest k1tty]

Morning all!! ive had a rite belly laugh this morning reading all the shenanigans on this thread!!! We're all so impatient!!! :biglaugh: Im not exactly sure what i keep coming in for!!! LOL!!! nothings changed!! still bloody waiting.. Do you think the people who applied in March are looking around the August mark?? I WANNA BOOK ME TICKETS!! speaking of which?? are any of you brave enough to book tickets before you get the VISA?

Yup. Booked one-way tix to Melbourne for 2 June for me and Australian O/H. I applied for temp spouse visa in Dec 2010. It's nail-biting stuff!

[Guest k1tty]

Temp spouse visa frontloaded with meds and police check submitted 9 Dec 2010

Case officer assigned, acknowledgement of receipt and request for further info 14 Dec 2010

Acknowledgement of receipt of further info 14 Jan 2011

 

Going to email my case officer now to ask for update on progress. We have booked flights for 2 June!

[Guest Tillyloola]

I will be in Emerald and surrounding areas on and off for the next four weeks so maybe we will run into each other in town. :biggrin:

 

Have fun out there, it is not for everyone but I love it there - the people are so friendly and there are some cool things to do in the surrounding areas, such as Rubyvale where you can go gem fossicking.

 

Ohhhh maybe we will:smile:

 

I know what you mean about Emerald, I lived there for about 6 months back in 03. I swore when I left that town I would never go back, it was far to quiet for me...but here I am eight years later lol. If it wasn't for the fact that my husband only works a hour out of town and he will be able to come home of an evening, I would have only really gone back up there to visit friends. I just don't think that there is much point in me going over to live with my crazyarsed mil or on my own and only see my husband 9-10 days a month, the things that we do for love eh!

Yup. Booked one-way tix to Melbourne for 2 June for me and Australian O/H. I applied for temp spouse visa in Dec 2010. It's nail-biting stuff!

 

Wow...thats really cutting that fine, may I ask what date in December you submitted your application? Are you able to change the date of your flight if the visa isnt authorised in time?

[Guest k1tty]

I have an email from my case officer saying the visa in on track for late April so I hope it goes to plan! I'll let you know. Bought the flight in the Qantas sale - going via the US for the extra baggage allowance and to visit friends in California and can only change the bit from LA to Melbourne, not the bit from London to LA. So worst case scenario is having to shell out for another flight to LA, probably not at sale prices.

[Guest WaitingPatiently]

I have an email from my case officer saying the visa in on track for late April so I hope it goes to plan! I'll let you know. Bought the flight in the Qantas sale - going via the US for the extra baggage allowance and to visit friends in California and can only change the bit from LA to Melbourne, not the bit from London to LA. So worst case scenario is having to shell out for another flight to LA, probably not at sale prices.

 

Hi K1tty. On track for late April hey, that's only 4.5 months which is great news. Can I ask the initals of your case officer? There has previously been a trend of certian case officers granting more quickly than others. I have one of the slower ones apparently (SV) so maybe you can give us hope haha. :wink:

[Guest sinead]

Yup. Booked one-way tix to Melbourne for 2 June for me and Australian O/H. I applied for temp spouse visa in Dec 2010. It's nail-biting stuff!

 

im thinking bout booking them soon.. They are only €615 with Malaysian airlines at the moment.. Dublin to Sydney.. thats soooo cheap!!!

 

Hi K1tty. On track for late April hey, that's only 4.5 months which is great news. Can I ask the initals of your case officer? There has previously been a trend of certian case officers granting more quickly than others. I have one of the slower ones apparently (SV) so maybe you can give us hope haha. :wink:

 

Hi waiting patiently.. Ive DP, dont really know anything bout him.. Do you?? dont know anything bout SV either.. Sorry!!!

[Guest WaitingPatiently]

Thought I would give a update on my situation

11/02 - Application Sent (Fully Loaded - Medicals & Police Checks)

14/02 - Money taken

18/02 - Case officer replied asking for more docs

10/03 - Sent further Docs

16/03 - CO confirmed no more information required, gave a date of 15/06/2011 for Residency to be approved.

Puts it around the 4 month mark at the moment for the London office, I would say my application was relatively straight forward as we were living in OZ as well, so had joint bank accounts and rental agreements stretching over a year

Not in a rush to move over, but always good to sort it out earlier, plan to head back to Sydney after the London Olympics!!

 

Great news Rickpresti!! Can I ask who you CO is (initials)??

[Guest WaitingPatiently]

Hi waiting patiently.. Ive DP, dont really know anything bout him.. Do you?? dont know anything bout SV either.. Sorry!!!

 

I think DP is one of the quick ones Sinead so well done on the CO lottery. Although all COs should be processing at the same speed there was a chat about how fast different CO's were processing the visas on this forum a month or so ago and there seemed to be a trend. By the sound of it we drew the short straw with SV but I'm hoping someone can give me some positive stories or news :-)

[Guest sinead]

I think DP is one of the quick ones Sinead so well done on the CO lottery. Although all COs should be processing at the same speed there was a chat about how fast different CO's were processing the visas on this forum a month or so ago and there seemed to be a trend. By the sound of it we drew the short straw with SV but I'm hoping someone can give me some positive stories or news :-)[/QUO

 

Im gonna have to look for that thread now!! wanna check it out!! hope mines good!!! Thats terrible if yours is slower... Hope you get dome good news!!!

[Guest k1tty]

My CO is MT if that helps. Fingers crossed!