Originally Posted by indalo (Post 8945150)

Hi all,

my Dad applied for the 173 visa sept 09, and not heard a thing yet, not even an aknowledgment, should he have received at least a receipt or something for the initial application payment?

thanks,

Louise x

Originally Posted by indalo (Post 8945502)

thanks, I keep telling him to chase it up, but he phoned immi once and listened to a recorded message, which stated that he wouldn't hear anything for 18 months.

I'll get him to ring up and find out what's going on, I know that the fee definitely came out of the bank, but there was no email or anything to acknowledge receipt.

thanks guys :)

Originally Posted by sandch (Post 8939157)

Hello Dave and Linda

We have 2 daughters and one will be here in England. It is a mistake to try to follow your kids around we're told, and in our case it's sort of impossible. But the idea is that if we can get dual citizenship before we get to advanced years, at least the choice will be available. It may be a more important option one day if only one parent remains - not a nice thought, but an unavoidable one.

We'velooked at it as a sort of investment / insurance policy for the future, and can't really know how it will evolve. In our case we arranged our finances early on to include the visas. We were lucky with the exchange rate and if we were going through it now we'd have to think carefully about whether to defer it.

Your son might consider going over on a remaining relative visa if he still likes the idea of Oz. It's become more difficult recently and would require you to already be permanent residents.

Good luck with a difficult decision.

Best wishes

Steve

Originally Posted by DaveandLinda (Post 8946184)

I have just had a look at the Remaining Relative visa on the DIAC website and it says: You can be sponsored by your brother, sister, parent (or step-equivalent) or you may be sponsored by your relative's partner (if they live together)

I am just wondering if my daughter or son-in-law would be able to sponsor my son as soon as we get our permanent visa and move to Oz. My daughter is sponsoring us as well, so I don't know how many people you can sponsor, or my son-in-law could possibly sponsor my son. Or would we have to wait until we had been in Oz for two years.

Originally Posted by sandch (Post 8945532)

That's the main thing anyway - the fee has been paid. We've known of a few cases where emails have not arrived (incorrectly recorded email address by DIAC, or address changed by the applicant, and ignored by DIAC, or spam systems have got hold of the message). But he really does need to get a reference and acknowledgement date for peace of mind, and to make sure they've got the right contact address.

Cheers

Steve

Originally Posted by sirmatt101 (Post 8948833)

Presumably you have your visa label in your passports? As the visa is one of the documents required, those few that have had their visas issued electronically will need some form of proof of that, when going for their driving licences?

Cheers

Matt

Originally Posted by Julian927 (Post 8948898)

Ours was issued electronically, but following advice on this forum, we decided to get the Australian High Commission to stick it in the passport for good measure! It was well worth the postage and has already saved us a lot of hassle.

Julie

Originally Posted by junejuno (Post 8950238)

Hi Julie,
Do you mean you had that done by the Australian High Commission in London before you left the UK?
What do you have to do to get that done please?
June

Originally Posted by Julian927 (Post 8950522)

Yes we did it in England before we left. We sent our passports, together with the visa grant letter, in a special delivery envelope, enclosing a post paid self addressed, special delivery envelope for return. I think the envelopes, white, from the post office cost about £10 in total......but well worth the investment.

Julie

Originally Posted by Julian927 (Post 8948898)

Ours was issued electronically, but following advice on this forum, we decided to get the Australian High Commission to stick it in the passport for good measure! It was well worth the postage and has already saved us a lot of hassle.

Julie

Originally Posted by junejuno (Post 8951368)

Hi Julie,
I wonder if you could tell me how long the High commission took to send your passport back with the visa in it?

I have been discussing this with my daughter in Oz this morning and she thinks that i may not have time. I am presently getting cash together to send over for my 2nd VAC payment (will be done in next couple of weeks) so I would hope that my visa will be granted shortly after that. That only leaves a couple of weeks before i am due to fly out to Oz on 2nd December!
June