murwullambah

Same here, we have to keep our hopes up, the thought of having to start again with the whole process just depresses me i want to go to Aussie tomorrow. The least we should get if we have to submit new application is to be fast tracked, anyway heres hoping all this whinging is for nothing and this matter gets resolved as it should, lets keep our fingers crossed.

By the way some of us should be due a case officer now, has anyone in this situation got a case officer if so what are they advising

dejags

It's a crapola situation S&G but ripping poor George's head off won't change it.

I am sure no offence was intended - just sanity/voice of reason prevailing?

Best of luck with your application - remember, Australia is a first world country, it may take a bit of time, but I am positive that you will find yourself with choices and get there in the end.

I can totally identify with a long wait - it took us 25 months from Skills Assessment to visa grant, so we are pretty seasoned at it!

Brisbound

Hi Steve and Gina.

Happy new year to you as well.

Thanks for the update, I hope the solution will turn out positive. The amount of applications is staggering, DIAC will do justice by giving us back the 5 points we truly deserve. I am sure that we all applied in good faith to secure the 5 points bonus.

Have a good day.

Regards.

Brisbound.

darrens1

My Agent advised that I should get a case officer within the next 7 days Once I get a name I will contact him / her and get an update on this situation. I hope that the DIAC see sense and honour current applications received before September 07 as these were submitted in good faith and in accordance with their guidlines. Does the DIAC webpage have a link to publishing any latest information on this issue?? Please advise if they do. Good luck to all awaiting positive news.

pomerz

Hi Darren,

My agent has emailed with this info this morning,

A reply was received from DIAC yesterday regarding the investment options:

"The Department is investigating available options. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with any further information at this point in time until we have received a response from the Minister. You will be advised once we have some further information to provide."

So little new to report im affraid lets all keep hoping they see what stress this is causing all concerned....and soon

Keep smiling

Pomerz

Gazzap

Hi All,
Again, going on the optimistic stance (do we have any other option? )...
I spoke to our migration agent again this afternoon.

He was a little cryptic, but said that we shouldn't worry, as he is becoming confident of a reasonably quick resolution to this, and that we may well find out that we don't need either our bond or to do the English test...

He was advising 'begin preparing for a new application', but is now advising 'wait and see'.

Gaz

raydar10

[QUOTE=pomerz;5607252]Can somebody please clarify whether or not we have to invest $100,000 dollars into the country or not we are confused

Our agent had advised us back in May to go down this route to get an extra 5points on the visa application allowing us qualification for the 136 MODL.

Today i spoke to our agent for the first time in a while and ive been told certain states have dropped this investment bond however there was no detail from South Australia where we are heading so can anyone throw some light on this for us please?

Also do we still get the 5 points from the original application as its not our fault they may or may not have withrawn this option????

The main application was submitted in July



Why anyone bothers to go for private immigration advise is a total loss to me, All the information you need is in the Australian web site, why pay some parasite to do what you can quite easily do your self? Just to answer one question of your why do you not just pic the easiest State here in Aust to get your visa then go to the state you wish to live in , after all its all one country

Thanks Ray

rathna

hi all,

This is what i got from my agent today.

No news as yet. The final decision is now with the Immigration minister who is yet to review options submitted by DIAC staff in the week before Christmas. Advice to the Migration Institute of Australia before Christmas was that the Immigration Minister may not be in a position to review this until mid to late january. As such, we all must wait until he decides what can be done. State Governments confirmed before Christmas they do not intend to re-open the investments. The Minister must decide on alternative investments (example: Commonwealth Bonds) or use Ministerial powers to automatically grant 5 points if there are no financial investments available, or cause a rejection of 6000 visas which will cost the government $12,000,000 AUD in refunds plus the costs of defending its actions at the federal courts when the 6000 applicants lodge class actions to appeal the rejections.

I'll keep you updated as soon as there is further news as we have a number of client affected and I am checking for updates on a daily basis.

regards

Pollyana

Time said agent got a spell checker maybe?

Don't think George was referring to you (the poster) when he said Steve, but to the agent who has also apparently posted on a forum for agents.
At least George is posting updates, even if they aren't good ones.

There are many situations in which use of an agent is invaluable, and if you believe that all visas can be granted as simply as your post implies, then I'm sorry, but you are not living in the real world.

A lot of agents use this forum and provide valuable advice. To describe them as "parasites" is not really in the spirit of BE, and I would ask that you do not post in this way again.

geelong

We would rather have straight forward information without putting a negative slant on things, intentional or not, because for a lot of us this time is already quite distressing. One agent criticising another over their spelling does not come across as very professional either. The spelling mistakes referred to also look like a piece of text that the other agent had quoted from elsewhere anyway so they may not have been his typo's.

What agents, and those not in a situation like ours need to do, is appreciate how stressful the situation is for some of us.

We need the 5 points from the investment bonds. We have already sold our house, thus allowing us to fund the bond, so are in rented accommodation. My wife finished her job at Christmas - she is a teacher and had to give notice well in advance, and a long time before this issue kicked off. I had already left my job which had a long notice period and am now in a lower paid temporary job. All this delay is going to eat in to our funds for our new life down under now that we are down to one (much lower) income. If it all falls through it will also be that much harder now to get back in to the housing market here.

We and the others like us in this situation are not looking for sympathy, just more appreciation of how it is affecting us and how negative comments on the situation make it worse.

Now, lets all just keep our fingers crossed for some good news soon.

Jamie Smith

Hi Ray

That's a bit strong, and off target. You pay a painter, mechanic and lawyer to do those that things you can do yourself too?

Anyone who takes the risk of business gets my support, agent or not.

Picture yourself in business, and you may be already, someone comes in and tries to get you to do something for free or pick your brains without wanting to pay for a consultation.

Now, to be an agent you have had to study for several months without income, now you have to pay the rent, man the phones, feed your family, pay agent registration, PII cover, law libraries and ongoing training costs (to be an agent it costs about $7000 per year in these fixed costs before paying the usual overheads and wages) - and someone wants that knowledge for free? Sorry, who is feeding off who?

As Dire Straits once sang, something along the lines of "when you point your finger cos your plan fell through you got three more fingers pointing back at you"

dobedobedoooo....

SteveandGina

Spot on Geelong, excellent post,

Hopefully people not affected can see what some of us have gone through to get this money for the bond and how this situation is currently affecting our lives, us included.

Maybe thats why some us feel strongly about staying optimistic.

Regards.

Steve & Gina

geelong

Good luck with the IELTS next weekend, hopefully we will see you their.
Karen has got 1 week of solid revision coming up

This again is extra stress being put upon us due to this situation having to take the IELTS just in case.

SteveandGina

And best of luck to yourselves aswell.

Steve's been having lots of fun with a practise CD over the last couple of days. He's been testing the rest of us too, so he can show us how tricky it is and how quick you must be with the answers.
The writing part/spelling may be an issue here.

Hope the studying goes well Karen and the very best of luck on 12th.
Hope to see you there.

Best Regards
Steve & Gina

George Lombard

Hi Geelong,

No the spelling mistakes don't come from the agent but the email he received from DIAC. My point essentially was that the relevant message couldn't have come from a significantly high point in the hierarchy of DIAC, but of course to the extent that it might be seen as putting pressure on the new Minister to fix mistakes created by the previous government I suppose it couldn't come from a senior officer.

My message to all is yes, stay positive, but don't expect this situation to be corrected quickly. The new Minister would have many pressing concerns on his desk and when he has time for this one he would need to choose carefully from among the available options.

Cheers,

George Lombard