Guest sophie1108 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Hi guys, thanks for your replies. I have seen on here in other cases that approval has been within weeks. Also apparently you can send police checks & medicals with the initial application to speed things up. How did you find writing your statements? Did you both sumit yours through the London office? Thanks again Sophie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Hi guys, thanks for your replies. I have seen on here in other cases that approval has been within weeks. Also apparently you can send police checks & medicals with the initial application to speed things up. How did you find writing your statements? Did you both sumit yours through the London office? Thanks again Sophie Hi Sophie, We submitted ours in person at the London Office. Remember if you do that, then you have to be there before 11am. They are closed on Saturdays. We had our medicals done and uk police check before we submitted, we are just waiting on the Australian police check to come back now which was requested by our CO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sophie1108 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Metoo - thank you for your reply. How do I go about the Aus police check? I am currently on the working holiday visa (which runs out end of Feb) So I have a month before I return to the UK. Is that enough time? Thanks again Sophie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Metoo - thank you for your reply. How do I go about the Aus police check? I am currently on the working holiday visa (which runs out end of Feb) So I have a month before I return to the UK. Is that enough time? Thanks again Sophie This is the link for the Australian police check. A month should be plenty of time, I have heard they only take a few days. Ours is taking a long time because we got caught up in the christmas post. National Police Checks - AFP Best of luck with it all x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sophie1108 Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Metoo - Sorry to be a pain but what code do I use? Thanks so much for your help. Sophie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Hi Sophie, we were told to use code 33 by our case officer (finger prints were not required) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sophie1108 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Thats great, thanks again! Good luck with your application - let me know you get on. I wont be processing mine until I return to the UK at the end of Feb. Is there anything to watch out for or had any problems with that is not on the checklist? Sophie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 The only thing we did wrong was our certified documents. We had them stamped and certified on the back (dohhh) and had to get them all re done and stamped on the front. Seems so obvious now but didn't think about it at the time. Delivering the visa application was a smashing day out for us. Once we submitted it (took about 5 minutes) we had a day christmas shopping in London followed by a nice cosy lunch. We aso visited the Australian shop while we were there just to stock up on cherry ripes!!! It was so good to get all those forms out of the house lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest sophie1108 Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Ok thats great. Yeh I am finding myself putting folders together & just printing out EVERYTHING I can find & reading them over & over. I found a thread on here that said they dont like the applications in folders or anything stapled but paper-clipped is fine which is good to know! Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tino Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Hey I found this thread via Google and just wanted to thank people for the info and updates here I have just started looking into the process etc and plan to apply for the 309 visa around April/May as de-facto. One thing that worries me though is my partner is in the UK on a two year working visa, which allows you to work for 12 months, but has already overworked it. It expires in September. Do you think this will cause any issue with her being my sponsor? :embarrassed: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 Ok thats great. Yeh I am finding myself putting folders together & just printing out EVERYTHING I can find & reading them over & over.I found a thread on here that said they dont like the applications in folders or anything stapled but paper-clipped is fine which is good to know! Thanks again. Hi Sophie, How is it going, regarding the folders for visa application. We used a bright green plastic divider folder from Tesco. All our documents were inserted into the seperate pockets with the most important ones at the front ie Visa application forms followed by certified certificates, then stat decs, then joint bills and other evidence,then other stuff like photos and christmas cards etc. When we handed it over the lady said that she would usually take everything out but as it was so neat she was leaving it all in place in the folder. It must have worked as we had an email from our CO the following day. Best of luck with yours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 When we handed it over the lady said that she would usually take everything out but as it was so neat she was leaving it all in place in the folder. she lied. they take it all out of the folders to scan it. and expressly ask people not to use folders: How Should I Put My Application Together? Please do not make complex collations of your application papers. We waste a lot of time (and risk injury to life and limb) deconstructing applications which have been extensively stapled or artfully put together in complex folders with indexes, dividers and tabs. Do not use plastic inserts. Please leave the papers, loosely divided by slide-on paper clips if you feel it is absolutely necessary, in a simple stack. Application form on the top; sponsorship form next; key personal documents next (birth and marriage certificates etc); formal statutory declarations next; and other supporting documents last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Metoo Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 she lied. they take it all out of the folders to scan it. and expressly ask people not to use folders: How Should I Put My Application Together? Please do not make complex collations of your application papers. We waste a lot of time (and risk injury to life and limb) deconstructing applications which have been extensively stapled or artfully put together in complex folders with indexes, dividers and tabs. Do not use plastic inserts. Please leave the papers, loosely divided by slide-on paper clips if you feel it is absolutely necessary, in a simple stack. Application form on the top; sponsorship form next; key personal documents next (birth and marriage certificates etc); formal statutory declarations next; and other supporting documents last. Hi Peach, Yes I know, we read that too and fully expected the lady to take everything out of the folder, but she simply removed each section, had a quick check through to see it was all there and put it all back in the folder. She told us it was so neat that she was leaving it all in there. Not saying everyone should do this, just what happened to ours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted January 13, 2010 Share Posted January 13, 2010 I'm just saying, it didn't stay in the folder - once it left the possession of the lady you handed it to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mikeb Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 Hi Interested Parties, Ive been using Poms in OZ recently for timelines on second stage partner processing. I would just like to add our findings. First stage visa processing in London 5 weeks from posting application to receiving approval. We front loaded heavily, medicals, police checks the whole works and I would strongly suggest that this is a very sensible thing to do. Our case officer congratulated us on the thoroughness of our application. It took about four weeks to put our paperwork together and of course we saved literally everything from our previous year together to substantiate our application. The immigration website handbook on interdependency and spousal visas is an invaluable tool in your application and should eliminate the need to appoint a migration agent because all you need to do is follow the guidelines set out and be sensible. Ask yourself this question " If I wanted to see proof of the genuineness of a committed couple what would I want to see " thats what we asked ourselves and thats how we loaded our application including cinema tickets, concerts mobile statements. The more overwhelming you make your case, the more likely approval and even more rewarding is how fast they grant approval. Our second stage application arrived on 29th January 2010, two months before our anniversary. We returned the application loaded again with proof of relationship material that we had saved from last two years on February 27th 2010. This was acknowledged receipt on March 6th. Our anniversary is 27th March 2010. We received a call from immigration this morning 29th March saying our permanant residency application had been approved. Canberra rocks, they even beat the London processing time. Front load, keep everything !! I mean everything !! Follow the rules set down make it easy for your case officer. Migration agents should be used if 1. you dont like paperwork and 2. If your case has extraordinary issues. You have to remember this is just as bigger deal for them as it is for you...selecting new residents for a country like Australia where everyone wants to get in makes their job hard. Make it easy for them by giving them everything they need upfront and dont forget the whole purpose of this...evidence that you are a genuine couple....Nuff said Im off for some champers !!! I wish everyone going through the process " The best of British Luck " if anyone has any questions I am more than happy to try and help. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qflyer Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 Congrats mikeb!! I totally agree with your frontloading EVERYTHING advice - except in my case I think we overdid it as the CO sent some of my stuff back lol. But I believe it's much better to send in 'too much' stuff than 'not enough.' I hope the Melbourne office will be just as efficient with the 2nd stage stuff when it's my turn in 2 years' time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mikeb Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 Thanks Qflyer, as for your next two years just get a storage box and just drop everything in there for the next two years you will be amazed how much you accumulate. They cant help but say yes...hopefully :-0 However if your case officer sent stuff back it seems I am preaching to the converted :-) Well done on the first stage anyways that for me is the hardest part over with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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