shelld81

Thanks guys for all your help. We have been caught out with several form changes as we've been working on this for a couple of years now. What works best for us is to print off the first form and fill it out, then keep an eye on the forms every couple of months, not fill them out, just check them against the ones we already have. They don't change too much, just a rewording of a question here and there, but it is important that you send in the most recent form. By the time we're ready to post (June) we know what changes there'll be, so we'll print the lot off again and copy over all the info we've already written. Gives you a good chance to check for silly mistakes too. If you're not quite ready to post yet, there's no point in panicking and filling out a new form yet. You'll probably have to do it again before you post anyway!

Good luck

scor

sent off my spouse visa application this morning!!!! so what happens next? I get assigned a case officer?

Rach25

Did you pay by credit/debit card? if so the money will come out on monday but you probably wont hear from them for a week or two. Our CO contacted us two weeks after receiving application for more information then visa granted two weeks after he received it. He also said he was swamped with mail to open!!

Rach25

Oh and well done!! its such a great feeling getting the ball rolling!!

scor

yes, paid by card. I hope they get things going quickly, we are flying on june 11th! I've put a note in with my application explaining this, asking them to process it as quickly as possible! gotta try!!

esteeandrew

Good luck with that... our application was frontloaded 6 weeks ago and we are still waiting! They seem to have a serious backlog of applications and I know of 2 CO's on leave. We decided to wait before we book our tickets and I am happy we did because I would not have been able to handle the stress.

I don't want to be negative, but I don't know if telling them about your flight will help... I know of someone who was pregnant and had a to fly before she was 5 months pregnant, and even though the CO knew this they still took their time!

Bernieboy

We filled in our 47sp form last oct do we now have to fill in a new one as of this month ??? I know its been mentioned but just double checking

esteeandrew

When did you lodge your application? If it was lodged before January you don't have to, but if it was after Jan 08 you will have to fill in the new form.

taffgmg

I hope there isnt a backlog as you say. We submitted our visa application on April 4th. I had my medicals last Monday and my police checks arrived back the same day which we have also just forwarded. We are still waiting to exchange on the house but would prefer the visa to be through before hand just in case there are problems....... my wife is pregnant and cant fly after 22nd July. Maybe worrying unnecessarily but as she is the Ausssie and can fly any time - but she doesnt want to do the flight on her own with a 20 month old being that far pregnant. Makes life a little more interesting I guess.

Where did you lodge your application - was it in London??

Bernieboy

Aaaah big fat elephants fanny,i hate bloody forms:curse:Cheers Andy all the same.

Pollyana

All this talk of those lovely long forms - don't forget if yours is a Pros Marriage Visa you need to fill them in again when you go for your actual spouse visa, so photocopy what you've written! And Form 80 has to be done again at the PR stage as well

esteeandrew

Yes, we lodged in London as we live in Kent. Our application is perfect (our agent said that it is the best application she has ever had), so we know that it is not taking this long because we don't have the correct information/paperwork. They are just seriously swamped and the Aus and UK public holidays aren't helping. No one has moved on Austimeline.com for at least 2 weeks, so I don't even want to think how many applications they have.

Don't want to be pessimistic, but it might be a good idea for you to think about what you are going to do IF (and I hope this is not the case) the visa has not been granted before June.

Austimeline is a brilliant website, because you can see exactly who everyone else is doing. Currently we are about 5 waiting for our visas - some even since Feb. Unfortunately not everyone knows/uses Austimeline, so it is a bit difficult to get a complete picture, but I would recommend that you add your info there and look at it daily to see how the timeline is progressing.

Maybe everyone using this thread should also register so that we have a better idea of the backlog and status?

Bernieboy

Cheers Polly but i've done the gentlemanly thing, walked the walk and talked the talk(PISH MORE LIKE) all the way to the registry,so just the one form for me

Bernieboy

Never heard of it mate but will def check it out,cheers.

Bernieboy

Another question folks,when you lodge papers in London what is the average time it takes to get assigned a CO and also(mmm this is 2 questions)do you then have 28 days from CO to have meds done ???