Hi all,

When we recd our ack letter, it states never to phone them as it will delay your application,and everyone else's in the whole world (or words to that effect):scared: how scary are they.

Is it really not possible to get a progress report, or has anyone ever phoned after a reasonable amount of time to get time scales.

I lodged my application early July, straight forward skilled ind. and would love to be there b4 school year, end of Jan. But I think this is deffo a bit optimistic!!!!

Any thoughts?

Angie

Hi,

We applied in March and got PR in September, so you might make it.

Jim phoned DIMIA 9 weeks after we got our pre-grant letter to find out what was going on. Case worker said that a letter had been posted that day and it would tell us what to do next. She wouldn't tell him what was in it! Still, it was nice to know it was on its way.

Jane

Thanks Jane,

What do you mean pre-grant letter? is this the acknowledgement letter? that was a quick reply from dimia, what catagory visa are you going on?

Sorry loads of questions, really interesting to know

Angie

Hi Angie,

We applied for skilled independant. We had to make a capital investment to get the required points and after we'd done that, we got a pre-grant letter which tells you that you're likely to be accepted, but the decision maker has to make the final decision. It came as a bit of a shock because after having to invest £40k, we thought they'd just say we were in. Apparantly is usually takes about 4 weeks from pre-grant to final decision so we were a bit anxious after 9 weeks!

Hope everything goes smoothly for you,

Jane

We applied in August 2002 and are still waiting!

This is after sending medicals back in May 2003 and police checks June 2003.

Everycase is different and there seems to be no reasoning behind how quickly applications get processed!

Luckily though I've been out here a year already and have got another 3 years before I have to start worrying!

OWIWEB-OMG i hope i dont have to wait that long!!!!!

Jane, do you remember how long it was b4 they asked for medicals and PC. We will need to lodge 100k as well.

Thanks

hi jane.

Just reading with interest you post. Did you have to invest the money BEFORE they made the final decision??! what if they'd said no? would you have got it back?

Hi Angie,

I sent my case worker a FAX with a few questions on it, and she actually phoned me back and gave me a number to call her on if I had any further questions. I think they try to discourage people calling, and don't give out a general phone number, to keep the number of calls down.

I put my application in at the end of June, and had to wait about 6 weeks for a case worker to be assigned as they said they were clearing a backlog. This backlog has now been cleared so they said, so if people are waiting it might start to speed up a bit now. Mine took just over 3 months.

Thanks Budgie,

Are you saying it took 3 months to get your visa, or for the meds to be requested?

Angie

Hi,

Medicals were requested after about a month. We applied mid March, went over to OZ for a holiday to make sure I was happy about it and when we came back we got a letter requesting meds.

ScutterUK, yes, it was a bit of a shock having to invest the money before a decision, but it was after meds and police check, so we knew by then we'd passed the points test, which was our biggest worry as we only just had enough points. Money is tied up for a full year, and then we can get it back. This isn't so bad for us as we aren't going out till January and will be looking to buy a house at about the time we get our money back. Its also earning 4%.

Jane

wow! jane. that's crazy innit. i'm hoping that i wont have to go for the bonus point by investing, but if need be i can do. I just don't like giving them £40k and then them saying i can't get in!! i'm taking it that i would get my money back. Like you say though, at least it's earning 4%, not brilliant but not bad.

thanks for the info.

leigh

Hi Angie,

It was just over 3 months, yes - the meds got requested about 3 or 4 weeks in.

Hi Budgie,

That was really quick to get your visa, Im so jealous, I reckon you must be related to the immigration minister!!!!!

My application has been in three months, and no request yet for meds. Are you a job in demand? did they e mail you when you had been assigned a case officer??

So many questions

Angie

Hi Angie,

Well, my surname is "Howard"..... No, only joking!

Is yours a skills visa? My application was a spouse migration, so maybe they are quicker at the moment for some reason.

I got a letter from my case worker introducing herself, she did'nt seem to use e-mail.

The frustrating part was the initial queueing at Australia House to hand the application in. The queueing system refused to display any "A" tickets. I got in just after 9am, got given an "A" ticket and had to wait until almost midday before any of the "A"'s got dealt with - they refused to investigate if there was a problem in the queueing system or not. Has anybody else had that problem?