ianbrown

We are 136MODL August 2007 applicants, and Im sure I ask this on behalf of all August applicants.

Four weeks ago there was a big case officer allocation, visa grant and full ack purge being handed out left, right and centre to all us August applicants, and then it just stopped overnight with not one case officer alocation made to any of us that we know about for the last 4 weeks, it is as if everything has just stopped now!......However looking at the 175's in September, October and November 2007, they are coming through with no problems at all on what seems to be a daily basis.

This never really bothered us at first, applying in August for a 136 was a bit of a gamble on whether we waited and applied on line on 1st Sept for the new 175, we didnt, obviously thinking it would be first come, first served...how wrong could we be and isnt hindsight a wonderful thing???, most of us are now getting pretty hacked off seeing constant stream of 175 visa grants where as ours have stopped completely!!!

Please could you make public on here if you know of any official DIAC line on prioritising 175 visa grants over the 136??, there definately seems to be some kind of favouritism being applied somewhere and we are now getting pretty upset about it. I understood originally that a small team of case officers were working on the 175's to iron out teething problems and that there would be a few 175 grants as they all came to grips with the new sytem, but it now seems that most of their resources are being applied to the new sytem and we have been put on the back burner?

Any input or advice would be very welcome

Thank You

steveandtina

White flag waving I'm a Sept 175 (still waiting too)

Know all Aug 136 are peed off and don't blame them one bit. We was going to lodge in Aug to but agent said wait til Sept as we didn't need the extra points and there are loads in Aug so we waited to Sept.

I'm not a agent but a policeman friend of mine is on good terms with the CO they had when they went to OZ and She told him there was a new department set up for the new 175. So thats why Post Sept were moving thick and fast. Also there has been a big turn over of staff at ASPC of late so that might add to it all

I know this doesnt help you but I really feel for you and your right if it went in date order it wouldn't be so bad. I too get cheesed off when Oct 175 get their visa before me but its not their fault and I am truly happy for them its the systems.

Hope you have some news soon Good luck

Tina x

ianbrown

Thanks Tina
Dont get me wrong, I dont begrudge anyone who has applied for a 175 and sincerely wish every 175 applicant the best of luck and am genuinely happy to see ANY visa grant - 175, 136, 457 or otherwise - we all want to go to Australia and its great to see every visa grant on this site, I can relate to the happiness involved with each and every "We got it" email and they are great to read.

My only grief is with the systems and trying to make sense of it all, there is no pattern or logic to how they are getting through the backlog other than it appears that 136's are not getting processed beyond Full Ack at the moment and all case officer allocations are to 175's???

DEEDEE01

Hiya Hun,

I DO know how you feel, we applied in July 07 136MODL and we are waiting too.

I know it's not that long but CO has had our , meds, police checks etc for over 2 weeks now, we are at the final stage, and still nothing.

We sent our meds via International Signed For, which doesn't help as it can't be tracked outside of the UK, so that is playing on my mind a little at the moment Royal Mail are crap :curse:

Hope you hear something soon, and good luck to all those waiting

Donna.
x

TMRE

Yes they can.
http://www.auspost.com.au/APC/CDA/Fo...7EMO19,00.html

Fill in the details in the above link with the date they were sent from UK and tracking number, where it was going to (Sydney). You should get a response in a couple of days as to when they were delivered Oh and be nice add a thank you for your time, I appreciate any information you can give, seems to help get a quicker response

ianbrown

Our meds have also been sent Royal Mail signed for.....thanks TMRE you are a god damn legend

Alan Collett

You are looking at effectively two entirely separate processing timelines.

The first comprises the many thousands of skilled visa applications that were lodged pre-01/09/2007. As has been noted elsewhere, the numbers have almost overwhelmed the ASPC, and it is going to take a while for the August applications to work their way through the system.

Meanwhile the post-01/09/2007 skilled applications are much less in number (though I understand the number of applications is starting to pick up again). These are being processed by a much smaller pool of case officers.

As I said several months ago, in an equitable world the post-01/09/2007 applications would simply not be processed before all the old caseload. The reality is that political pressures require the ASPC to implement the e-lodgment system, to iron out the bugs in processing, and to demonstrate that the investment in the process has been worthwhile.

In summary, I would encourage all pre-01/09/2007 applicants to accept the relative unfairness of the situation - you will only tie yourselves up in knots of frustration if you don't - and to plan a longer processing timeline than pertained for applications lodged in May/June/July 2007 - my hunch is that applications lodged from the UK from mid-August 2007 are looking at an overall processing timeline of between 9 and 12 months, rather than the 6 months that we experienced for applications lodged a year ago.

Best wishes to all.

ianbrown

Thanks Alan, so worst case scenario for us is August 2008?.....bloody hell!!..............

Alan Collett

No, worst case scenario is no visa!

Joking aside, it is sometimes worthwhile considering that a few years ago local DIAC posts used to handle the processing of skilled visas (eg London for UK applicants).

It then came to pass that the ASPC assumed responsibility for skilled visa processing. All new visa applications were processed at the ASPC, while the old caseloads were handled at the offshore posts.

This led to even more inequity than we are seeing now. Applications lodged in London took some 22 months to process, while the ASPC was seeing applications through to grant in 2 to 4 months.

In time the leftover applications were transferred from the overseas posts to Adelaide, and I recall that the files from one overseas post even went missing in transit.

Assuming all goes to plan you will be in Australia for the summer - two summers in 12 months isn't a bad outcome is it?

Best wishes.

ianbrown

Thank You very much Alan!...a very balanced and honest viewpoint as always, cheers for that

Gonnago

oh Alan we do love you.

OriginalSunshine

that is sooooooo not funny!


Our CO has requested & received meds & PCCs about four weeks ago. And since then..... zero. nothing.....

DEEDEE01

Woo Hoo Nice One TMRE

Your a star !!

Donna.
x

Lindsayc

Hi babyboo

We're like you - applied mid August too and are frustrated to see people that applied after us getting their visas. We wished that we held out till September and used the electronic system - worst case scenario is August then! Suppose it gives us more time to sell the house :curse: Getting married in July and was hoping for a honeymoon in Oz.

We did our meds 20th Feb and they haven't been sent off yet (a mess up with my blood test - had to go back and have another one!) But no case officer anyway so suppose doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things! We'll all get there in the end - sorry just thought I'd vent my frustrations with others going through the same! Keep us posted of any updates Augustees...

Lindsay