hi,
i my girlfriend and i have been sponsered for a 457 visa by a hospital in perth, this was back in february and we have not yet been called for our meds,
we are getting quite concerned now as we have flights booked for the 3rd of july (7 weeks) im hoping that the visa is granted before this date as wasting the flights is not really an option!

i was thinking about getting a working holiday visa if the 457 is not through in time?
can our 457 application be finalised while we are in oz?
does any one have an idea how long these should take
and is there anything we can do ourselves to speed up the turnaround on our meds e.c.t?any advice would be greatly appreciated
all the best
Den

If your under 30 you will get the whv in time - can't advise on the other stuff though

Did you apply online or by post, if online meds are usually requested almost straight away. Has your application been acknowledged?? Seems odd that it should take so long. If you have a reference number you can check the progress online Here

We are in a vaguely similar situation, although until Friday we had a sponsoring agency dealing with the 457application for us and this is to Brisbane. We had concerns that the visa wouldn't be through before weleft, (we leave UK on the 28th May) they said that it is perfectly ok to come out on a tourist visa while the application is being processed. I hope so as this is what we are having to do. Although you wouldn't be able to work while this is happening.
The applications for 457 visas to Brisbane are taking 2-3 weeks at present to come through so I would definitely check that yours is being processed.
We were told to go ahead a get the medicals done before the 457 visa application. The docs were happy to do this and courier them to Sydney Immigration, where they will wait until we have the visa ref.no. I just hope that they don't get lost in the process.
Hope that you get your visa sorted soon!
Emma

[QUOTE=denboy;4803389]hi,
i my girlfriend and i have been sponsered for a 457 visa by a hospital in perth, this was back in february

Call the person at the Health Dept who is dealing with your application and ask them to chase it up urgently. They are pretty useless here ( I work for a hospital in Perth, came out on a 457 originally and have just got PR via ENS ) and you need to keep hassling them. There have been numerous complaints about them and they are trying to tighten up their services, but you still need to keep on at them.

Good Luck.

Yes, I would def check its being processed and not gone missing!

When we sent our online 457, we were contacted and told all remaining documents and medicals had to be received by 28 days!!

So this is way longer than you have been waiting.

Check online what it says:
https://www.ecom.immi.gov.au/inquiry...do?action=back

Does sound like something is not right.
GEMS

Thanks Guys for your help. I am going to chase it up on monday, if its not going to be through on time Im going to go out on a tourist visa until its processed.

Den

Just check whether or not you can be onshore (in Aus) when the 457 is issued.

I may be wrong but I dont think you can apply for a WHV while the 457 visa application is in process? Dont quote me on that though.

I would def chase it up - thats a long time to wait and with 7 weeks to go you need to know for sure that there are no problems. As soon as the medicals are done though you'll prob have the visa in a bout 7-10 days.

Good luck

Rach xxxx

You could also front load the meds.

Get them done and sent anyway , this will also help speed up the process. PR meds are taking about 7-10 days in Sydney I was told last week, 457's are generally a bit quicker.