cwmtaboy

Keep the faith mate i know how you feel. I applied in june 2009 and got my visa grant beginning of september. Can i ask what subclass you are?

fsm1612

Hi Folks,
I'm in G5 and still waiting. Hoping to hear something by next year. The present G4 apps have moved to Feb 2011.

Faisal Nawaz

thanks dear i applied for skilled independent subclass 175.
regards
faisal

Faisal Nawaz

hello dear,

i am little confuse if u could please clarify what u want to say to G4 applicants.

regards
faisal

fsm1612

Faisal,
Please refer to this: http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/gener...tion-times.htm

All the Group 4 apps till Feb 11 are allocated CO.

Faisal Nawaz

thanks dear

i got it. how much time will they take on average after the allocation of case officer.

regards
faisal

Bermudashorts

Faisal, I have no doubt that you are meaning to be polite, but please note that adressing people as "dear" and expressions like "thanks dear", "hello dear" are not at all polite and you should not use the word dear in this manner when communicating in English.

Faisal Nawaz

Case officer inquired "how u have supported yourself financially from the age of 20 till the start of 1st job" i.e. 24 years of age.

regards
faisal

khurram

Thats an interesting thing to know. I am learning things with time like we are used to hug our colleagues every morning when we meet at office but I noticed no one even shakes hands here in Australia. My doctor told me yesterday that u shake hands with people only when u don't know them and meeting for the first time or u see a very close friend after a long long time. I think we should learn the customs and respect them when we move to a new place. In my country, people use this word "dear" (although I never liked it as I always have a feeling of being taunted when someone calls me dear) a lot so its not his fault. would u plz tell me what should we use here? I noticed people using "mate" here very often. Is it a nice word to use in this culture?

Bermudashorts

My colleagues would be very surprised if I hugged them every morning, or tried to shake their hands. You should say hello.

It is normal to shake hands the first time you meet them in a work environment but not necessarily the only time, if you see them intermittendly it is also normal to shake hnads, but not essential.

Hugging close friends on social occasion is acceptable but not essential. Men do this patting back thing.

I would not suggest you start using any term of endearment as a matter of course, use people's names. I would not take offence at being called "mate" and would not say anything, but I would rather not be addressed that way. using people's names would avoid any unintended annoyance.

khurram

hmm nice. Thanks for this useful information. Its really bad to annoy someone even without knowing what have u done so better be careful and try to learn about them. by the way i was talking to my colleague who always calls everyone mate, hey mate, how r u mate, what do u think mate, lets go mate. yesterday I asked him whats the meaning of mate? he replied, "buddy". and then i asked when 2 people are becoming buddies, what this process of being biuddies will be called? and he said oh man i should be calling u buddy from now one, not mate

uzi

We use the term "dude" here in US a lot :-), and whenever we want to imitate our Australian counterparts, we do it like: 'G'day mate, i'll fix it for ya in a jiffy..' . Its very similar to the way we say words 'yaar', 'dost' in a more informal way back in Pakistan.

Bermudashorts

Don't feel you have to call anyone mate or buddy though. You will never offend anyone or look silly by using people's names. Perhaps when you are more settled in the Australian way and have friends you will start using these terms naturally. I would still recommend you stick to using your female colleagues names.

Alfresco

Yep, probably the safest option especially for new arrivals. The word mate is overused in my opinion, more so in the UK than I find here (at work anyway).

I hear "G'day" more often than "G'day mate". What I hear the most though is "Hey, how ya going?" especially in shops.

It's all good fun.

Faisal Nawaz

Hi all

what about the question asked by the case officer? anyone else has been asked the same question?
guidance is required.

regards
Faisal