Guest Steve the legend Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Hi guys can i simply ask, as I can not get anything concrete out of my agent and does not really keep me updated, well not since we handed over the cash Can we contact our case officer direct, or is there an inquiry line we can use. Thanks all Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peach Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 If you're not getting an update from your agent, chances are there is no update from the case officer. Agents tend not to hassle the case officer, because it doesn't make anything happen any quicker. When I did my visa (through an agent) the case officer initially wrote to both of us - so I had her contact details. Maybe ask if your agent has your COs contact details? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve the legend Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Thanks Peach. We have the name of our CO but we are afraid to contact her direct in case she thinks we are hasseling her. What we can't understand is according to the IMMI website the time scale for our 119 visa is 5 months from date application was sent in. We are now waiting 7 months. We were also told by our agent and a government official in Australia that because I went over to Australia last March and obtained sponsorship, our file would be fast tracked along and be processed in 3 months. It is just so frustrating all the waiting and waiting and hearing nothing. I guess we just need to be a bit more patient. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 If you havent contacted your CO before then I would think that one benign enquiry - given the longer than average delay - would be in order as you dont seem to be getting much joy from your agent. One enquiry isnt tantamount to hassling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve the legend Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 Hi Quoll, do you think would it be best if we contacted our CO via email or give her a phone call? We think maybe phone call as email might not get answered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Hi Quoll, do you think would it be best if we contacted our CO via email or give her a phone call? We think maybe phone call as email might not get answered. She probably wont be able to summon up all your info while you are on a call to her - perhaps you could send an email and see if she is actually at work at the moment - remember that this is the summer holidays and public servants are known to take quite a bit of rec leave or LSL at this time of year. If you get an out of office notice then you know she is away for a while. If you get a reply to that then fine and dandy. If you dont get a reply or an out of office message then in about a week you could call and naively ask if there is anything missing from your application which is holding things up. I have heard that some COs wont talk to applicants but only to agents but you lose nothing by trying as long as you are polite and naively helpful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeD Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I don't think there's any harm in calling without emailing first. You are not harrassing them with one call, and you have a legitimate reason to enquire on the progress of your application as yours is taking longer than the published processing time. You want to help them do their job...so you want to provide any further info they need which may be holding up the process and you don't want your agent to be a factor in slowing things down. Once you have spoken to her, feel free to confirm everything she says by email, but I would take the bull by the horns and call. If she hasn't put her Out of Office on then you won't get a reply if she's away. It does happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve the legend Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 She probably wont be able to summon up all your info while you are on a call to her - perhaps you could send an email and see if she is actually at work at the moment - remember that this is the summer holidays and public servants are known to take quite a bit of rec leave or LSL at this time of year. If you get an out of office notice then you know she is away for a while. If you get a reply to that then fine and dandy. If you dont get a reply or an out of office message then in about a week you could call and naively ask if there is anything missing from your application which is holding things up. I have heard that some COs wont talk to applicants but only to agents but you lose nothing by trying as long as you are polite and naively helpful! We sent an email to her so crossed fingers we will hear something back soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve the legend Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 I don't think there's any harm in calling without emailing first. You are not harrassing them with one call, and you have a legitimate reason to enquire on the progress of your application as yours is taking longer than the published processing time. You want to help them do their job...so you want to provide any further info they need which may be holding up the process and you don't want your agent to be a factor in slowing things down. Once you have spoken to her, feel free to confirm everything she says by email, but I would take the bull by the horns and call. If she hasn't put her Out of Office on then you won't get a reply if she's away. It does happen! Hi George, thanks for your advise. Before you posted your advise we sent an email so hopefully she will reply and if not we will ring on Monday or Tuesday next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Hi George, thanks for your advise. Before you posted your advise we sent an email so hopefully she will reply and if not we will ring on Monday or Tuesday next week. I think that an email will bring your case to her attention so you are more likely to get some information rather than a fob off "I will go and find out". It is generally departmental policy to ensure that out of office messages are put on so hopefully you know you have a chance of talking to a real person who isnt on holiday. Monday or Tuesday for a call would be quite appropriate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve the legend Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Hi All. Just letting you know, we emailed our case officer as advised and we got a reply a few hours later advising us that we will be getting an outcome next week (result). All our paperwork is in order so there should really be no reason why we shouldn't be granted our visa so that's brilliant news.:jiggy::biglaugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thewebweazel Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 Hi guys can i simply ask, as I can not get anything concrete out of my agent and does not really keep me updated, well not since we handed over the cashCan we contact our case officer direct, or is there an inquiry line we can use. Thanks all Steve. I fired my first agent for the same lack of communication, You should have seen their faces when I told them. I am glad that I did as it was only in the beginning and I don't think that I would have coped with not trusting my Agent from what I know about the process now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve the legend Posted February 4, 2012 Share Posted February 4, 2012 If we had to do it all again we would definately do all the paperwork ourselvs and process it on line so that we could track it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted February 5, 2012 Share Posted February 5, 2012 Excellent news Steve! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anotherfinemess Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 I know when we were going through the process last year the offices of our case officer was in brisbane and they had to evacuate because of the floods so that delayed things by a few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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