Protest Visit to Australia House - update

[Guest Justin JIANG]

I would add that Mr. wilden did emphasize that 3500 would be 3500 applications, not 3500 visas. And i still remember the figure of SS, NON-CSL unallocated is around 3600 before 23 Sep 2009. By consideration of the above, methinks some of those who did frontload the Meds and PCCs would be granted a visa within this 3500 positions as it couldn't be 3500 applications being CO requested to submit Meds and PCCs.

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Can I ask any of the famous 5 or Gill, whether anything was said about allowing an extension in validity (of meds/police checks) for those who had supplied meds etc in good faith. I'm talking about those that they don't manage to process within the year of course.

 

For me this was one of the biggest injustices

 

Daniel

 

 

Hi Daniel

 

There was quite a discussion about the meds yesterday because it is relevant to two of the Famous Five. A lovely lady called Jane Sansom is the Principal Migration Officer for the UK and Ireland. She was present throughout the meeting yesterday and she provided loads of useful advice.

 

Mrs Sansom said that the Case Officers have discretion to extend the validity of the meds by 3 months in circumstances where there are no meds issues. The same is probably true for PCCs too.

 

The validity of meds can actually be extended for six months but for a six month extension the CO has to get permission from the Medical Officer of the Commonwealth. This was done for the Contributory Parents at the beginning of 2008 when DIAC ran out of visas for them. On that occasion the Parents Visa Centre organised a blanket extension for six months in all the straightforward cases where health was not a problem.

 

The "fine points" about how to handle the Cat 5 applications have yet to be settled. Much will depend on what practical experience turns out to be, I suspect.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[cartertucker]

Fantastic work by Gill & the Fantastic 5.....:notworthy:

[Guest TwNx]

Thanks Jamie, our meds/police checks have been requested and met by the DIAC! :jiggy:

hi..congrats for the visa grant...i would just like to ask if you are under CSL or non CSL? thank you very much

[McKlaut]

hi..congrats for the visa grant...i would just like to ask if you are under CSL or non CSL? thank you very much

non CSL, cat 5

[Guest TwNx]

non CSL, cat 5

 

Wow! great news....thanks so much . hope to receive my visa soon. and to all who have been requested meds and pcc....good luck to all of us

[WAITINGGAME]

Wow! great news....thanks so much . hope to receive my visa soon. and to all who have been requested meds and pcc....good luck to all of us

 

And everyone else.......Good Luck people who havent been asked for Medicals or Police Checks yet, hopefully it will be before 2012 !!

 

Thanks again everyone for your help thru this thread x

 

Lindsey

[Guest Gollywobbler]

Hi All

 

First, a huge thank you to David Wilden - DIAC's Regional Director for Europe - and his team yesterday. He was accompanied by Jane Sansom, the Principal Migration Officer for the UK and Ireland, by Mr Wilden's super secretary Alison - who carefully minuted everything that was discussed - and by a lady whose name I didn't catch but I think she is something to do with DIAC's Policy team.

 

Second, my personal and equally huge thank you to the four visa applicants who came with me - DanBN1, Floater, RonnieRocket0 and Watneyni. They gave the term "visa applicant" a visible and highly articulate face. They are all under 40 so they are at the point where they can have real impact on the Aussie economy in their various fields. Two are tradies and the other two are IT Project Managers whose occupations are not on the CSL. All are applicants for offshore GSM visas. One is family sponsored so he is in Category 6. The remaining three are in Cat 5.

 

Third, thanks very much indeed to Andrew from Immigration2Oz but formerly a DIAC officer who worked at the ASPC for about 18 months. He was invaluable.

 

Finally, a HUGE thank you to Sue Harcus from the Western Australian State Government. She did not attend yesterday (because I didn't have the brains and common sense to ask her to come with us.) Sue was in Perth until recently but she is now working in the WA Govt's UK Office. From the discussions about her, it was clear that this highly effective lady (whom I have spoken with once on the phone) is keeping maximum pressure on DIAC. WA made a very shrewd move in sending Sue Harcus to London soon after David Wilden arrived in the UK. Sue Harcus is a doer who gets results. She does not sit around pontificating about theory. She is very much a lady who analyses the job in hand and then gets it done in minimal time.

 

David Wilden arrived in the UK six months ago and he is willing to be the human face of "People Our Business." If he gets swamped with pleas and enquiries he will not be able to provide applicants with the personal service that he is willing to provide at the moment, so please, please do not abuse David Wilden's generosity because the man is a godsend to every aspiring GSM program migrant to Oz.

 

For the information we managed to glean on behalf of the Cat 5 applicants, please see the separate thread about that, which is here:

 

http://www.pomsinoz.com/forum/migration-issues/73648-category-5-news.html

 

When DIAC are now able to make a start on the Cat 5 applications, it begs the question about why Q11 of their FAQ of 23rd September 2009 is so pessimistic about time scales?

 

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/pdf/faq-priority-processing.pdf

 

The truth is that some applicants are going to continue to be pushed down the line - particularly those in Categories 6 & 7 - because with a lmit on the GSM program, they will continue to be dispaced by applicants with higher priority in the new pecking order and the new pecking order is likely to be the norm for as long as the Rudd Government retains power in Australia.

 

DIAC have moved very fast to get the applications in Categories 1-4 under control, so much so that they are now able to make a start on processing the Cat 5 applications, which DOES include tradies, who are to receive equal treatment with all the other Cat 5 applicants. Mr Wilden said that the UK has traditionally always been Australia's biggest supplier of skilled, experienced tradies and Australia plainly wants this to continue. They like the fact that the Aussie & British education systems are similar, trades skills training is similar etc.

 

There was no discussion about how tradies (ex-Students) applying for onshore GSM visas in Cat 5 will be treated. Mr Wilden muttered that the Government is determined to resist an imbalance in the types of skills of the workers supplied by the GSM program, hence the CSL because Australia needs medics and engineers more than it needs some other skills. (The Official Line and one can't stab a Government Official for trotting it out, I suppose.)

 

We now know that the predicament for the Cat 5s is not as bad as it originally seemed and I suspect that the State Government of Western Australia has been the wannabe GSM migrant's biggest ally in the scene since 23rd September. Mr Wilden said that NSW don't care about recent developments because they are in line with the policy that NSW had already adopted in a bid to curb the number of new migrants intent on heading for NSW.

 

Mr Wilden said that Australia will always need migrants. Apparently the Baby Bonus was supposed to produce 3 children per family, which he described as, "One for Mum, one for Dad and one for the Government." Mr Wilden said that this idea has not worked. He was employed by Centrelink till 2005 when he joined DIAC. My guess is that Centrelink send the cheque for the Baby Bonus?

 

Having heard about the Cat 5s, we asked about Categories 6 & 7. Mr Wilden had no figures for these two groups but he promised to get them and to supply them.

 

Refunds

 

DIAC reckon that some of the applicants in Groups 6 & 7 could well be kept waiting for substantially longer than 3 years for their visas. The Minister considers that this is unreasonable so he has asked DIAC to investigate the possibility of refunds for those in these two groups. Mr Wilden made no secret of the fact that DIAC have spent the application fees received - sorting out refugees, I strongly suspect. Apparently DIAC have to talk to the Federal Treasury about this possibiilty - which Mr Wilden said they are doing. Once they know what is possible, they will present the Minister with options to choose from but the Minister has demanded the advice so presumably it will be provided to him asap.

 

Children who will soon turn 18

 

After rehearsing the idea that childen who remain in full time education can be counted as dependants until they turn 25, DIAC killed us on this issue. I argued that it is not possible to force an 18 year old to go to College every day. Jane Sansom trumped me. The 18 year old is an adult, able to choose his/her own destiny. DIAC will not interfere with the young adult's right to choose.

 

This one relies on persuading your own children to play the Australian Game because DIAC have no intention of recommending changes to the legislation on this score.

 

Alan Collett's arguments

 

DIAC will NOT recommend that they should cover the costs of providing new meds and pccs if these are required, even if a CO requested them in the first place. They take the same line on this as they did with them in the Capital Investment Scheme debacle.

 

Mr Wilden muttered that migration agents get paid for providing the best outcomes for their clients in the minimum time but he and Jane Sansom both stressed that unless the DIAC website encourages front-loading meds and pccs for a particular visa subclass the wise advice is, "Don't do it." DIAC are not out to waste visa applicants' money but they will not even consider reimbursement of anything except visa application charges alone.

 

We argued back. One of the Famous Five produced a print out of the acknowlegement he received for his on-line visa application. It did not go as far as instructing him to do the meds for his family. It merely remarked that these were "outstanding."

 

Legally, DIAC have us over a barrel on this one. The on-line system does not instruct applicants to get their meds done in an application for an offshore GSM visa. The instruction has to be a humanly-imparted instruction from a CO. We cannot complain that the COs were not made aware of the 23rd September changes in advance of them happening. DIAC are not responsible for anything that people imply - possibily erroneously - from their website alone because the website provides the opportunity to ask questions if people want clarification about how to interpret something said by DIAC and their staff were acting honestly at the material times.

 

David Wilden's first job within DIAC was to establish the Global Feedback Unit. He says that there are specific time limits for providing answers to complaints and that if something overruns the time limit with no specific help having been provided, the matter is automatically escalated to a much higher level. (Which is more than the British Government does about complaints which drag on - unresolved - indefinitely.)

 

Special Liaison Officers in the same mould as David Wilden

 

DIAC believe that these are not needed. The Poms & Europeans have whinged about the 23rd September changes - which Mr Wilden is dealing with - but applicants based elsewhere have not done so.

 

What about the ex Student applicants for onshore GSM visas? Mr Wilden stated firmly that if agents and their clients or independent applicants demand a similar service, it will be provided but the people involved with the onshore visas must sort this out for themselves and by themselves - in Austalia.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[McKlaut]

Finally, a HUGE thank you to Sue Harcus from the Western Australian State Government. She did not attend yesterday (because I didn't have the brains and common sense to ask her to come with us.) Sue was in Perth until recently but she is now working in the WA Govt's UK Office. From the discussions about her, it was clear that this highly effective lady (whom I have spoken with once on the phone) is keeping maximum pressure on DIAC. WA made a very shrewd move in sending Sue Harcus to London soon after David Wilden arrived in the UK. Sue Harcus is a doer who gets results. She does not sit around pontificating about theory. She is very much a lady who analyses the job in hand and then gets it done in minimal time.

 

 

I would like to thank WA migration department for:

- pressing central government to move our cat. 5 back into process,

- not making retroactive changes during this year. They were really reliable partners while I was getting my SS.

 

Looks like I've chosen the right state for settle my family.

[Guest JK2510]

Well this certainly sound like a good thing. The famous five have done a great job(the A team!)

Congrats to the hollies!!!

We lodged our WA SS(176) july 9th so we havent even got a case officer so we will be in for a very long wait!!

Im so glad that the ones that have CO's and have had meds done will get sorted asap.

Its surely is THE WAITING GAME as ENS(121) is a minefield,companies and agencies don't wanna go near you!!!

 

Thanks to the FAMOUS 5!!!!

 

Jodie

[basil]

Finally, a HUGE thank you to Sue Harcus from the Western Australian State Government. She did not attend yesterday (because I didn't have the brains and common sense to ask her to come with us.) Sue was in Perth until recently but she is now working in the WA Govt's UK Office. From the discussions about her, it was clear that this highly effective lady (whom I have spoken with once on the phone) is keeping maximum pressure on DIAC. WA made a very shrewd move in sending Sue Harcus to London soon after David Wilden arrived in the UK. Sue Harcus is a doer who gets results. She does not sit around pontificating about theory. She is very much a lady who analyses the job in hand and then gets it done in minimal time.

 

 

Sue Harcus was extremeley helpful to me when we applied to WA for SS, she was super efficient and approved my off list nomination

It's good to know she's on side here in the UK now.

[the dougans]

wow great news well done gill and everyone. we havent got ss yet but our 175 was lodged last dec so would that make me currently cat 6? and they never said a timeline?

[Guest Dionne and Rickie]

Wow there is light at the end of the tunnel well done to the Hollies im made up for you, we are oct o8 applicants origianly...

[Guest floater]

Hi Gollywobbler,

My profound thanks for setting up this meeting, I think it has been immensly beneficial to all on PiO.

I think the meeting has been pretty well covered and I agree with everyones notes.

I'm typing from my sick bed so i'll keep this short.

The point I raised and they are going to look into is that in 2008 when you lodged an online application it DID tell you to do your mediacls. Now I realise it's cold comfort as there is no chance of refunds but when you follow there instructions it a tad annoying!

 

PRIMARY APPLICANT: #########

DATE OF BIRTH: ##########

TRANSACTION RECORD NUMBER: ###########

TRIM FILE REFERENCE:

PERMISSION REQUEST ID: ##############

LODGEMENT DATE: ## August 2008

 

Dear ########

This email confirms receipt on the above date by the Adelaide Skilled Processing

Centre (ASPC) of your application for yourself and members of your family unit

for a Skilled - Sponsored (VE 176) visa.

 

FURTHER DOCUMENT REQUEST

To assist in the assessment of your application you must provide additional

documentation. If you have not already done so, please provide to the ASPC the

documents listed below:

Birth certificate or other evidence of age

Copy of passport Personal Particulars/Photo (bio-data) page

Evidence of overseas qualifications

Evidence of relationship to sponsor

Skills assessment

Evidence of Specific Work Experience

Marriage certificate

Passport photo

Form 1

60EH - Radiologist report on chest x-ray

Form 26EH - Medical examination for an Australian visa

Family Tree Diagram

 

It then goes on to list the same documents for all other members of the family.

If you follow any of the forums this is known as front loading. But if you did not as I was and you did the application yourself you would take this request as face value and supply everthing you were told too.

[Guest Mach]

Finally, a HUGE thank you to Sue Harcus from the Western Australian State Government. She did not attend yesterday (because I didn't have the brains and common sense to ask her to come with us.) Sue was in Perth until recently but she is now working in the WA Govt's UK Office. From the discussions about her, it was clear that this highly effective lady (whom I have spoken with once on the phone) is keeping maximum pressure on DIAC. WA made a very shrewd move in sending Sue Harcus to London soon after David Wilden arrived in the UK. Sue Harcus is a doer who gets results. She does not sit around pontificating about theory. She is very much a lady who analyses the job in hand and then gets it done in minimal time.

 

I can only echo Gill's praise. Sue was a fantastic contact when I applied for off-list sponsorship back in April - a terrific ambassador for the state, service-minded and a joy to deal with, passionate about getting the right people into WA and incredibly on the ball. And while I was sad when I heard she had left the SMC for London a few months after our sponsorship was granted, I understand that WA could not have a better person up here "in the mix".

 

...A word of warning, however. You might have to promise your children away to become West Coast Eagles fans to sweeten any eventual deal. Hehe

[Guest southerngent]

Hi Gollywobbler,

My profound thanks for setting up this meeting, I think it has been immensly beneficial to all on PiO.

I think the meeting has been pretty well covered and I agree with everyones notes.

I'm typing from my sick bed so i'll keep this short.

The point I raised and they are going to look into is that in 2008 when you lodged an online application it DID tell you to do your mediacls. Now I realise it's cold comfort as there is no chance of refunds but when you follow there instructions it a tad annoying!

 

PRIMARY APPLICANT: #########

DATE OF BIRTH: ##########

TRANSACTION RECORD NUMBER: ###########

TRIM FILE REFERENCE:

PERMISSION REQUEST ID: ##############

LODGEMENT DATE: ## August 2008

 

Dear ########

This email confirms receipt on the above date by the Adelaide Skilled Processing

Centre (ASPC) of your application for yourself and members of your family unit

for a Skilled - Sponsored (VE 176) visa.

 

FURTHER DOCUMENT REQUEST

To assist in the assessment of your application you must provide additional

documentation. If you have not already done so, please provide to the ASPC the

documents listed below:

Birth certificate or other evidence of age

Copy of passport Personal Particulars/Photo (bio-data) page

Evidence of overseas qualifications

Evidence of relationship to sponsor

Skills assessment

Evidence of Specific Work Experience

Marriage certificate

Passport photo

Form 1

60EH - Radiologist report on chest x-ray

Form 26EH - Medical examination for an Australian visa

Family Tree Diagram

 

It then goes on to list the same documents for all other members of the family.

If you follow any of the forums this is known as front loading. But if you did not as I was and you did the application yourself you would take this request as face value and supply everthing you were told too.

 

Family Tree ???

Ours never requested this:huh: Am off to http://www.ancestry.co.uk to make a start

[Guest floater]

Good one.

My application started life as family sponsored and switched to state sponsored after the january changes.

[Taz2008]

Family Tree ???

Ours never requested this:huh: Am off to www.ancestry.co.uk to make a start

 

No, we have not been asked for a family tree either. Thats the first I have heard of it? Anyone else had to do a family tree? Or is it a joke?

[Guest bindog1uk]

Hi Tasha, at some point doing paperwork, can't remember if it was S.S.or DIAC, we had to list both our parents, children and brothers and sisters, their dates of birth and wether they were dead or alive. Hope this helps. Lesley

[cartertucker]

Hi Tasha, at some point doing paperwork, can't remember if it was S.S.or DIAC, we had to list both our parents, children and brothers and sisters, their dates of birth and wether they were dead or alive. Hope this helps. Lesley

 

Just what I was going to post!

[WAITINGGAME]

Just what I was going to post!

 

Yes your right its the 175 application, want to know your mothers,fathers, brother, sisters DOB and if there alive then also your partners family.

 

Thanks

[Guest southerngent]

Yes your right its the 175 application, want to know your mothers,fathers, brother, sisters DOB and if there alive then also your partners family.

 

Thanks

Yes ur right in the info given above, however the email refered to is the auto-reply once you have completed the application and given those details. Am sure its not of any real significance.

 

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Just in case - mine an Xmas Tree:twitcy:

 

Note : the formating when I posted scr*wed it up

[Taz2008]

Yes ur right in the info given above, however the email refered to is the auto-reply once you have completed the application and given those details. Am sure its not of any real significance.

 

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Just in case - mine an Xmas Tree:twitcy:

 

Note : the formating when I posted scr*wed it up

 

Very festive! A bit wonky... but I love it!:laugh:

[Guest Mach]

To be fair, I've bought worse looking Christmas trees at the last minute ;D

[Guest pom64]

Hi

Gill and you 5 that went to London i just want to say a BIG THANK YOU to you all for supporting all of us that could not be there with you, you are an inspiration to us all THANK YOU AGIAN

i would also like to ask a question if i can which is, we first started the whole application process in march 08 with a agent but it was not submitted to the DIAC until Feb 09 we where granted SS WA in march 09 co requested med,s and PC checks in June 09 finalised Aug 09 with all doc,s MET so my question is, am i in with a chance of our visa and if so how long do you think i could be looking at [by the way i am a brickie]

regards

pom64