Fleaflyfloflum

OH put his UK spouse visa application in 8 weeks ago and we still have no word from them! It is really starting to get me down.

Day after day my daughter is receiving phone calls from recruiters with jobs for him and here we are stuck in bloody Sydney because of red tape!!! :curse:
Another BE member in New Zealand posted here weeks ago saying they had the same spouse visa processed and granted in 4 weeks. What the hell are they doing in Canberra for gods sake There is no point phoning them as they refuse to give out info on visas being processed, so here we are, sitting on our hands living in limbo with our whole life on hold.

I am starting to worry that by the time we get it all the jobs will be gone!!

Just needed to get it off my chest. Thanks

Chi_town

Do they issue an interim letter to say they received your application? Or can you 'track' it on a website (you can with US visa applications) So at least you know they have received the application? It must be so frustrating to just be waiting in a sort of vacuum as you don't know when they are going to approve...

Susie.

Fleaflyfloflum

Hi Susie

They dont send you anything, but in desperation, we did ring them up a few weeks ago as i was worried that they hadnt received it. They did tell us it was there with them, but thats when they informed us that they are not allowed to give out information on applications being processed so we can't phone them again.
It is just ridiculous. My daughter has just told me there have been 2 more phone calls for him today!

Its nearly 2am here and once again i cannot sleep from worrying about it all.

Chi_town

I guess the only good thing is that if the phone calls for jobs have been coming in for the last few weeks, they will keep on coming....Hope the visa comes thru asap for you guys. Then I guess you have to start all the fun stuff with movers etc... I am just starting into that now....Wish I could press a button and be magically 'moved' without all this hassle!

Bevm

That sucks, Flea.

How much would it cost your husband to fly to Canberra and go to the office? Not to throw a scene, but to put a human face on the situation.

This is the UK consulate? Have you thought of e-mailing the MP for the area where you want to live back home? Explain that your husband wants to return and he has nursing skills that are in demand, but the paperwork's stuck.

Either might shake things up.

Bev

Fleaflyfloflum

Hi Bev

I'm not sure it would make any difference. It is the British Consulate. They seem to be very secretive and the height of unhelpful officialdom. If i thought it would help we would go there. I guess i could look into it, but dont want a wasted trip.

We will give it another week or so and then start to knock on doors.

Ther whole thing is ridiculous. We met and married in the UK. Lived there 2yrs together as man and wife before leaving. He has never claimed a penny off the government. Had lived there 4yrs on a previous work visa. The only reason we have to go through all this is to prove he will not claim money off the government for the first 12mths he is there. For gods sake!! He has people npestering him and my daughter by phone calls and emails nearly everyday wanting him to go for job interviews, so he is obviously in high demand!! It is THEY who are stopping him. I feel like i want to thump someone I am that angry.

cricket1again

Why don't you front up and tell them you MUST return home due to a family crisis? Just go into the department, don't get irate, but beg and plead. I've seen things get speeded up doing it this way. It's worth a try.

Don't worry about jobs running out. There's always been a glut of fruitcakes in the UK. The stress of the recession will ensure the glut stays.

ruthmac

Seems like the BHC is taking it's time over visa applications from Australia. The processing times are unbelievable. There's a thread of pi$$ed off applicants/spouses here:

http://www.ukresident.com/forums/spo...ia-t65799.html
Still, if it's any consolation, you are nearer the end of the process than the beginning. If they reckon 12 weeks to issue a visa, then you have max. 4 more weeks to wait....

Fleaflyfloflum

OMG I just joined up and read the thread Ruth. Thanks for the link, but it seems We still have a wait as you said.

I guess theres no point going down there now

Typical bloody Australia!! :curse: A piddling little country like NZ can sort it all out in 4 weeks yet this lot takes months!

** sigh** is it gin o'clock yet?

Exile

We had the same cr*p from Canberra.

You can only apply within three months of your intended travel date. And how long does it take? Yes, 12 weeks. Very helpful.

We waited almost 12 weeks and were refused (factors specific to our case, so don't worry!).

Sorry not helpful, but I sympathize.

keijei

You may be better off going to the High Commission in Canberra. My Aussie wife did and got her visa in 24 hours.

Tr1boy

This is what we did in 06 and Mrs Triboy got hers on the spot (well 3hrs later) and they gave her 3mths to travel after the visa date, but also said the visa date can be any date within the next three months, so essentially we had 6mths to travel, if we needed it.

Now we're back in Oz and intending to go to UK again we thought we'd do the same thing, but Flea was saying you can't turn up at BHC anymore?

BTW, if you can still go there, don't do what we did and turn up at the BHC, the visas are issued from essentially a shed at the back of a service station near the airport. I reckon a lot of people made the same mistake though as the security guard had a pile of maps with the route to the visa office highlighted on them.

quoll

You can make an appointment and rock up to the "shed at the back of the service station behind the airport" just be sure to get there between 9am and 2 pm.

I understand though that later this year all visa and passport renewals will be done through New Zealand!!!!!! Yup, the security guard told me that they were closing the facility in Aus. How stupid is that?

Fleaflyfloflum

You will not be given your visa if you go to Canberra. You can only LODGE the application in person and have biometric tests done there. You have to supply a prepaid return envelope for them to send everything back to you once they have processed it.

See here.

http://ukinaustralia.fco.gov.uk/en/visas/

http://ukinaustralia.fco.gov.uk/en/visas/how-to-apply/


If you go look at the website Ruthmac posted above, there are loads of people complaining at the incompetence and delays down there.

Quoll. I was told by Finks who had their visas processed in NZ that they are doing the reverse and closing the NZ office and doing it all from Canberra. Dont know what to believe now

cricket1again

Normal for here then.