The All New CPV thread

[Guest Gollywobbler]

We came in Australia on 20th of July last year by 173 subclass of CPV. On 24th February, me, my wife and my 18-year-old son lodged an aplication for our current visa to be converted into subclass 143 CPV.

On 4th March this year we received a letter of acknowledgement. Therefore, on 31th March we've got a case officer who sets 70 days to obtain our Insurance of support. Afterward, my older son and our sponsor appoint a meeting with Centrelink on 15th April where he had been informed that he is allowed to be a sponsor of 2 adult persons.

My question is that I dont have any relatives who may be sponsors for my younger son .

How can we solve this problem?

I appreciate any answer useful within my case

 

Perth WA

24.04.2009

 

Hello Risto

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

The Assurer(s) of Support need not be related to the visa applicant or to each other so the first thing to find out is whether your elder son has a friend or two who would be willing to provide an AoS for your younger son in return for a good drink.

 

If you are unable to sort it out relatively cheaply via friends there is a guy in Sydney who says he is able to provide Assurances of Support for CPV applicants on a commercial basis. I will send you a Private Message with his details.

 

Once you can your wife have PR though, will your younger son (the 18 year old) become the Remaining Relative? Please see the definitions:

 

Remaining Relative Visa (Onshore) (Subclass 835)

 

Other Family Migration Booklet

 

If he will become the Remaining Relly then you could withdraw him from the CPV application, get him a Working Holiday visa instead and then you could Sponsor him as soon as you have PR. The two year period described in the DIAC literature is not set in tablets of stone and it is now very well established that time spent in Oz as a Temporary Resident counts towards becoming "settled" in Oz.

 

You would need to be able to satisfy the income requirements for an Assurer if you want to Assure your son for a Remaining Relly visa (assuming that he is eligible for a Rem Relly visa.) Please see the link below:

 

9.4 Assurance of Support Scheme

 

If the Rem Relly visa is processed quickly (I don't know what sort of timescale would be involved) the commercial assurer mentioned above would charge a LOT less to Assure a Remaining Relly than a CPV holder because with Rem Relly the Assurance of Support period only lasts for 2 years and not 10.

 

A Working Holiday Visa allows up to 24 months in Australia as long as not less than 3 months in the first 12 months is devoted to doing Specified Work:

 

Visa Options - Working Holiday - Visas & Immigration

 

Failing Rem Relly and/or WH visa, another possibility would be a Student Visa for the 18 year old. He could study for a trade skill or a degree or whatever. On completion this can create a pathway to skilled independent migration in his own right. You can search for courses via searching the CRICOS Register:

 

The Australian Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students (CRICOS)

 

The stuff about Student Visas is here:

 

Students - Visas & Immigration

 

It would be prodent to study for an occupation which is on the SOL and likely to remain on it:

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/pdf/1121i.pdf

 

There are lots of nooks and crannies with Student Visas, though, plus it looks as if you are already in a bind with the Assurance of Support. It would be prudent to consult a competent migration agent in Perth I would suggest. Stephen O'Neil of ISCAH would not let you down:

 

Home

 

Best wishes

 

Gill

[Guest chris_mac]

Once you can your wife have PR though, will your younger son (the 18 year old) become the Remaining Relative? Please see the definitions:

 

Remaining Relative Visa (Onshore) (Subclass 835)

 

Other Family Migration Booklet

 

If he will become the Remaining Relly then you could withdraw him from the CPV application, get him a Working Holiday visa instead and then you could Sponsor him as soon as you have PR. The two year period described in the DIAC literature is not set in tablets of stone and it is now very well established that time spent in Oz as a Temporary Resident counts towards becoming "settled" in Oz.

 

You would need to be able to satisfy the income requirements for an Assurer if you want to Assure your son for a Remaining Relly visa (assuming that he is eligible for a Rem Relly visa.) Please see the link below:

 

9.4 Assurance of Support Scheme

 

If the Rem Relly visa is processed quickly (I don't know what sort of timescale would be involved) the commercial assurer mentioned above would charge a LOT less to Assure a Remaining Relly than a CPV holder because with Rem Relly the Assurance of Support period only lasts for 2 years and not 10.

 

A Working Holiday Visa allows up to 24 months in Australia as long as not less than 3 months in the first 12 months is devoted to doing Specified Work:

 

Visa Options - Working Holiday - Visas & Immigration

 

 

 

Great post!.. Im sure we will be looking at a Rem Relly visa for our 21yr old next year!

(Just commented to get it in my User cp)

 

Good luck everyone!

 

Chris

[Guest Risto]

Hi Gill

 

Thanks for the info. We will try and find assurer for our youngest son.

 

Cheers

Risto

[Guest mmy]

hi just to let you all know there are Case officers, We got notified that we now have a CO

and got to get Police & Meds so after a long long wait (ack 21 dec 07) at last light at the end of the tunnel good luck to everyone still waiting

 

MMY

[Guest austibeach]

Welcome to PIO MMY and thank you for letting us all know of your progress, as all of these pieces of information help to give the rest of us some idea of how quickly or indeed slowly the wheels are moving within immigration ; with a bit of luck you could be on your way fairly soon.

 

Eric.

[sandch]

Our visas were granted today!

Good luck to all those who are waiting.

[Guest Polegate]

CONGRATULATIONS. We are so pleased for you. You must feel 'over the Moon' as I am sure we would!

 

Thanks for all your hard work on the tracker it is really appreciated. Good luck with your future move.

 

David & Jackie (Polegate)

[Guest missymon]

I am so happy for you Steve, many Congratulations!!! All the very best for your new life in Australia with your family. Thanks from me too for your work on the CPV tracker. I check it every single day.

 

Regards

 

Monica x

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Steve

 

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! :jiggy:

 

I've been so busy with other things in the last week or so that I've only just noticed your brilliant news!!

 

Are you going to validate and then come back or just make your permanent move in one hit? Whereabouts in Oz are you headed for?

 

I've got another couple of bits for the tracker, please.

 

Goldilocks has heard from a CO requesting meds and pccs. Date Tuesday 5th May 2009. They haven't been asked to do anything about the AoS yet but their meds might take some time. Her hubby dislocated his shoulder and has had some complications from being kocked out while they put his shoulder back together but hopefully it will all be OK in the end.

 

For Claire & Don - lodged 28th Nov 2007 - please could you put "delayed" in the box for their meds & pccs? There is a meds issue and more tests have to be done in six months time so their application looks as if it could be delayed for some time as well.

 

Please could you add a new couple to the tracker? User name Grandad, please. Their application for a CPV 143 was lodged on 28th June 2008 and they are not using an agent. They had their meds done on 4th May and sent off for their pccs the same day. They are in Oz on a long stay tourist visa which expires in mid September. The tourist visa is lumbered with Condition 8503 - no further stay. They have tried to get the 8503 condition lifted, to no avail. The local DIAC office do not understand the issue properly, I reckon.

 

Anyway, the POPC have agreed to help them instead. It is completely absurd to make people go offshore simply for the sake of applying for a new tourist visa when their CPVs would be ready by about the end of the year anyway. So the POPC have told them to start getting everything ready with their meds, AoS etc and hope to be able to have their CPVs ready for them by early September. This way they will only have to go offshore once instead of twice. Which is REALLY good of the POPC, I must say.

 

Further news is that Yomvard rang me to let me know that their application has been acknowledged. She mentioned that in the ack letter it says that they are currently allocating COs to CPV applications received on 9th January 2009. Goldilocks' recent request dovetails perfectly with Yomvard's info because Goldilocks is using an agent who probably didn't notify them the very minute that he heard from their CO. Goldilocks' application was lodged on 3rd January 2008.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest missymon]

Hi Gill,

 

Should we arrange for meds and police checks then do you think as our appications were acknowledged on 1/04/08? If so can you tell me how we go about getting the police checks done for the 3 years when we were in St.Kitts. I think we have to send them our fingerprints so how do we arrange that? When we lived there we obtained our citizenships and I had a police check done. It took a VERY long time to organise as they are VERY laid back in the Caribbean and this worries me as you know I am concerned about how long they will take to do our checks. Help!!!!!!

 

Regards

 

Monica

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Welcome to PIO MMY and thank you for letting us all know of your progress, as all of these pieces of information help to give the rest of us some idea of how quickly or indeed slowly the wheels are moving within immigration ; with a bit of luck you could be on your way fairly soon.

 

Eric.

 

Hi Eric

 

There is no doubt that the CPV timelines have not blown out in the way that the POPC were expecting them to.

 

I haven't been in touch with the POPC myself for a natter because I'm getting feedback from enough applicants and Alan Collett of Go Matilda is brilliant at reporting anything useful that he hears about on the timelines so that people know when to start thinking about organising their money, so my own information is all second hand via others.

 

I think you should assume about 18 months from start to finish for the time being. If it stretches then don't worry but don't get into a situation where the money wouldn't be ready by the time the POPC want it, I would suggest.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Gill,

 

Should we arrange for meds and police checks then do you think as our appications were acknowledged on 1/04/08? If so can you tell me how we go about getting the police checks done for the 3 years when we were in St.Kitts. I think we have to send them our fingerprints so how do we arrange that? When we lived there we obtained our citizenships and I had a police check done. It took a VERY long time to organise as they are VERY laid back in the Caribbean and this worries me as you know I am concerned about how long they will take to do our checks. Help!!!!!!

 

Regards

 

Monica

 

Hi Monica

 

I was just about to reply to you, hon! Just as well you got in first whilst I was replying to Eric.

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/character-requirements/character-penal.pdf

 

The form above contains the destructions about how to get pccs From the stuff about St Kitts, I'm not sure you would be able to get pccs from there. I definitely think you need to start investigating how to do it because it might take some time to get something together that the POPC would be happy with.

 

The British High Commission in most countries are just plain unhelpful and the FCO in London are worse. In theory their consular services should extend to sussing out how to sort the pccs in St Kitts - you are British and this is part of the reason why we pay salaries to British consuls in these dream ticket postis. The Australian embassy in the country concerned are often a lot more helpful because they have a vested interest in helping DIAC.

 

Do you know anybody handy in St KItts such as the Governor or some other senior official who could produce a stat dec saying you were squeaky clean when you lived there? Ex-employers are handy for this purpose as well.

 

Also if Steve (sandch) doesn't pick up on this and answer your post, send him a PM. He mentioned at one point that he thought he might have to go to one of the countries they have spent time in because, like half the Caribbean and the Far East, it is sometimes easier to get the local officials to move if you go there and chivvy them in person.

 

Phoning Police HQ in St Kitts might help? However I notice that they say their police certificates are only valid for 3 months???? What good is that and how many months does it take them to produce something which is valid for 3 months?

 

UK police checks are straightforward:

 

https://www.askthe.police.uk/content/Q542.htm

 

The on-line application is now simple, quick and you get the results in about 10 working days so there is no need to sweat about these yet.

 

Yours is a CPV 173 so you will not have to mess about with organising an AoS, Bond etc at this stage and I know that you are concerned about your stepson's health. When you contacted the POPC recently, did you mention your concern about this? If the POPC were to say that in view of stepson's health there are compelling and compassionate reasons for trying to get your CPV 173s granted before 30th June 2009, would you be able to come up with your 2nd Instalments within the next six weeks or so? If you would then it may well be worth asking the POPC whether they could help out a little.

 

What about your own son? Has he gone to Adelaide yet?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest missymon]

Hi Gill,

 

Many thanks for your rapid reply.

My husband was a friend of the Governor General so we could ask him for stat dec. Also we are going to ring the police in St.Kitts to ask how come the police check is only valid for 3 months when we don't even live there any more. I had to laugh when they say they need our fingerprints because the Kittician police only learnt how to do fingerprints just before we left in 2004. They are a very slowly developing country and I am really worried about how long they are going to take to sort this out. I applied for my citizenship in January 2002 and it was granted one week before I left in September 2004 so took 1 year and 9 months. It took them 6 months of us constantly going to Police Headquarters and chasing them to do my police checks for the citizenship and we lived practically next door so the mind boggles how long it will take them now we aren't on the island. There is not much chance we can get out there to sort this in person because of holiday entitlements. Plus they could NEVER do it in 2 weeks!!!

I am going to write to POPC and explain our problem. Meanwhile Nigel will get in touch with Governor General for refs.

My son Craig and his girlfriend are going to Australia on 2nd June so fingers crossed for him. He got in touch with the guy at Port Adelaide and he has told him to go see him when he gets down there.

 

Nigel's brother in Brisbane has been very sick with pneumonia and now has to have a biopsy because of prostrate trouble so hopefully we can get there this year. When I wrote to POPC about my stepson's health problems they just sent me the standard reply of how long visas were taking.

 

Regards

 

Monica x

[sandch]

Hi Gill

 

You've been busy! I've updated the tracker; putting text in the date field causes a short circuit so I've put "delayed" in the comments column instead.

 

You mentioned police checks in the Carribbean; our time spent there turned out to be well under a year in total and outside the 10-year period anyway, so in the end we didn't need them. But we looked into it earlier and it looked like a right pain in the backside. The locals don't seem to be sure of the requirements (fingerprints / no fingerprints?) and you really need someone to represent you locally to deliver and collect stuff (mail applications would be ignored I was helpfully told). This was Dominica, but I imagine the other islands have a similar laid-back style to life and probably crime. I don't know what the answer is; perhaps a local travel services company would help for a fee?

 

Thanks to everyone for the congratulations; we will validate first (now happily planning) and when we're out there we'll look at the various working / living options, as we're still working age. We're heading to Melbourne, daughter and family.

 

All the best

Steve

[Guest suerem]

Hi Steve

 

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! :jiggy:

 

I've been so busy with other things in the last week or so that I've only just noticed your brilliant news!!

 

Are you going to validate and then come back or just make your permanent move in one hit? Whereabouts in Oz are you headed for?

 

I've got another couple of bits for the tracker, please.

 

Goldilocks has heard from a CO requesting meds and pccs. Date Tuesday 5th May 2009. They haven't been asked to do anything about the AoS yet but their meds might take some time. Her hubby dislocated his shoulder and has had some complications from being kocked out while they put his shoulder back together but hopefully it will all be OK in the end.

 

For Claire & Don - lodged 28th Nov 2007 - please could you put "delayed" in the box for their meds & pccs? There is a meds issue and more tests have to be done in six months time so their application looks as if it could be delayed for some time as well.

 

Please could you add a new couple to the tracker? User name Grandad, please. Their application for a CPV 143 was lodged on 28th June 2008 and they are not using an agent. They had their meds done on 4th May and sent off for their pccs the same day. They are in Oz on a long stay tourist visa which expires in mid September. The tourist visa is lumbered with Condition 8503 - no further stay. They have tried to get the 8503 condition lifted, to no avail. The local DIAC office do not understand the issue properly, I reckon.

 

Anyway, the POPC have agreed to help them instead. It is completely absurd to make people go offshore simply for the sake of applying for a new tourist visa when their CPVs would be ready by about the end of the year anyway. So the POPC have told them to start getting everything ready with their meds, AoS etc and hope to be able to have their CPVs ready for them by early September. This way they will only have to go offshore once instead of twice. Which is REALLY good of the POPC, I must say.

 

Further news is that Yomvard rang me to let me know that their application has been acknowledged. She mentioned that in the ack letter it says that they are currently allocating COs to CPV applications received on 9th January 2009. Goldilocks' recent request dovetails perfectly with Yomvard's info because Goldilocks is using an agent who probably didn't notify them the very minute that he heard from their CO. Goldilocks' application was lodged on 3rd January 2008.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

Hi

 

I have been keeping a check on progress every day. Find this site and the tracker very useful. I'm known as SusanRem on the tracker. I note from Gill's latest news that Goldilocks, lodged 3 Jan 2008, has now got a CO with the news that they are assessing applications lodged 9 Jan 2008. Mine was lodged 2 Jan 2008 and I have heard nothing. I am not using an agent. Do you think I should contact them?

 

Susan

[sandch]

Hi

 

I have been keeping a check on progress every day. Find this site and the tracker very useful. I'm known as SusanRem on the tracker. I note from Gill's latest news that Goldilocks, lodged 3 Jan 2008, has now got a CO with the news that they are assessing applications lodged 9 Jan 2008. Mine was lodged 2 Jan 2008 and I have heard nothing. I am not using an agent. Do you think I should contact them?

 

Susan

In your position, I think I would send a friendly email (quote applicant name, date of birth and reference number); although you'll probably hear something soon, it's always worth checking that they have your correct email address, that sort of thing; leave nothing to chance!

Good luck.

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Susan

 

I agree with Steve (sandch.)

 

There is always some variation between COs in how long they take to make contact.

 

However as Steve says a friendly e-mail won't do any harm.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest suerem]

Hi

 

Just got home and found an e-mail (12 May). I HAVE A CASE OFFICER!!:laugh:

 

After wondering if I should e-mail them, Bingo. They are asking for police checks, medical reports, Form 80 (which was not asked for initially) and Assurance of Support.

 

I quote " Please provide this information within 49 days after the date of this letter (ie Wednesday 1 July 2009)." "As we are nearing the end of this programme year, you are encouraged to attend to these requests at your earliest convenience to receive early processing to grant."

 

Steve please update your wonderful tracker.

 

Susan

[sandch]

YAY!:smile:. Well done Susan.

[Guest missymon]

Hi Gill and Steve,

 

Below is the the reply from POPC when I asked if we could have a stat dec from the Governor General as a character reference as the Kittician police will take FOREVER and a day to do our checks if at all and that they were only valid for 3 months. I explained about my brother in law and stepson's health problems too as a need for urgency in getting our police checks done. I am so worried as I have an awful feeling it is going to take a long time even when we do have a CO.

Oh and by the way POPC told me in an email dated 19/04/09 that they were processing CPV's acknowledged on 9/01/08.

 

Monica x

 

 

Dear Mr & Mrs Hutchings

Thank you for your email.

We do not accept character reference to replace police checks. Please explain the situation to the case officer at that time and request to extend the due date for you to submit the information. As certain country has certain validity period of penal check. I cannot explain to you why it is valid for only 3 months.

You may need to apply for another visa type to visit your relatives in Australia. Please visit our web-site at:

http://www.immi.gov.au/immigration/ for further information.

At the moment, we are currently assessing visa applications lodged in December 2007. For your information.

Thank you.

 

Regards

Perth Offshore Parents Centre

[sandch]

Hi Gill and Steve.........

.........................

Dear Mr & Mrs Hutchings

Thank you for your email.

We do not accept character reference to replace police checks. Please explain the situation to the case officer at that time and request to extend the due date for you to submit the information. As certain country has certain validity period of penal check. I cannot explain to you why it is valid for only 3 months.

You may need to apply for another visa type to visit your relatives in Australia. Please visit our web-site at:

http://www.immi.gov.au/immigration/ for further information.

At the moment, we are currently assessing visa applications lodged in December 2007. For your information.

Thank you.

 

Regards

Perth Offshore Parents Centre

 

Hmm. Not quite English grammar is it? I would start the process for the police check soon, rather than delay in the despair that it will be unsuccessful. Fingerprinting can be done by your local police force - for example the Met has a unit called the Visa Fingerprint section, but if you are elsewhere in the UK, regional Police services exist. That will remove that delay. Then, if you know someone in St Kitts, get them to help you, with a suitable financial carrot as motivation if necessary - it will be cheaper than flying there! Given the likely lead time, and the speed at which POPC is moving, I reckon if you start the process now the timing should be about right. Local representation will really help; and remember these requests are not unusual as other people have lived there and will have needed the same service; though I'm sure the word "urgent" is not prominent in the local vocabulary. You might also consider asking a question on this topic in the BE forum or this one to see if anyone else has experience of the process in the Caribbean; a new thread with an appropriate subject heading perhaps.

 

Just my thoughts. Remember I only have my own experiences and research to go on from going through the CPV application, but have no other expertise in the area of visa applications in general.

 

Let us know how you get on.

Regards

Steve

[Guest mmy]

Hi All Things moving fast now completed medicals & police checks Awaiting for letter from centerlink for Aos Will keep you all updated

MMY

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi Monica

 

I think Steve has offered absolutely the best and right advice.

 

I've never even visited the Caribbean because I tend to head for the Far East whenever I can (historical ties etc.)

 

I suspect one needs to understand the culture in the Caribbean in order to work out how to get the officials in the right mood to want to make enquiries and move things along. I think Steve is right and that it could take several months of patient coaxing to get them to produce something that they say would only be valid for 3 months.

 

I think that at the end of the day some countries cannot live up to DIAC's wish list of demands and that DIAC will have to bend accordingly.

 

Fingers crossed, hon.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

xxx

[Guest ancpar]

Have been reading this forum for some time now, found it very interesting and informative,but still a very daunting subject.

Our son and his family emigrated to Perth last October and as Parents/Grandparents are finding the loss of close family unbearable.

Have researched again and again but feel we know the answer but would like some comments and advice from anybody who may have the answers.

We agreed before their departure that we would follow ASAP but would like to know the earliest date which we will be able to make an CPV application. If there is any advantages to a Temporary as apposed to 143 application.

My wife has already retired,I am due to retire April 2010 so not looking for any work,just retirement, with our much loved family.

This is my first post and just looking for some relief from the anxieties and something positive to latch onto.

Any coments/advice would be much appreciated.

 

John

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hello John

 

Welcome to Poms in Oz.

 

Is your son in Perth your only child? The Balance of Family Test is central to Parent migration.

 

Assuming that you are OK on the BoF Test, does your son have Permanent Residency or is he on a temporary employer sponsored 457 visa?

 

If both of the above are OK, the next question is that your child must sponsor your CPV application. In order to be eligible to sponsor you, your son must be "a settled Permanent Resident" of Australia at the time when the parent visa application is submitted to the Department.

 

Go Matilda is a firm of migration agents. Alan Collett is the boss and he maintains a first rate news section on their website. He has written a piece about the need for a settled sponsor, which is here:

 

Go Matilda - Your Gateway to Australia - News

 

You need to study the two MRT cases cited in the article and consider what sort of evidence your son could produce in order to demonstrate that he is "settled" because the need for him to be so is a time of application requirement. Do not fall into the trap of imagining that he will be fully settled by the time that a decision is eventually made. The decision maker (the Manager of the POPC) is required to consider the facts as they were on the date when the application was lodged.

 

In your case the only real urgency from a legal point of view is whether or not you want to try to beat the fees increase on 1st July 2009. The 1st Instalment (currently $1,420) covers both of you and merely represents the Department's costs in actually lodging and processing the application. That will rise but not by a scary amount.

 

The 2nd Instalment will also rise on 1st July. It represents a notional contribution of 12.5% of the expected per capita health care cost in Oz, hence the name of the visa. The amount of the 2nd Instalment is calculated by the Australian Government Actuary each year based on figures supplied by the Department of Health & Ageing. The Actuary's computations are published but I doubt whether anybody except the Actuary understands the formula used.

 

The 2nd Instalment rose by 3.9% in 2008/9 but it rose by 7.6% in 2007/8. It can be quite a sizeable increase. When we applied for my mother in 2005, the 2nd Instalment was $27,850 per Parent. It was $25,000 when the visa was new in 2003/4. It is $32.725 for 2008/9. I think it is impossible to predict what the % increase will be this year.

 

If your son is already sufficiently "settled" you would have your work cut out to get an application ready and submitted to the POPC before 30th June (though your son could deliver it in person on Monday 29th or even early on the 30th, which could be useful.)

 

If you are minded to try to beat the deadline then I would URGE your son to make a swift phone call to Nigel Dobbie in Sydney:

 

Dobbie and Devine Immigration Lawyers Pty Ltd

 

Nigel is one of the most senior, most heavyweight solicitors practising in this field of law and he is a genuine expert in how to interpret the legislation properly. He is not frightened of his own shadow with it, which most non lawyer agents tend to be, clinging slavishly to what the Policy documents appear to say without stopping to consider that Policy is not law. Policy is merely the Government's wish list about how they would like applicants to proceed. Policy is frequently miles adrift of what the relevant law actually is.

 

An ordinary agent - especially one with no prior experience of tackling this question - would be nervous and so would get bogged down in a morass of trivial detail about when, exactly, your son bought his car and similar irrelevant rubbish. Plus the temptation would be to try to submit every little evidential detail up front instead of getting on with it and submitting a basic application containing only the bare essentials to satisfy Schedule One and thus ensure that it is a valid application. The details can all be added to the bundle later on but you will never convince the average agent to see the wood for the trees when the stop watch is ticking and so the agent feels insecure, especially when s/he is not really sure about what the law is in the first place.

 

Nigel does not have feet of clay with this stuff. He is the type to say, "Right. I need this, this and this for the bundle. You assemble the bundle in Perth, Son, to save time. Scan the evidence and e-mail it, or alternatively fax it to me. Then ring me and I will check it all off with you before you go hotfoot to the POPC with it. We can add the rest later."

 

Nigel charges $2,000 for CPV applications which is smack on the going rate. It is ironic that somebody who graduated from the highly questionable migration agents' "kwalifying" course for non-lawyer agents only last month, who has never done a CPV application and hasn't a clue how to, nevertheless can and often will try to charge more than somebody of Nigel Dobbie's calibre and experience. It is truly absurd but this is so. The scribes charge as much as the experts because the public are gullible fools who are willing to pay through the nose is what it comes down to with some of them, I can assure you.

 

Also if you want to try to proceed pronto then you do need proper legal advice from a properly qualified & experienced specialist solicitor about whether or not your son has become "settled" enough for the application to stick to the wall. If Nigel says don't risk it, he will be right. If he says go ahead you can rely on his judgement and sleep peacefully at night. The risk is of trying to put the cart before the horse because of the looming deadline, so you really would be foolish to proceed without properly expert advice from somebody properly qualified to provide it, who will not simply panic and gibber because of the pressure you would be putting him under to make an accurate judgement call about whether a swift application would work.

 

Please sing out if you have any queries.

 

Best wishes

 

Gill