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

[mrspotatohead]

Ah!! someone who's similar time frame to me who's still waiting! thought I was the only one for a mo :wink:

 

It's killing me all this waiting! Who's your CO?

 

AH...and their on holidays!!

Fed up waiting now. If they make us wait the full 6 months I may turn to drink! :laugh:

[TracyC]

Hi paintpotty. We're heading to Sydney. Possibly The Hills area. I'm sure yours will be soon! If they allocate a certain number every so often - then maybe this is the start of next few 'grantings'!

Good luck

[TracyC]

Congratulations TracyC!

I'm getting very impatient now!! :laugh:

Thank you - and yours has GOT to be through soon!

[Adelaide]

AH...and their on holidays!!

Fed up waiting now. If they make us wait the full 6 months I may turn to drink! :laugh:

 

Oops!!! too late! lol

[Adelaide]

Thank you - and yours has GOT to be through soon!

 

Thanks I hope so otherwise me and mrspotatohead are going to lose the plot with all this torcherous waiting!! lol :wacko:

 

Good luck x

[Peemacgee]

Congratulations tracyc we have wp as well and sent off 27th April. We are just in the process of selling the house, and its due to complete round about the same time. It's been a long haul but we are in the final couple of furlongs

 

Paul

[TracyC]

Congratulations tracyc we have wp as well and sent off 27th April. We are just in the process of selling the house, and its due to complete round about the same time. It's been a long haul but we are in the final couple of furlongs

 

Paul

So hopefully yours will be about 4 weeks from now! I hope the house all goes through on time, the less you need to worry about the better. The house is my sticking point at the moment!

[Guest Gunshow]

guys, just wanted to say thank you all for the good advice. I got the trick to front load my visa of this site (despite the guidance on the forms saying not to) and also a handy checklist that reminded me to get the Form 80 Character assesment done. We are so excited. Also, wanted to give a big shout out to Australia House who compared to the UKBA are absolute legends (a bit much?). My mother in law is super super ill (cancer) (got a letter from the doctor to confirm very poor condition) and AH were able to process out application for us for a 309 Spousal visa from cradle to grave in 6 weeks. I think this is a new record from what I have read. I won't name my case officer out of respect but they were very responsive and got back to all my emails (3 in total, did not want to overburden them) within 24 hours. My wife is giving birth to our first child in August and then we are off to Brizvegas. YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I am so excited and can't wait to play rugby over there, eat loads of good food, smash up the beers and enjoy the beautiful parks and beaches with my family.

 

Time line - Applied 21 June 2011 Subclass 309/100 (front loaded)

Granted 26 July 2011

 

I think the process was relatively straight forward as I'm a glorified paper pusher (lawyer) so relatively used to smashing loads of forms together. One thing that was annoying was having to get documents certified when a further request for info came in. Gave me the idea that perhaps loads of people on here are having a similar problem so I thought I could perhaps make some cash to help with the move and my impending fatherhood by offering a certification of documents service for a nominal fee (I am solicitor qualified in England and Wales so meet the requirements of the applications.) I have sent an email to the administrator of pomsinoz to ask if I may give out my details to you guys (as strictly speaking I guess I am offering a service) so if I get the green light I will drop my details here and you can get in touch with me. I will be in Canary Wharf until the middle of October and was thinking you could pop by in my lunch hour and I could zip through everything you have for a small fixed fee and also I'd offer a free return service for that annoying further documents request that seems to oftern come through (having read other time lines on this post they seem to be common).

 

Stay positive and good luck all. Possibly see you down the wharf.

 

Gunshow (plus mrs gunshow plus little lady soon to be born mini-gunshow)

 

Ps. sorry if any spelling mistakes above. I know I'm a lawyer but touch typed this as have a lot of work to do (going back now) and very little time to spell check a forum post.:wideeyed:

[NickiB]

Visa granted today!

Not expecting this quick, thought it would be another 2 weeks at the earliest (subclass 100. CO was WP)

Now I need to sell the house!

Thanks to everyone who answered my questions when I first applied and good luck to you all in getting your Visa's soon (especially Enaish, SamC, Attypodian, Jomac all on a similar time frame)

Tracy

 

Yay!! Congrats! I sent my application off 5 days after you and also have WP! Fingers crossed mine is just around the corner!

[enaish]

Visa granted today!

Not expecting this quick, thought it would be another 2 weeks at the earliest (subclass 100. CO was WP)

Now I need to sell the house!

Thanks to everyone who answered my questions when I first applied and good luck to you all in getting your Visa's soon (especially Enaish, SamC, Attypodian, Jomac all on a similar time frame)

Tracy

 

Thanks Tracy and many congratulations to you and yours. Hope life Down Under is all you want it to be. Think our visa may be delayed as CO on holiday. Am urging other half to call and see who is dealing with it while he's away.

 

None the less, congrats and good luck x

[Guest Sam C]

Visa granted today!

Not expecting this quick, thought it would be another 2 weeks at the earliest (subclass 100. CO was WP)

Now I need to sell the house!

Thanks to everyone who answered my questions when I first applied and good luck to you all in getting your Visa's soon (especially Enaish, SamC, Attypodian, Jomac all on a similar time frame)

Tracy

 

AMAZING! Massive congrats! You beat us, well done! We're heading to Sydney too, very exciting! When are you looking at getting there? Good luck with all the post-grant planning.

[enaish]

guys, just wanted to say thank you all for the good advice. I got the trick to front load my visa of this site (despite the guidance on the forms saying not to) and also a handy checklist that reminded me to get the Form 80 Character assesment done. We are so excited. Also, wanted to give a big shout out to Australia House who compared to the UKBA are absolute legends (a bit much?). My mother in law is super super ill (cancer) (got a letter from the doctor to confirm very poor condition) and AH were able to process out application for us for a 309 Spousal visa from cradle to grave in 6 weeks. I think this is a new record from what I have read. I won't name my case officer out of respect but they were very responsive and got back to all my emails (3 in total, did not want to overburden them) within 24 hours. My wife is giving birth to our first child in August and then we are off to Brizvegas. YEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH. I am so excited and can't wait to play rugby over there, eat loads of good food, smash up the beers and enjoy the beautiful parks and beaches with my family.

 

Time line - Applied 21 June 2011 Subclass 309/100 (front loaded)

Granted 26 July 2011

 

I think the process was relatively straight forward as I'm a glorified paper pusher (lawyer) so relatively used to smashing loads of forms together. One thing that was annoying was having to get documents certified when a further request for info came in. Gave me the idea that perhaps loads of people on here are having a similar problem so I thought I could perhaps make some cash to help with the move and my impending fatherhood by offering a certification of documents service for a nominal fee (I am solicitor qualified in England and Wales so meet the requirements of the applications.) I have sent an email to the administrator of pomsinoz to ask if I may give out my details to you guys (as strictly speaking I guess I am offering a service) so if I get the green light I will drop my details here and you can get in touch with me. I will be in Canary Wharf until the middle of October and was thinking you could pop by in my lunch hour and I could zip through everything you have for a small fixed fee and also I'd offer a free return service for that annoying further documents request that seems to oftern come through (having read other time lines on this post they seem to be common).

 

Stay positive and good luck all. Possibly see you down the wharf.

 

Gunshow (plus mrs gunshow plus little lady soon to be born mini-gunshow)

 

Ps. sorry if any spelling mistakes above. I know I'm a lawyer but touch typed this as have a lot of work to do (going back now) and very little time to spell check a forum post.:wideeyed:

 

Congrats and good luck Gunshow. Great idea re the certification and wish I'd knowon earlier as hubby is in Canary Wharf and you could have made it easier for us. A little green re how quick you got yours through, although do understand the circumstances. My step mother has a brain tumour and my father not in the best of health either but were told it wouldn't have any bearing.

 

Where in Brisvegas are you heading?

[Guest Gunshow]

Congrats and good luck Gunshow. Great idea re the certification and wish I'd knowon earlier as hubby is in Canary Wharf and you could have made it easier for us. A little green re how quick you got yours through, although do understand the circumstances. My step mother has a brain tumour and my father not in the best of health either but were told it wouldn't have any bearing.

 

Where in Brisvegas are you heading?

 

North Brisbane. Sorry about your family situation. I think if the situation is terminal they will facilitate as much as they can within the confines of the rules. I imagine they also take all your personal circumstances into consideration: being married (genuine relationship) and lawyer (no questions over character plus this has recently been re-added to the skills shortage list thing) probably helped them make the decision quicker (though I know there are a load of dodgy lawyers lol). Having said that they said all these other factors I have thrown up, plus my wife being preggo and me having a temporally limited job offer (i.e. start by date x latest) were irrelevant. The ONLY compassionate ground was the terminal situation. I guess some bureaucrats are humans after all . Also helped that only further information requested was the doctors letter from mum in law's doc and we got that in to them in 2 days (she is at the doctors quite often now unfortunately). Hope that helps to explain, I feel a bit guilty as I have read a lot of stories about struggling visa applicant. Was reluctant to post my story but then thought I could possible help a few people so posted it anyway. Good luck mate.

PS. regarding my certification service, if you need anything else certified please let me know (still awaiting a response for the administrator though so can't flick out my personal details until then; imagine it won't be long now although I only sent the request last night).

[attypodian]

Visa granted today!

Not expecting this quick, thought it would be another 2 weeks at the earliest (subclass 100. CO was WP)

Now I need to sell the house!

Thanks to everyone who answered my questions when I first applied and good luck to you all in getting your Visa's soon (especially Enaish, SamC, Attypodian, Jomac all on a similar time frame)

Tracy

 

Congrats Tracy! And thank-you. Tomorrow is the four month mark and must admit that this week I've been a little edgy!! (only cracked and checked OH's email once though) Not heading out till early-ish next year, but will be nice to have the visa in place all the same, and then OH can start looking for work (scary). We've just finished all the diy on the house, and it will be hitting the market on target for 1st September, I'm sure that'll be a whole other bucket of stress.

[attypodian]

Congratulations on your visa Gunshow! So sorry to hear about your mother in law. Congrats also on soon-to-be-born Mini-Gunshow.

My OH and I are wanting to head to Brisbane... all depends on where we both get work, the process of which can start when he gets his visa!! Hopefully soooooon. Aim to move over around April 2012. We're liking the look of Brighton and will rent first when we get there to check it out. I'll be checking out PIO when we get there to find some British pals for my OH so he doesn't miss home too much.

[Guest paintpotty]

Hi enaish

We also have AB as our co and i pressume it must be the same one as yourself.How do you know that AB is on holiday,have you been in contact?

:biggrin:

[Guest jacqui70]

North Brisbane. Sorry about your family situation. I think if the situation is terminal they will facilitate as much as they can within the confines of the rules. I imagine they also take all your personal circumstances into consideration: being married (genuine relationship) and lawyer (no questions over character plus this has recently been re-added to the skills shortage list thing) probably helped them make the decision quicker (though I know there are a load of dodgy lawyers lol). Having said that they said all these other factors I have thrown up, plus my wife being preggo and me having a temporally limited job offer (i.e. start by date x latest) were irrelevant. The ONLY compassionate ground was the terminal situation. I guess some bureaucrats are humans after all . Also helped that only further information requested was the doctors letter from mum in law's doc and we got that in to them in 2 days (she is at the doctors quite often now unfortunately). Hope that helps to explain, I feel a bit guilty as I have read a lot of stories about struggling visa applicant. Was reluctant to post my story but then thought I could possible help a few people so posted it anyway. Good luck mate.

 

PS. regarding my certification service, if you need anything else certified please let me know (still awaiting a response for the administrator though so can't flick out my personal details until then; imagine it won't be long now although I only sent the request last night).

 

Congrats on yr visa. I think you were right to post yr circumstances as it show others in similar situations that AH can bend the rules and so they should in these circumstances. Hope everything works out for you,OH and new bub.

Jacqui

Fly out 18th Aug (hope my house is sold by then.....)

[enaish]

Hi enaish

We also have AB as our co and i pressume it must be the same one as yourself.How do you know that AB is on holiday,have you been in contact?

:biggrin:

 

Hi Paintpotty,

 

There is only one AB at AH so we've got the same CO. As we fly out in less than three weeks we were getting a little edgy as we were seeing people with similar times to ours be issued so emailed asking for a quick update. Got an out of office reply. Back 1st August and a name to contact in his absence. Called that person who said wouldn't issue visa but no reason why it shouldn't be issued when AB gets back. Only issue is that we know they follow the rules and as such think we might be 2 weeks behind others now as there are people in the queue ahead of us We're really hoping it's by the end of next week so my OH can start looking for work.

 

At least no reason to check the emails for a while.

 

Good luck with yours.

[mrspotatohead]

Hi Paintpotty,

 

There is only one AB at AH so we've got the same CO. As we fly out in less than three weeks we were getting a little edgy as we were seeing people with similar times to ours be issued so emailed asking for a quick update. Got an out of office reply. Back 1st August and a name to contact in his absence. Called that person who said wouldn't issue visa but no reason why it shouldn't be issued when AB gets back. Only issue is that we know they follow the rules and as such think we might be 2 weeks behind others now as there are people in the queue ahead of us We're really hoping it's by the end of next week so my OH can start looking for work.

 

At least no reason to check the emails for a while.

 

Good luck with yours.

 

Hang in there Enaish. We're getting incredibly impatient too. Our CO is also on leave and we were told he would be back this week but it would seem he isn't. Not much we can do, but the system does seem unfair in terms of approvals. He told us not to book flights until we had our visa, so we have followed that advice, but I feel like we're now missing all the cheap fares!! If I were you I'd call again on the 1st and explain why your chasing. :yes:

[enaish]

Hang in there Enaish. We're getting incredibly impatient too. Our CO is also on leave and we were told he would be back this week but it would seem he isn't. Not much we can do, but the system does seem unfair in terms of approvals. He told us not to book flights until we had our visa, so we have followed that advice, but I feel like we're now missing all the cheap fares!! If I were you I'd call again on the 1st and explain why your chasing. :yes:

 

Thanks Mrs Potatohead,

 

We didn't follow the guidance for booking flights, etcetera because we knew April is the best time to sell the house and the earlier you book flights, the cheaper the fares, combine this with the stamp duty hike on the 1st August in Oz, we were keen to get everything moving as money was going to be very tight. With the dollar continuing to strengthen, it's all very well AH saying hold off, but in our case for every cent the dollar gains, we lose a months worth of living costs. When we applied, we were being told that issuing times were 3-4 months so it should have been granted by now. It was only in May they changed it to 5-6 months. Still, so long as everything else works out and we can get a semi decent money rate, it will all be worth it in the end....won't it? :arghh:

[mrspotatohead]

Thanks Mrs Potatohead,

 

We didn't follow the guidance for booking flights, etcetera because we knew April is the best time to sell the house and the earlier you book flights, the cheaper the fares, combine this with the stamp duty hike on the 1st August in Oz, we were keen to get everything moving as money was going to be very tight. With the dollar continuing to strengthen, it's all very well AH saying hold off, but in our case for every cent the dollar gains, we lose a months worth of living costs. When we applied, we were being told that issuing times were 3-4 months so it should have been granted by now. It was only in May they changed it to 5-6 months. Still, so long as everything else works out and we can get a semi decent money rate, it will all be worth it in the end....won't it? :arghh:

 

Exactly!! The exchange rate isnt getting any better. Our initial email in March said 5-6 months, so they could make us wait the full 6 months if they wanted to! :wideeyed: do you have anything in writing saying 3-4 months? Worth sending it on to them if you do! I am slightly paranoid that if I book flights I'll jinx us...but thats just me being supersticious!! :laugh:

[Guest paintpotty]

Hi enaish and mrpotatohead,Its getting very stressfull aint in waiting for that email,and very disapointing when you open emails and no news again.I would be more stressed if i had booked my flights like yourself enaish,but can understand why you have,im thinking down the same line as mrpotatohead as i wont book flights incase i jinx myself.

So looks like no news again this week then,fingers crossed for next week then hey:biggrin:

[mrspotatohead]

Hi enaish and mrpotatohead,Its getting very stressfull aint in waiting for that email,and very disapointing when you open emails and no news again.I would be more stressed if i had booked my flights like yourself enaish,but can understand why you have,im thinking down the same line as mrpotatohead as i wont book flights incase i jinx myself.

So looks like no news again this week then,fingers crossed for next week then hey:biggrin:

 

I'm going slightly cuckoo hitting the refresh button on my email every five minutes!! :twitcy:

 

Maybe tomorrow....................:hug:

[nellandged]

Hi all, things starting to look up, we lodged application end of April and were getting very worried about not hearing anything, especially as i need to give 2 months notice at work, but we emailed our C.O. (JF) and got a really nice email back yesterday saying visa should be issued early sept, but not to make any firm plans as there can still be delays. So hopefully that will be just over 4 months for it to be processed.... i know we're not quite there yet, but it really has reduced my worry!!

[mrspotatohead]

visa granted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeeeeehhhhaaahh