Guest zzzsianzzz Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 actually both parties are on the cutting side for immigration.. they are cutting numbers but increasing number on the waiting list.. :rolleyes: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kokki Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 Hi Mally I might be cynical, but..... The pollies know perfectly well that continuation of the skilled immiigration orogram is important to Australia's future prosperity. The pollies have broken the promises they made to the people seeking to migrate to Australia. Once the Election is safely out of the way, I reckon that the pollies will proceed to break the promises that they are making to the Australian voters at the moment. Cheers Gill You should've seen the documentary that that businessman Dick Smith did about the crisis of population growth in OZ. It was cheaply made (from a filmmaker's point of view as my hubby is one), it was over exaggerated and very manipulative. The documentary was then followed by Q&A program where this issue was further debated. From what most of the people were discussing, after watching the documentary, showed that they were won over by the pre-fabricated opinion. Most people around here have no independent opinion of their own (with the exception of some, of course). Blowing the population figures out of proportion and reminiscing the days of the 50s, Dick only talked about the growth in terms of immigration. I have a lot to say and would like to counterclaim him on every point he makes, so I will let it go at that. I don't think it is looking good though. Opposition immigration minister Morrison agreed that there needs to be immigration cuts. He was in the panel of Q&A. Ironically, Evans was in the documentary and he said that Oz will always be a country of immigrants as they have one of the smallest populations based on the size of the country. I seriously think he is schizophrenic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kokki Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 - Name : Username : jupiter123 - TRN number : Online based on May'2008 - Current waiting time in years & months (eg. 1 year 9 months) : 2 years 3 month - Expected waiting time (eg. application in Dec 2008 and "not expected to be finalised before end of 2012" is 4 years) : Indefinte We ( Myself and my wife ) have been contacted by the CO recently on July 09,2010 to get our medicals and PCC redone since previous one expired.We were on Cat 5 prior to July 14,2010 and then lately after we have sent our medicals and PCC for the second time,came to know that the priority list have changed again and now its indefinite sine we are in Cat 4 ( last cetegory now ).Cant understand why were we then asked to get our medicals and PCC redone when they knew that new priority list would be pubshed again within another 5 days after we were contacted by the new CO.None the less to state that the dreams that was nearing for the second time is shattered again by such calous decision of immigration dept. Only keeping our fingers crossed if our profession is included in SMP................................................................................. Hi Jupiter123, I applied in May 08 as well but still have received no calls yet. What is your occupation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffster Posted August 15, 2010 Author Share Posted August 15, 2010 Hi Jeffster, one more thing we should consider to amend. On page 2 - topic "Transfers" you wrote: A guy from a German forum (thanks, Hannes) advised me of a DIAC-Booklet giving details about the possibility to switch to ENS/RSMS for free for certain visa-subclasses including 175/176/885/886 and many others. http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/booklets/1131.pdf (page 8 - "Fee-free visa application"). The passage you've quoted and the infos given in the booklet are quite contrary although both are from the DIAC. However, I'm afraid the DIAC could use the information in the booklet to challenge the argument in the complaint. I don't know which information is right but maybe one of our RMAs has more infos about this. Thanks Uli I went throught this process a few months ago and couldn't get a straight answer from my agent or DIAC. We really want a clear answer, not "may" or "might" and as their last release clearly says - new application = new fee. Also, for onshorers you have to apply for an offshore ENS/RSMS if you already have a visa application in for more than 28 days - so a trip to NZ for a week at $2000 so it's almost as bad as having to pay for a VAC again. Anyway I am sending the letter tomorrow after work so there is 24 hours more for anyone else to PM their details (Name [NOT username!], TRN, Waiting time and expected waiting time). I only have about 10 people so far, I was hoping for 50-100! A friend in the media also told me not to mass mail it to all media outlets as they will ignore it if you send it to everyone so I will send it to the local media, if anyone wants to forward it to one or two other places please feel free to do so. He also said if they receive similar complaints from several unrelated people they are more likely to pick up the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournegirlinny Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 Hi. I've only just read this draft letter and the Appendix. I thnk it's an excellent letter and the Appendix, with the timing and refund policies from other countries, is very powerful. Good for you in doing this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest parkinfour Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 great letter. Would happily add our stats to the letter. We lodged in April 2010, 176 family sponsor visa for Victoria. My huband is lodged on ASCO project administrator. How do i forward on TRN num? From DIAC information to lodge before the cut off date we rushed to get applicaiton through as it was deemed applications prior to may would still be 'accepted'. Shame in their plan they hastened to add that they would sit on the application and the fee for years to come. I am all for structure for immigration but shifting goal posts constantly and the stress and pressure it starts is just awful. We have been working towards our visa for 6 months prior to lodging and feel very sorry for those who have already been waiting for years. great letter and I hope you get lots of support. Amelia, James, Mollie and Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
millholl Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 Well played...I might be about to follow a similar path with the ACS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 Hi Jeffster I think that your letter is brilliant. It is very well-presented and the points are clear, succinct and very well made. The Table also shows that Australia is completely out of synch with all other Governments that run major Immigration programmes. I'm not sure whether anyone has ever made this point to the Ombudsman before. Even if anyone has already highlighted this, I doubt very much whether anyone has ever done so in such a powerful, forceful manner before. I also agree with every word that you say about the people who are trapped in Oz on Bridging Visas - they definitely are trapped, so it is definitely a form of imprisonment and I believe that it is "legalised false imprisonment" frankly. As I understand it, the idea of Bridging Visas was that the application for the main visa would be processed expeditiously. It was accepted that there might be a family event or emergency at home in another country, so the Bridging Visa B was born. However it was NEVER intended - nor has it ever been within Parliament's contemplation - that a Bridging Visa "limbo" should be allowed to drag on indefinitely solely because the current Minister for Immi - acting alone and with no input from Parliament - has decided that he doesn't like what a previous Government chose to do. Processing the backlog could have been dealt with a lot faster if the bloke wasn't so prone to changing his mind every five minutes, as well. The Ombudsman has the power to instigate enquiries off his own bat. Therefore rather than him telling DIAC, "Jeffster and Co object to your Department's activities in a number of ways. Here's what they say. What is your response?" the Ombudsman can tell them, "I am not happy. I insist that we investigate these problems fully, properly and then I will write an independent report, detailing my findings and my recommendations." I think your letter is powerful enough to persuade the Ombudsman to take responsibility for the whole thing. The Ombudsman also has the power to refer certain issues to the Australian Auditor General, asking that the ANAO should investigate certain activities. I think that the ANAO should investigate why it apparently costs so much for DIAC to do so little on a visa application. I am told that the AMAO and DIAC hate one another. The ANAO's reports about various aspects of DIAC's activities have exposed incompetence and misanagement in recent years, so it is no wonder that DIAC wish that the ANAO would interfere with some other Government Department instead. Also, although you haven't mentioned Andrew Metcalfe, your letter does beg various questions about just what he has been up to in recent years. He is the boss of DIAC. Why has he allowed the Australian Government to get so far out of synch with other Governments when it comes to prices and refunds? Why hasn't he told the Minister - loudly and firmly - that imprisoning people in Australia in this way was discontinued in 1841 so it is completely unacceptable for the Minister to be doing that now? Whem I read your letter and the Table, my reaction was, "Get rid of Metcalfe and get some new, less bigoted blood into his job. He's just been faffing around saying, "Yessir" to a vascillating Minister for Immi instead of running Australia's Immigration programme himself, which is what Metcalfe should have been doing." I take my hat off to you for a brilliant job and I hope fervently that the Ombudsman wll pay proper attention to your very valid complaints. Cheers Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Manj Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 Good work Jeffester!!! _________________________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournegirlinny Posted August 15, 2010 Share Posted August 15, 2010 You should've seen the documentary that that businessman Dick Smith did about the crisis of population growth in OZ. It was cheaply made (from a filmmaker's point of view as my hubby is one), it was over exaggerated and very manipulative. The documentary was then followed by Q&A program where this issue was further debated. From what most of the people were discussing, after watching the documentary, showed that they were won over by the pre-fabricated opinion. Most people around here have no independent opinion of their own (with the exception of some, of course). Blowing the population figures out of proportion and reminiscing the days of the 50s, Dick only talked about the growth in terms of immigration. I have a lot to say and would like to counterclaim him on every point he makes, so I will let it go at that. I don't think it is looking good though. Opposition immigration minister Morrison agreed that there needs to be immigration cuts. He was in the panel of Q&A. Ironically, Evans was in the documentary and he said that Oz will always be a country of immigrants as they have one of the smallest populations based on the size of the country. I seriously think he is schizophrenic. I had not heard about this 'documentary' from Dick Smith but I have read, to my shock, comments of his made to the media in Australia in recent weeks. My memory of him from years ago is that he used to just sell cheap electronics. I, and I presume most other Australians, had no idea he was such a racist xenophobe! Shameful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Seb Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Jeffster, Mr Allan Asher has been appointed as the new Commonwealth Ombudsman. He has a strong sense of moral and social justice as he comes from consumer advocacy. Allan is to take office on the 30th August. At a time of change, I fear that the complaint letter might be overlooked or worst ignored if you send it today. May I suggest that we delay sending the complaint until Allan is officially the new Ombudsman and in the mean time gather more signatures? Let's make this complaint one of Allan's "initiation" rite. Being new to the office, he might be a bit more enthusiastic to investigate the matter thoroughly:wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Seb Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 My memory of him from years ago is that he used to just sell cheap electronics. I, and I presume most other Australians, had no idea he was such a racist xenophobe! Shameful. Dick is a hypocrite hiding under a xenophobic mask. He should perhaps check the country of origin of the cheap electronics he sells :tongue: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virtual_bajwa Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Bravo!!!!!! Well maintained, Well presented with some good ideas. Go ahead. U have green signal from most of the guy. One yellow from Seb. Seb has also made a good point. Can be considered. Ok now it's time to present your show on Sydney Opera stage. It's on decision makers to decide to give red, Yellow or green signal. Well like many applications in the pipeline your letter might not get yellow signal. That's even worst than green or red signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virtual_bajwa Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Wait for elections guys...everything might change again.....lucky ones who got their visas and will get their visas this week....god knows what will happen from next week onwards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jupiter123 Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Profession is Management Consultant. Hi Jupiter123, I applied in May 08 as well but still have received no calls yet. What is your occupation? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2bOZ Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Hi Jeffster, well done man, and hopefully it can make some good changes in our visas' processing. btw, I have just a simple remark: please, don't forget arranging the format when u r going to put the last touches. In part 1 select all and then justify it to make the paragraphs as arranged blocks. Also, u can put the title of the Referencing in the last page. About the part 2, use Page Layout and Margins and choose Moderate margin to have just 1 page. Anyhow, I think u'll send it as 1 document, right? So, go ahead with the last formatting touches. Also, I was thinking about an idea of asking them to give us some privileges to update our status, since we r human beings not machines, even machines can be maintained, so can they add our new details information if there have been no CO yet, just like having MSc. degree or having IELTS with a higher score, or having another new experience. What I'm trying to say at least to give some services to the applications that left 1 year or 2 years with no try to at least take a look. Jeffster, again good job and many thanks for writing this letter on behalf of us :wubclub: Good luck for all of us:notworthy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffster Posted August 18, 2010 Author Share Posted August 18, 2010 Hi All, Just to let you know I sent the letter today as I was a bit busy at work last 2 days. I CC'd Peter Mares, The Australian and MARA and I'm sending to an acquaintance who works at the local paper. I considered waiting for a few weeks for the new Ombudsman to arrive but I would think the letter will be waiting on his desk for him anyway as the outgoing person won't be doing much work in the next week! It can also be sent again once he's started. I also think it won't matter if we had 1, 100 or 10,000 signatures, it's the words that will count not the number of signatories. Let's hope something comes of this, I'm not holding my breath but it is worth a try. Thankyou to all for your support, suggestions and comments, especially Mongobear whose research and backup was invaluable, and of course Gill. Now, next on the list is what to do about this ACS/nec fiasco?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffster Posted August 18, 2010 Author Share Posted August 18, 2010 I have received a reply (already!) from Peter Mares who says he is keen to do more reporting on the issue once the election is over and if I and other complainants are willing to talk publicly about our situation and complaint. I am willing to do so, any others let me know by PM. I don't know if being onshore or offshore will be a factor but we always have email for any offshorers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gollywobbler Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 I have received a reply (already!) from Peter Mares who says he is keen to do more reporting on the issue once the election is over and if I and other complainants are willing to talk publicly about our situation and complaint. I am willing to do so, any others let me know by PM. I don't know if being onshore or offshore will be a factor but we always have email for any offshorers. Hi Jeffster Very well done! Peter Mares is the only journalist who seems to have shown any interest in the plight of the International Students in Oz. Cheers Gill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest umairghias Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Great Work Jeffster ! Count me in for help toooooooooo... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
virtual_bajwa Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 I have received a reply (already!) from Peter Mares who says he is keen to do more reporting on the issue once the election is over and if I and other complainants are willing to talk publicly about our situation and complaint. I am willing to do so, any others let me know by PM. I don't know if being onshore or offshore will be a factor but we always have email for any offshorers. Great Work Jeff, This will surely make some difference as things are changing in Australia. Let's hope they are changing for the better... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest aster0910 Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 I just missed this thread otherwise I will join you. Anyway, it is an excellent letter pointing out everything. Good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jupiter123 Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Hi Jeffster, Your initiative in this matter is just astounding and deserves special mention even if the authorities pay deaf ears to it. You can count on me on this journey. Thanks once again. Cat 5 ( Presently Cat 4,SS(SA) ),contacted by CO for the second time on July 09,2010during my application tenure( Applied on May'2008) to get our PCC and medicals redone,which was duly done and sent back and then priority processing changed once again on July 14,2010 and hence making us a victim of Cat 4.CO shouldnt have asked us to do the PCC,medicals when they knew new rules are coming in.Now we dont know the waiting period. :cry: I have received a reply (already!) from Peter Mares who says he is keen to do more reporting on the issue once the election is over and if I and other complainants are willing to talk publicly about our situation and complaint. I am willing to do so, any others let me know by PM. I don't know if being onshore or offshore will be a factor but we always have email for any offshorers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mongobear Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Hi Jeffster, also count on me in case Peter Mares needs some voices. Cheers and many, many thanks again for your efforts Uli Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Manj Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 I have received a reply (already!) from Peter Mares who says he is keen to do more reporting on the issue once the election is over and if I and other complainants are willing to talk publicly about our situation and complaint. I am willing to do so, any others let me know by PM. I don't know if being onshore or offshore will be a factor but we always have email for any offshorers. Jeffster..mate... count me in as well!!! Happy to talk....... Being a mum of 2 young kids it is quite hard for us to be on a temp visa indefinitly whilst me and my hubs both pay taxes to the Aussie gov......:wubclub: ___________________________________________ CAT (4), 885 applied 2008 AUG, ICT - Recent graduate NEC, IELTS 8.0, NAATI qualified, Currently employed as a ICT Project Officer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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