big_matt

Hi everyone,

I have the defacto resident visa (temporary) which I was given in June 07. At the time the information they give you is that exactly 2 years later you will be contacted to provide further evidence that you are still a couple that lives together etc and then if your evidence is ok you are given the full residency visa.

The letter should have come in June this year (3 months ago) and still no sign of it. Have been phoning them and its all a bit smoke & mirrors. They dont seem to be able to tell me when this letter will arrive or if I'm getting one at all. The latest information they can give me is that an e-mail has been sent to another department which they couldn't get hold of on the phone. I'm going in in person next week to talk to them.

Does anyone have a similar experience? We found this a painful process first time around and am already getting fed up with this part of the process.

Matt

bcworld

I think it's not uncommon for people's letters to go missing - but it does seem odd that no one can tell you what's going on.

Most people do receive the notification of second stage processing a little before the 2 year anniversary of their application - mine was around a week before I think.

I had heard (on here) that the processing time for the second stage has increased dramatically in some cases - maybe they are trying to catch up by not receiving too many new applications??

moneypenny20

Have you moved at all since you first got here? They might not have your current address.

big_matt

I haven't moved, and I checked they have my right address just incase.

Hopefully will get some answers next week.

How long should I expect it to take from when I get this letter to when my residency is approved/rejected and do I have to be in the country the whole time whilst waiting on the decision?

moneypenny20

To be honest I don't know. I came in on a permanent spouse visa thankfully. If you do an advanced search, there should be a fair few threads on the subject. I know the information is here as it's been discussed quite often. Good luck.

bcworld

Mine took 10 weeks - a friend submitted hers at about the same time to the same office and it took 4 days!!

Pollyana

A few people have recently reported 6-8 months.

big_matt

Thanks everyone.

Do I have to stay in oz during this time?

Pollyana

No, just tell DIAC if you are leaving and what dates you'll be away

big_matt

Great. Thanks a lot.

JAJ

Something is very wrong here.

If you got the temporary visa in June 2007, you probably applied for it in April 2007. The 2 year period was up in April 2009, and you should have heard from DIAC around February 2009, over 6 months ago.

This kind of delay is absolutely not normal and you should be concerned that they will refuse your permanent visa because they assume you no longer want one.

Call back the helpline and insist on speaking to a manager or someone with authority. If that doesn't work, contact your federal MP immediately and ask that the Minister's office be contacted.

big_matt

Hmmm.

The information I have definately states that its 2 years from you receiving your temp residency that you get the follow up pack. However the way this process has gone I'm not sure whats right anymore. I'll see what they say in person next week. If they cant give me answers then yes I'll have to take it up with another authority.

I should add that on their system when I call they can see that I still have legitimate visa so it hasn't been cancelled, they just cant seem to co-ordinate progressing it.

JAJ

Sigh. The information is wrong.

If you don't believe me, here is the extract from the Migration Regulations (assuming you applied offshore, originally, the rules are equivalent for the onshore visa).

----------

100.221 (1) The applicant meets the requirements of subclause (2), (2A), (3), (4) or (4A).

(2) The applicant meets the requirements of this subclause if:

(a) the applicant:
(i) is the holder of a Subclass 309 (Spouse (Provisional)) visa

...

and
(b) the applicant is the spouse of the sponsoring spouse; and
(c) subject to subclauses (5), (6) and (7), at least 2 years have passed since the application was made.

--------


And you should get the follow-up information before this deadline, so that they are ready to move ahead on the permanent visa.

If they refused the permanent visa, your temporary visa would be cancelled.

comet555

Must be very frustrating for you!

When in doubt I always listen to JAJ, he's always right (as far as I've seen). The helplines are notoriously inaccurate judging by some of the things I've seen on here. I called there twice on another issue and got two different people and two completley different responses.

big_matt

ok I got through to a manager on the phone and have some information:

1. The letters are sent by a department that dont deal directly with the department you speak to when you call/visit in person (why doesnt this surprise me!). Therefore they have a record of several e-mails and calls they have placed with the letter department but they have no way of knowing if the other department is actioning these e-mails or when a letter will be sent out.

2. My temporary visa is still fine and is still on course to be considered for a permanent. In their system they can see a letter has not been sent out and therefore no decision can be made on rejecting my permanent one until they have at least released a letter to me.

3. They said there is a huge backlog which is why i haven't had the letter and why once I supply evidence the final decision will be over 8 months after that day!!!!!

4. They said there isn't much I can do to speed up receiving the letter as I cannot speak to the people who send it.

Thanks very much for the advice though everyone. I really hate this process and it definately takes away a lot of the fun of living in oz.