i am also a newbie, applied in June 08 for subclass 176 under an agent.

when we have an agent- do we "write off" all our communication rights to the agent with the australia immigration? btw, e agent lodged our application on paper. about those online information given by the immigration website about application status, can paper lodge applicants get access to them too? and if we are represented by an agent- do we still have the right to access these information on our own?

thanks in advance for any reply...

When you filled in form 956 it essentially told DIAC that all communication is to go through your agent. DIAC will not communicate with anyone else regarding your application without authorisation (usually another form 956). If your agent applied as a paper based application then no, you don't have access to the online status. There is an automated email system where you can send a blank email to DIAC to find out what month's applications are being processed at any given time. Anyone can send the blank email, so you do have access to this. Bear in mind that it is a generic reply, so it may or may not apply to your case. For specific information you will need to speak to your agent.

Make sure however or whoever applies for you does it by elodging your application not paperbased as this is taking so so much longer.

Im applying for 119 RSMS visa and you can only submit this application by paper. E lodging isnt an option for me. booo.

What type of visa is a 119?

Its a Regional Sponsored Migration Scheme. Means that employer has to lodge a nomination application and if that gets approved the employee (i.e. me) lodges a visa application. Although my agent is lodging both the nomination and application at the same time...so we'll see what happens!!

They should (hopefully) come through quicker than other types of visas - one website quoted 3.5 months as average!!!

I had asked for an update from my agent- but they refused to update me with anything except for the auto email reply sent by DIAC.... but that is not case specified....

for paperlodged thru agent applicant like me, what else can I do to get updates? no point talking to my agent already

Are you paying your agent fixed fee or on an hourly basis? If its fixed fee then you have nothing to loose by harassing your agent for updates. If your agent gets annoyed with you calling/emailing all the time then that might push your agent to push DIAC...? worth a shot.