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

[coxy1804]

It says on co, s out of office

 

I suppose only 4 more sleeps until its Monday again.

[bigboy01]

This is a message to all of you waiting alone - whose partners have already gone.

 

My PMV application went in on February 11th. My fiance left England, however, in early September 2013.

 

I am not coping well. How are you dealing with this truly bizarre and upsetting situation?

 

xx

 

Hi Jo,

 

My OH left early in the year and we have been apart for over 9 months now. It is probably the hardest thing that I have had to do. We both miss each other, but we know once we have completed this period of time in our lives, then anything else we do will be easy.

 

You have to always stay positive and think about the things that you are going to do together when the time comes and your visa is granted.

 

Every weekend we Skype each other no matter what. It could only be for a few minutes, but at least it means we get to see each other (if only on a computer screen). We snapchat a hell of a lot, this keep us in each other lives even though we are on the other side of the world. It is these small things that really help and make the time easier for you.

 

No one ever said that the right path was easy. It's difficult, but just think about the amazing feelings that you will have when the immigration grants you your visa and then you can spend the rest of your life together.

 

I hope this gives you a bit of support and relief that you’re not the only one going through this.

[Chloe Emerson]

 

@coxy1804 I've heard that an email to the general enquiry can trigger a grant even tho your co is off. Worth a try

[coxy1804]

What is the general email does anyone have to hand?

[Leesweeting]

What is the general email does anyone have to hand?[/quote

 

familymigrationlondon at dfat.gov.au Good luck coxy.

Edited October 24, 2014 by Leesweeting

[Leesweeting]

:-)

Edited October 24, 2014 by Leesweeting

[coxy1804]

Thanks everyone x

[EllieBS]

Hello everyone,

 

I am a longtime lurker first time poster to this thread.

Our visa timeline is as follows:

Submitted online: 15/02/2014

CO (VF) assigned: 19/03/2014

Medical/police check submitted: 16/06/2014

 

I am currently in Melbourne and my OH is in nottingham waiting for the visa. His life has been on hold these last 3 months just waiting for the visa to come, he's missed several job opportunities in australia and as I'm sure you all know its very frustrating. He has called Europe Services Centre twice now since we hit the 8month mark asking for a date when we can expect a decision to come through to book tickets and was told that all they could tell him was the 8-9month mark, when he asked to speak to our case officer they said we were not allowed to directly speak with them. I know several people here have commented how they have been in touch with their case officers and even know what office hours they work. When our case officer first contacted us it was through the general email. So my question to you is does anyone actually have a direct number for their case officer? and what has been peoples experience with VF? from previous comments she seems to be rather prompt at getting her visa done in a reasonable timeframe, but i feel like my emails are being ignored and the waiting is so excruciating.

Edited October 25, 2014 by snifter
email

[coxy1804]

Hello everyone,

 

I am a longtime lurker first time poster to this thread.

Our visa timeline is as follows:

Submitted online: 15/02/2014

CO (VF) assigned: 19/03/2014

Medical/police check submitted: 16/06/2014

 

I am currently in Melbourne and my OH is in nottingham waiting for the visa. His life has been on hold these last 3 months just waiting for the visa to come, he's missed several job opportunities in australia and as I'm sure you all know its very frustrating. He has called Europe Services Centre twice now since we hit the 8month mark asking for a date when we can expect a decision to come through to book tickets and was told that all they could tell him was the 8-9month mark, when he asked to speak to our case officer they said we were not allowed to directly speak with them. I know several people here have commented how they have been in touch with their case officers and even know what office hours they work. When our case officer first contacted us it was through the general email. So my question to you is does anyone actually have a direct number for their case officer? and what has been peoples experience with VF? from previous comments she seems to be rather prompt at getting her visa done in a reasonable timeframe, but i feel like my emails are being ignored and the waiting is so excruciating.

Hi it is so frustrating we received emails from our co direct email thats the only contact we have had. We have never called or tried to. The last contact we had was weeks ago where we too were told 8 to 9 months. Fingers crossed any day soon. There is a lot of people coming out of the wood works that seem to have applied around thr same week so we must be keeping oz house busy lol

Edited October 25, 2014 by snifter
email quote

[EllieBS]

Hi it is so frustrating we received emails from our co direct email thats the only contact we have had. We have never called or tried to. The last contact we had was weeks ago where we too were told 8 to 9 months. Fingers crossed any day soon. There is a lot of people coming out of the wood works that seem to have applied around thr same week so we must be keeping oz house busy lol

 

Thanks Coxy1804,

 

I have been waiting for you to get your visa cause i was sure we couldn't be to much longer after you. Do you have VF as well coxy?

[coxy1804]

No we dont have same co. I think there are alot if people waiting for my husbands at the moment seems they stopped granting at ours lol hope they find some laying around for us soon lol

[BecWortho]

Hello everyone,

 

I am a longtime lurker first time poster to this thread.

Our visa timeline is as follows:

Submitted online: 15/02/2014

CO (VF) assigned: 19/03/2014

Medical/police check submitted: 16/06/2014

 

I am currently in Melbourne and my OH is in nottingham waiting for the visa. His life has been on hold these last 3 months just waiting for the visa to come, he's missed several job opportunities in australia and as I'm sure you all know its very frustrating. He has called Europe Services Centre twice now since we hit the 8month mark asking for a date when we can expect a decision to come through to book tickets and was told that all they could tell him was the 8-9month mark, when he asked to speak to our case officer they said we were not allowed to directly speak with them. I know several people here have commented how they have been in touch with their case officers and even know what office hours they work. When our case officer first contacted us it was through the general email. So my question to you is does anyone actually have a direct number for their case officer? and what has been peoples experience with VF? from previous comments she seems to be rather prompt at getting her visa done in a reasonable timeframe, but i feel like my emails are being ignored and the waiting is so excruciating.

 

Hi Ellie

 

You say your emails are being ignored? Did you email the general email address which was posted earlier today? My OH has emailed our CO 4-5 times using this email (and replying to the last email we received from him, so the subject line would be the same) and we have always heard back within 2-3 working days.

 

Has your OH emailed your CO as well, I know that on one occasion that we did call no one would speak to me in regards to his application (This seems like a STUPID rule considering the visa we are applying for but what can you do!!) perhaps this is why you haven't received a reply?

 

Fingers crossed for us all next week!!

Edited October 25, 2014 by snifter
email quote

[MaggieMay24]

Has your OH emailed your CO as well, I know that on one occasion that we did call no one would speak to me in regards to his application (This seems like a STUPID rule considering the visa we are applying for but what can you do!!) perhaps this is why you haven't received a reply?

 

Although it may seem logical that they'd speak with you as his partner, in fact they will/should only speak with the applicant for privacy reasons.

[Guest]

Hello everyone,

 

I am a longtime lurker first time poster to this thread.

Our visa timeline is as follows:

Submitted online: 15/02/2014

CO (VF) assigned: 19/03/2014

Medical/police check submitted: 16/06/2014

 

I am currently in Melbourne and my OH is in nottingham waiting for the visa. His life has been on hold these last 3 months just waiting for the visa to come, he's missed several job opportunities in australia and as I'm sure you all know its very frustrating. He has called Europe Services Centre twice now since we hit the 8month mark asking for a date when we can expect a decision to come through to book tickets and was told that all they could tell him was the 8-9month mark, when he asked to speak to our case officer they said we were not allowed to directly speak with them. I know several people here have commented how they have been in touch with their case officers and even know what office hours they work. When our case officer first contacted us it was through the general email. So my question to you is does anyone actually have a direct number for their case officer? and what has been peoples experience with VF? from previous comments she seems to be rather prompt at getting her visa done in a reasonable timeframe, but i feel like my emails are being ignored and the waiting is so excruciating.

 

Hello and welcome.

 

First and foremost, you are not the applicant but the sponsor from what I can work out. I doubt therefore the CO will be in touch with you are it is the applicant they deal with. Might explain why your emails are not being returned. Its your OH who should be emailing and even then CO may not reply to such a question as its not urgent or important to the application.

 

With regard to speaking to the CO, they are busy people. They don't work only on the partner visa or PMV applications and deal with other cases. They don't as a rule speak to people directly unless they have good cause or need to discuss something with them (my CO called me regarding something to do with my application but I'd never have dreamed of calling them to ask for anything, especially where my visa grant was. I emailed a couple of times, one of those being a reply to their email asking for some other documents, the other to notify them I was going to enter Aus on a tourist visa from X date and wanting to inform them correctly). You phoning and them giving out info about the status of an application to you, the sponsor is not something they would do AFAIK. Anyone enquiring about the stauts of their application isn't classes as urgent. They give a timeframe, 8-9 months and all being well your partners visa will be granted in this timeframe. Most are, very few, very few go over this.

 

Job wise, as the immi website makes clear with their advice, doing things like job hunting, selling your house etc, major things should not be undertaken until grant. Of course, people still do these things but I don't see how they can't complain or gripe to their CO for going slow if they are still within the timeframe given. I'd not bother with jobs till the visa is approved. I think it only serves to cause more woe if a job is missed out on due to the visa not being granted.

 

The 8-9 months is the timeframe, I know it is hard for many to wait this out, but honestly, they don't give exact dates so unless it goes over the 9 months I'd work to the 8-9 months and leave it at that. I didn't hassle my CO and my visa was granted at the 7 month mark when I had been told 8-9 along with everyone else applying. From the moment I lodged I worked to the maximum 9 month timeframe and so had made plans for after that had passed with regards to booking flights for us all, shipping and so on. My visa grant was at a time when some were granted earlier but in more recent times they really have stuck to the 8-9 months, more toward the 9 month mark than 8 for many. I paid the surcharge to be able to change our flights if the visa was delayed but it wasn't.

[Guest]

Has your OH emailed your CO as well, I know that on one occasion that we did call no one would speak to me in regards to his application (This seems like a STUPID rule considering the visa we are applying for but what can you do!!) perhaps this is why you haven't received a reply?

 

Fingers crossed for us all next week!!

 

What MaggieMay said, they should only contact the applicant or discuss with them. As the sponsor you are not on the application, its not a joint application, its for one person only and that is who they deal with. You are simply sponsoring them, you filled out your forms for that aspect, job done.

[blossom]

Remember too that your co is just a person. They have times when they take holidays, are sick, up to their eyes in cases.

A couple of years ago immigration were very backed up and let it be known that EVERY phone call had to be logged. This takes more of your co's time up that they could be processing visas. The odd one even told people that if they kept phoning they would put their applications to the bottom of their piles of work.

It must be very frustrating for them when they are already busy to get hassled by people who haven't even waited until the advertised guideline times to contact them.

 

Try to be patient. All good things come to those who wait.

[BecWortho]

What MaggieMay said, they should only contact the applicant or discuss with them. As the sponsor you are not on the application, its not a joint application, its for one person only and that is who they deal with. You are simply sponsoring them, you filled out your forms for that aspect, job done.

 

I wasn't complaining I understand its DPA etc. I was also offering this as a reason that Ellie had not been emailed back.

[leftyandstumpy]

 

@coxy1804, your aussie half can ship, we have ours set to be packed/collected in the next couple weeks, my hubby hasn't been approved yet (we don't expect approval until mid Feb) and we are shipping in my name. I had asked about the arrival details and they had said that they just need details before the shipment arrives on OZ soil etc, so it can be 9-10weeks into sailing and added just before arrival. We started our shipping process with no flights details, but have since booked and have been able to add the details to the form for AQIS. I would advise calling a few shipping companies to see where they stand on this, also one says one thing and another something different, always remind them another company can do this or that, we had them bending over backwards to get us the answers we needed! We had 6 companies come to quote and ended up going with John Mason who we hope will be easy to deal with. Another tip, make sure to take your marine insurance separately (we're using insure your move) as the premium is so much cheaper and they are the companies generally insuring the shipping companies anyway! Good Luck

[leftyandstumpy]

Oh @coxy1804 I also ment to add as I am an aussie citizen and they have my passport details etc I was able to have our belongings shipped to my mum and she will be responsible for OZ fees (AQIS etc for clearance) I have her listed as the Australian contact, so regardless of if we have landed or not our belongings will still be released to my mother not me! Oh and she gets the bill (lucky she has access to my funds for this!!)

[EllieBS]

Hi Ellie

 

You say your emails are being ignored? Did you email the general email address which was posted earlier today? My OH has emailed our CO 4-5 times using this email (and replying to the last email we received from him, so the subject line would be the same) and we have always heard back within 2-3 working days.

 

Has your OH emailed your CO as well, I know that on one occasion that we did call no one would speak to me in regards to his application (This seems like a STUPID rule considering the visa we are applying for but what can you do!!) perhaps this is why you haven't received a reply?

 

Fingers crossed for us all next week!!

 

Hi BecWortho,

 

I emailed the general one posted earlier and CC'd my CO email in. still not had a reply.

That makes sense that they would be more inclined to respond to the applicant.

I have only sent two emails throughout our whole application process the first in regard to our medical submission which was responded to after about 2 weeks and this last one sent on the 8th month mark to see what was happening because we hadn't heard anything yet and people on this forum posted that sending an email can sometimes prompt a faster response. I have not been "hassling" my co as implied.

[mjmayo1]

What MaggieMay said, they should only contact the applicant or discuss with them. As the sponsor you are not on the application, its not a joint application, its for one person only and that is who they deal with. You are simply sponsoring them, you filled out your forms for that aspect, job done.

 

I just thought i'd add that I was the sponsor, and I was the one dealing with the CO, not my OH, who was the applicant. I emailed our CO at the 8 month mark to advise that my OH had limited access to his emails, and as we had passed the 8 month mark, would she mind emailing me when it came time to make the decision regarding our visa application. I had no response to that email, and 2 weeks later i emailed again as my OH has a disabled brother and as our wedding is getting closer we wondered if it was possible to have an update on the visa so we can make travel plans for my OH's brother to come to Oz. 54 mins later, we had the visa grant (although not from the email address of our CO!). And, it was sent to me, not my OH who was the applicant (it actually then took me 4 hours to reach him on the phone to tell him the news haha!!). That was really the only contact i had with the CO, apart from me asking if she had everything she need once the medical had been completed.

 

Coxy, fingers crossed for you!!! I keep checking in the hopes that your visa has come through!!! My OH arrives in Melbourne on 3rd November, so bloody excited and just can't wait!!! :-)

[coxy1804]

You bloody ripper he got IT yippppeeeee ! And a 100 visa too!

 

 

Thank you to everyone on here for your support. Xx

[Leesweeting]

Brilliant coxy!! Chuffed for you both. :-) good luck with the move.

[Grabri]

Congratulations Coxy, hoping mine will come soon too!

[coxy1804]

I hope you all dont have to wait much long. X