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

[Josh Fordham]

Congratulations!

[Bronyaur]

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd update you all.

 

I just got the 'depart for grant' email from my case officer! When I come back into Australia it'll be as a resident! Woohoo!

 

I applied on: 13/07/2014, email received today so that's 9 months on the dot!

 

I'm meant to be in bed right now but I'm too excited to sleep! Good luck to everyone who applied in July and onward

 

hi, thats great news, how long has the co given you to depart?

[lewis216]

hi, thats great news, how long has the co given you to depart?

 

They didn't give me a time to depart, only an 'initial entry date' to enter Australia which was August (based off medial and police checks). Naturally I'm just going as soon as possible because I want to get this over and done with!

[Josh Fordham]

Hey, who was your CO?

[Bronyaur]

They didn't give me a time to depart, only an 'initial entry date' to enter Australia which was August (based off medial and police checks). Naturally I'm just going as soon as possible because I want to get this over and done with!

That sounds good to me, a good period of time to organise your trip out

[CameronsDad]

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd update you all.

 

I just got the 'depart for grant' email from my case officer! When I come back into Australia it'll be as a resident! Woohoo!

 

I applied on: 13/07/2014, email received today so that's 9 months on the dot!

 

I'm meant to be in bed right now but I'm too excited to sleep! Good luck to everyone who applied in July and onward

Congrats mate. Get some sleep now ha ha.

[lewis216]

Hey, who was your CO?

My CO was LC

 

You're only 2 days ahead of me so I'd say you'll get yours this week too I hope!

 

Congrats mate. Get some sleep now ha ha.

Everythings all booked now so I can sleep easy.. Goodnight!

[Gbamber]

Congratulations. I also have LC as case officer. That's me 5 months since I lodged my PMV 300 hopefully it stays around the 9 month mark.

[Josh Fordham]

Hey guys, just thought I'd let you know that my Visa has just been granted - 1 day under the 9 month wait!!! C/O was VF

[CameronsDad]

Hey guys, just thought I'd let you know that my Visa has just been granted - 1 day under the 9 month wait!!! C/O was VF

Great news. Congratulations mate.

 

Did you apply online? If so how often did the 'Last Updated' section change in your application summary page? Was it only when they sent you correspondence or when they were working on your case?

[Josh Fordham]

Cheers!

 

All online, I front-loaded it then had a request for Police/Medical checks in October. Apart from that, I had no correspondence from my CO.

[DafK]

Hi all,

 

This is my first post, even though I have been reading the forum for a while. I've seen some people ask about current processing times and this is what I have encountered.

 

I applied for an offshore defacto visa on 02/03/2015. CO was assigned 02/04/2015. They stated that the current processing times were 10-14 months, which is longer than the 9-12 months stated in the initial email I received when I applied. Medical check requested for 02/09/2015.

[Melibios]

Hi all,

 

This is my first post, even though I have been reading the forum for a while. I've seen some people ask about current processing times and this is what I have encountered.

 

I applied for an offshore defacto visa on 02/03/2015. CO was assigned 02/04/2015. They stated that the current processing times were 10-14 months, which is longer than the 9-12 months stated in the initial email I received when I applied. Medical check requested for 02/09/2015.

 

Hi DafK, that's really interesting, I applied online on 17/3/15 & still not had any confirmation about an assigned CO. Did you apply online? From the UK?

[DafK]

Hi DafK, that's really interesting, I applied online on 17/3/15 & still not had any confirmation about an assigned CO. Did you apply online? From the UK?

 

 

Hi Melibios, I applied online and from the UK. If you applied a few weeks after me, I am sure you will hear something soon They were probably closed over the Easter holidays and that may have slowed things down a bit. Hope you hear something soon, all this waiting is horrible.

[SiobhanandLee]

Hey guys

 

This is probably a silly question but…

 

My Aussie husband and I are intending to book one way flights to Australia in November. I will be entering on a tourist visa and hopefully staying there until my 309 goes through. I’m just wondering if my one way ticket on a tourist visa is likely to cause us problems? Has anybody else had experience with this?

 

Thank you

[Pookie72]

I've recently booked my Medical (whoop! Milestone ahoy!) with Knightsbridge Visa Medicals in London. When I made the appointment they advised me that failure to attend would incur a £50 cancellation fee but they then didn't ask for credit card details! I have had no confirmation of the appointment either. Has anyone else had experience with this practice and is this normal? I was expecting to pay in full when I booked the appointment.

[Melibios]

Hey guys

 

This is probably a silly question but…

 

My Aussie husband and I are intending to book one way flights to Australia in November. I will be entering on a tourist visa and hopefully staying there until my 309 goes through. I’m just wondering if my one way ticket on a tourist visa is likely to cause us problems? Has anybody else had experience with this?

 

Thank you

 

SiobhanandLee - we'll most likely be doing the same (as long as the house sells by then!) with my English hubby on a tourist visa too. From what I've heard on here before, it's usually ok, you would just tell your CO of your plans in advance. Not sure if anyone else had to explain on their way through customs what was going on though. Sorry I couldn't be of more help!

[lewis216]

SiobhanandLee - we'll most likely be doing the same (as long as the house sells by then!) with my English hubby on a tourist visa too. From what I've heard on here before, it's usually ok, you would just tell your CO of your plans in advance. Not sure if anyone else had to explain on their way through customs what was going on though. Sorry I couldn't be of more help!

 

I did this and nope; you don't have to explain. You shouldn't even have to tell your CO of your plans either. Just to be on the safe side, upload a change of circumstances form to your immiAccount application to inform them that you are currently in Australia as a tourist. Your entry is electronically monitored on their system anyway so they will have the information on where you are.

[alansuspect]

I've recently booked my Medical (whoop! Milestone ahoy!) with Knightsbridge Visa Medicals in London. When I made the appointment they advised me that failure to attend would incur a £50 cancellation fee but they then didn't ask for credit card details! I have had no confirmation of the appointment either. Has anyone else had experience with this practice and is this normal? I was expecting to pay in full when I booked the appointment.

 

Yeah I'm booked in with them too (3 weeks to go!) and assumed I would be paying over the phone, but they didn't take my details and said I would pay at the end of the medical. I'm not too worried.

[Pookie72]

Yeah I'm booked in with them too (3 weeks to go!) and assumed I would be paying over the phone, but they didn't take my details and said I would pay at the end of the medical. I'm not too worried.

 

Thanks Alansuspect for putting my mind at ease! Just occurred to me that the only details they did take were a contact number. Considering they mention on their website about having credit card details to hand when booking, I was a little surprised when they didn't ask for them! Guess it's too much to expect a confirmation note as well!

Good luck with your medical, not long to go now! Then more waiting!!

[bobby122]

Having just returned from Tasmania, I do have a little predicament now. I applied for a job at a school whilst here and they seem keen and have arrange a Skype interview for next week. They know the situation with my visa and how I will be entering on a WHV in preparation for my partner visa 309 being granted at the end of the year. However, they want the applicant to start 11th May (earlier than my intended date to return to oz which was early July)

 

So my problem is I would need the partner visa to be granted before 11th Nov to satisfy the WHV condition of only working for an employer for 6 months - which is 10.5 months after I applied.

 

Given that they are still working to 9 months, I'd say it may be possible but maybe not. I know No one can know for definate but anyone any thoughts?

 

I enjoyed Tas but I will be moving to a small town of 650 people - good jobs in my area of work don't come up often.

[CameronsDad]

Having just returned from Tasmania, I do have a little predicament now. I applied for a job at a school whilst here and they seem keen and have arrange a Skype interview for next week. They know the situation with my visa and how I will be entering on a WHV in preparation for my partner visa 309 being granted at the end of the year. However, they want the applicant to start 11th May (earlier than my intended date to return to oz which was early July)

 

So my problem is I would need the partner visa to be granted before 11th Nov to satisfy the WHV condition of only working for an employer for 6 months - which is 10.5 months after I applied.

 

Given that they are still working to 9 months, I'd say it may be possible but maybe not. I know No one can know for definate but anyone any thoughts?

 

I enjoyed Tas but I will be moving to a small town of 650 people - good jobs in my area of work don't come up often.

If you're able to actually make the move earlier then I would seriously think about it, but I suspect my family would not move out earlier than planned. But that's my situation. I'd take the risk. It's your decision though.

[bobby122]

If you're able to actually make the move earlier then I would seriously think about it, but I suspect my family would not move out earlier than planned. But that's my situation. I'd take the risk. It's your decision though.

 

Thanks, I think I would move out earlier if it meant getting this job - but my predicament about the 6 months on WHV expiring before my partner visa is granted is worrying me.

 

I found this: http://www.immi.gov.au/forms/Documents/1445.pdf 'Request permission to work with an employerbeyond 6 months on a Working Holiday orWork and Holiday visa' form and it states:

 

Extending the work condition on a Working Holiday orWork and Holiday visaThe Department of Immigration and Border Protection (thedepartment) may give Working Holiday and Work and Holidayvisa holder’s permission to work for an employer beyond6 months where exceptional circumstances exist. Wherepermission is granted, it will generally be for a short period oftime (several days or weeks, not months).Exceptional circumstances must relate to an Australianpermanent resident, citizen or business and must beextraordinary and unforeseeable.Exceptional circumstances might include remaining in yourcurrent job for one of the following reasons:

• for a very short time (days or weeks) as you are critical to thecompletion of a specialised project that has unexpectedlygone over time (this generally only relates to highly skilledactivities, such as a lawyer in the middle of a trial or a doctorwho plans to operate on a patient they have been treating);

• performing disaster recovery work following a major disastersuch as clean-up, re-building or emergency managementactivities following a major flood;

• remaining in your current job while a decision is being madeon an application for a visa which would allow you to continuefull-time work with your employer without leaving Australia,such as an application for a Temporary Business (Long Stay)visa or a Spouse visa.Note: For the department to take this information intoconsideration when assessing your employment extensionrequest, you must have lodged your visa application andmust be recorded in the department’s systems.

Exceptional circumstances do not include remaining in yourcurrent job because you:

• have the required skills or because of labour shortages;

• are required to complete a project in a job that is not highlyskilled eg. retail or administration;

• have applied or intend to apply for a visa which requires youto leave Australia at the time of grant eg. Skilled visa subclasses175, 176 and 475;

• are not able to apply for another kind of visa.

 

 

The first bold part kind of implies as I have a lodged spouse visa application I may be eligible but then the last bold part kind of doesn't as it was an offshore application.

[elzawelza]

The application was both 309 temporary and 100 permenant together in one form so I assume it rests with the decision of the case officer if he/she thinks we qualify for a permanent visa as we have been in a relationship for 5.5 years - the application form States at least 3 years. This is actually the second visa we have applied for as in 2011 we were rejected for a de facto visa based on the fact we couldn't provide enough financial evidence. We lost our application fee and was a very difficult time in our relationship - when you have planned your life together and something stops you in your tracks where you can't live your life in the same country with the one you love is devastating. However 4 years we are stronger than ever and now married so we are hopeful this time will be a new chapter

I can't stress enough to others starting the process how important IT is to check you meet the criteria for the visa before you pay the charge - we learnt the hard way!

Yes it does depend upon the CO...me and my bf have been together over 7 years now and we still thought we'd get a 309 but nope, straight to 100

[thecoachbc]

The application was both 309 temporary and 100 permenant together in one form so I assume it rests with the decision of the case officer if he/she thinks we qualify for a permanent visa as we have been in a relationship for 5.5 years - the application form States at least 3 years. This is actually the second visa we have applied for as in 2011 we were rejected for a de facto visa based on the fact we couldn't provide enough financial evidence. We lost our application fee and was a very difficult time in our relationship - when you have planned your life together and something stops you in your tracks where you can't live your life in the same country with the one you love is devastating. However 4 years we are stronger than ever and now married so we are hopeful this time will be a new chapter

I can't stress enough to others starting the process how important IT is to check you meet the criteria for the visa before you pay the charge - we learnt the hard way!

 

What financial information was missing in your first application that resulted in a denied visa?