how long before i hear a reply

sponge_bob

hi guys
i applied for a permanent residence visa back in january, for myself wife and 3 kids. i got an email fairly shortly afterwards requesting i go for my medicals which i did and sent off the results. then in march i got another email looking for police certs and a small bit of info on my brother (who is sponsoring me as a relative). but since then i havn't heard a thing, that was almost 6months ago. even then they were saying that it could take upto 3 months to get assigned a case officer, after which time i would hear something within 6 weeks.
is it normal for them to take this long? or should i try and make contact in someway?

hussey

you can check your progress online - not sure of exact link, but if you have your ref number you can see what stage you are at.

anything less than 6months would be quick - 6-12 months (depends on your skills etc) would be avg

sponge_bob

this is the place that i check my online application
http://www.immi.gov.au/e_visa/check-progress.htm

but that hasn't changed since i finished uploading my documents.
just thought that i would have heard something back at this stage as their email that i got in march suggested that a case officer would be assigned in june and that i should hear something within six weeks.

As stated above, it is expected that your application will be assessed by a case officer within three months from the date of this letter. When this occurs, your case officer will inform you of any outstanding requirements, or, if all information is submitted, a decision may be made on your application.

Information on current allocation dates can be obtained by sending a blank email to gsm.processing@immi.gov.au. This auto-response is updated fortnightly and will provide you with an indication of when your application is nearing allocation. Once your application is allocated to a case officer, we request you allow a further six weeks for your application to be assessed.

is this standard enough?
thought i might have at least recieved a request for further information or something at this stage

PiE

Email the person who asked you for further information (the medical / police reports) and ask them what your application status is? I did that and she responded that it would be processed in August, and it was.

cormaclynch

Timeline seems about right so far. IF it got closer to Jan 2012 I'd start to get worried. Once you get a case officer it'll go a lot quicker.

One thing I'd say is get all the documentation and police checks etc into them now. My experience was they would ask for something like a police check. Then i'd submit and then they'd ask for another thing like another police check from another place. It was very frustrating that they didnt give me a full list of things to get. I.e it says if you've lived in a place for 12 months or more you need a police report. But we had 2 places where we were living for between 8 and 12 months and we thought we didnt need a report but they came back to us on the 3rd or 4th time saying we needed it. Very frustrating as if they had of told us at the start we could have saved a few months of time waiting around getting things processed.

They might come back and ask for a police check for your brother. Maybe get him to organise that now as it can take up to 12 weeks to come through. Get it and submit it.

And dont forget about getting them certified correctly and clearly write the certifiers details and qualifications etc.

I would email them though and see how your application is progressing, might help. Some people say if you hassle them they can put your application to the back of the queue but I dont believe that.

sponge_bob

i have everything sent in with about 6 months medicals, police certs, documents evrything they have asked for.
guess i will give it another few months, still it would be nice if i got some sort of correspondence from them at least i would know that something is being done

mandrake04

I think I read somewhere that family sponsor is processing Priority 4, those 176 with state sponsorship have a higher Priorty.

sponge_bob

mandrake04 wrote: »

I think I read somewhere that family sponsor is processing Priority 4, those 176 with state sponsorship have a higher Priorty.

priority 3 i was told in the initial email i recieved,
anyhow i guess i will wait another few weeks before i start to panic:D

mandrake04

sponge_bob wrote: »

priority 3 i was told in the initial email i recieved,
anyhow i guess i will wait another few weeks before i start to panic:D

Changed on the 1st July

From 1 July 2011, processing priorities (with highest priority listed first) are:

1. applications from people who are employer sponsored under the RSMS program or who have applied for a Skilled – Regional (subclass 887) visa
2. applications from people who are applying under the ENS program
3. applications from people who are nominated by a state or territory government agency for an occupation specified on that agency's state migration plan
4. applications from people who have nominated an occupation on the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) – Schedule 1 in effect from 1 July 2011
5. all other applications.

RSMS, ENS and state migration plans–priority groups 1, 2 and 3
Applications from people who are applying under the RSMS are processed as priority group 1. Those applying under the ENS are processed as priority group 2.

Applications from people who are nominated by a state or territory government agency with a nominated occupation that is specified on the state or territory's state migration plan receive the third highest level of priority processing. State migration plans are developed by state or territory governments in consultation with the department. They include occupations that are in demand in each individual state and territory.

As a transitional arrangement, applicants who were nominated by a state or territory government for an 'off-list' occupation prior to the implementation of state migration plans will also receive processing under priority group 3.

Occupations on the SOL–Schedule 1 in effect at 1 July 2011–priority group 4
All applicants with a nominated occupation on the SOL–Schedule 1 are included in priority group 4. This includes both independent applicants and applicants sponsored by an Australian family member.

All other applications–priority group 5
Applicants with a nominated occupation that is not on the SOL–Schedule 1 in effect at 1 July 2011 and who are not employer sponsored or nominated by a state or territory government under a state migration plan, will be processed under priority group 5.

Applicants with a nominated occupation that is not on the SOL–Schedule 1 in effect at 1 July 2011 can only move into a higher priority group by lodging a new application with an employer sponsorship or a state or territory government nomination in an occupation specified under a state migration plan. Alternatively, applicants can only nominate a different occupation that is on the SOL–Schedule 1 by lodging a new application. It is not possible to change a nominated occupation or to change to an employer sponsored or state nominated visa category, unless a new application is lodged. A new application would require the payment of a new Visa Application Charge.

Applicants should not contact the department to request that their application be exempt from the priority processing direction. Case officers do not have discretion to exempt applications.

Depending wether you occupation is in Sched 1 will determine if you are in Cat 4

If not it would be Cat 5

Ozeire

sponge_bob wrote: »

hi guys
i applied for a permanent residence visa back in january, for myself wife and 3 kids. i got an email fairly shortly afterwards requesting i go for my medicals which i did and sent off the results. then in march i got another email looking for police certs and a small bit of info on my brother (who is sponsoring me as a relative). but since then i havn't heard a thing, that was almost 6months ago. even then they were saying that it could take upto 3 months to get assigned a case officer, after which time i would hear something within 6 weeks.
is it normal for them to take this long? or should i try and make contact in someway?

From my experince and I got a visa on partner visa is that the medical n police check were the final part of the process. I got mine granted within a few weeks of that.

You should already have a case worker from day one. You should have a ref number and name of case worker who you can email and ask how things are going.

They are usally pretty busy so be polite and just ask them . Might take a while for them to reply but my case worker always got back to me within a week .

sponge_bob

i contacted the department yesterday by email with whatever bits of information i had, ie my file no. name and address and so on, enquiring about the status of my application
got an email back this morning with contact details for the case officer dealing with it and a request for a few extra bits of info. so at least it is after being kicked off now.

just wonder though, how long it would have been before they contacted me if i hadn't sent an email:rolleyes:

PiE

Maybe you should send them some more rolleyes in your next email.

Coileach dearg

sponge_bob wrote: »

i contacted the department yesterday by email with whatever bits of information i had, ie my file no. name and address and so on, enquiring about the status of my application
got an email back this morning with contact details for the case officer dealing with it and a request for a few extra bits of info. so at least it is after being kicked off now.

just wonder though, how long it would have been before they contacted me if i hadn't sent an email:rolleyes:

Hi Sponge_bob. I see you are applying for a visa sponsored by your brother. Can you tell me which category visa this is please? I am looking to do something similar.
Hope it's granted soon for you, good luck.

sponge_bob

Coileach dearg wrote: »

Hi Sponge_bob. I see you are applying for a visa sponsored by your brother. Can you tell me which category visa this is please? I am looking to do something similar.
Hope it's granted soon for you, good luck.

its a skilled sponsored visa (subclass 176), iam a carpenter by trade but i was still short on points so thats why i used my brother.
under the old system if i went it alone i needed 120points, but if my brother sponsored me i only needed 100points, and i had 105points.
this was under the old system, as i applied early january. there is a new system in place since july.