[koalaswiss]

Hi everyone,
We applied for my 820 in May and I was about to do my medicals and police checks in Jan. We also booked a holiday for Feb, yeaa. I know that I shouldn't apply for the BVB too early, but would you recommend me to upload our holiday itinerary as further proof we are still in a genius relationship? I also prepared a new file with all the weddings and events we attended, would you recommend to upload it now or wait to be eligible for 801?
We're also about to start the process of buying a property together, should I upload all of it now as further proof?
Sorry for the tones of questions, I feel like I'm at a crossroad with lots happening in our relationship and not sure how to present it to the immigration.
Elodie

 

[LaylaH]

How long have you been waiting again? ?

 

[koalaswiss]

How long have you been waiting again? ?

If the question was for me, we applied in May this year so 6 months.

 

[tini_molina]

Have you heard anything from DIBP if not i suggest try contacting them just for a follow up like how i did.

I was in a similar situation as you were as i applied in the same month March 2016 waited for almost 18 months then i contacted my agent he advised that ill need to wait. However i contacted the immigration office in the 1st week of October and on the 2nd week i was granted the 820 visa.

Hope this helps

Hi! May I ask how did you exactly contact the immi department? I wonder if that might help our case at all (even by alleviating some of the frustration I have been feeling lately).

My partner (sponsor) and I applied in Dec last year. We uploaded our evidence straight away and I did my health check soon after. We didn't hear anything until June this year, when my partner got contacted to provide his Police Check. He already had it, so he uploaded it, they acknowledged having received it and that was that. Nothing has changed, we haven't been assigned a CO nor has the visa status changed to "processing" or something like that. I wonder if this is normal.

Best of luck to everyone on this forum!

 

[ral31gh]

I'm in the same boat with pretty much everyone else.

My partner and I just submitted our visa stuff on 17 Nov 2017, now begins the waiting game I suppose.

 

[al_ghazal]

Hi! May I ask how did you exactly contact the immi department? I wonder if that might help our case at all (even by alleviating some of the frustration I have been feeling lately).

My partner (sponsor) and I applied in Dec last year. We uploaded our evidence straight away and I did my health check soon after. We didn't hear anything until June this year, when my partner got contacted to provide his Police Check. He already had it, so he uploaded it, they acknowledged having received it and that was that. Nothing has changed, we haven't been assigned a CO nor has the visa status changed to "processing" or something like that. I wonder if this is normal.

Best of luck to everyone on this forum!

wow that's disheartening about the sponsor police check I thought that meant they were close to finalising the application. did your sponsor status change to approved?

 

[Sheldonpk]

Hi! May I ask how did you exactly contact the immi department? I wonder if that might help our case at all (even by alleviating some of the frustration I have been feeling lately).

My partner (sponsor) and I applied in Dec last year. We uploaded our evidence straight away and I did my health check soon after. We didn't hear anything until June this year, when my partner got contacted to provide his Police Check. He already had it, so he uploaded it, they acknowledged having received it and that was that. Nothing has changed, we haven't been assigned a CO nor has the visa status changed to "processing" or something like that. I wonder if this is normal.

Best of luck to everyone on this forum!

Hi there,

I contacted them on 131 881 had to wait for almost 3 hours to speak to someone.

Few tips

1) Call the DIBP call centre at 8:30:00 AM sharp to avoid long waiting time!

2) Make two phone calls

PHONE CALL 1

1. Always ask the operator what their name is. They may only give you a first name.

2. Always as them what their position number is. They must tell you their position number.

3. Make sure you write their name and position number down.

4. Make sure you write the time of your call.

5. Write down the information that you are being told.

6. Double-check the information that you have been provided by making a second phone call.

PHONE CALL 2

Repeat the steps in PHONE CALL 1 again and check that the operator provides you with exactly the same information as you received in PHONE CALL 1.

 

[tini_molina]

wow that's disheartening about the sponsor police check I thought that meant they were close to finalising the application. did your sponsor status change to approved?

Nope, nothing! We checked his Immi account and nothing seems to be different. All we see is "application received". Also, we double-checked the response he got after uploading his PC and informing the Department, and it was just an automated email.

I know that it hasn't exactly been such a long time waiting compared to the actual processing times on the DIBP website, but I just thought that, you know, having been asked to provide more information meant that things were moving along, which isn't the case, apparently. That's why I'm wondering if we should take a more proactive approach. We're still uploading evidence, but maybe we should try contacting the Department.

 

[tini_molina]

Thank you! That helps a lot!

Edit:
Sorry! I realized I didn't quote. This was for Sheldonpk!

 

[Cailenegrace]

Just submitted my Partnership Visa App!!!!

Hi there!

I am fresh to the waiting game. Literally just submitted my application moments ago. It says on the Immi Website 20-25 month estimated process time. Woof. I'm thinking that they buff this time frame quite a bit.... especially after reading some of your previous posts.

Anyone have any tips on how to not stress out? I have all my evidence ready to go. I am just waiting for my application to turn from "Submitted" to "Received." I saw on the information page that people are having issues uploading evidence and the recommendation was to wait for this change in status.
_____________________

From the USA
820/801 Submitted Nov 24, 2017

 

[Skybluebrewer]

Hi there!

I am fresh to the waiting game. Literally just submitted my application moments ago. It says on the Immi Website 20-25 month estimated process time. Woof. I'm thinking that they buff this time frame quite a bit.... especially after reading some of your previous posts.

Anyone have any tips on how to not stress out? I have all my evidence ready to go. I am just waiting for my application to turn from "Submitted" to "Received." I saw on the information page that people are having issues uploading evidence and the recommendation was to wait for this change in status.
_____________________

From the USA
820/801 Submitted Nov 24, 2017

You should try to upload your evidence right away. The issues people were having were around the same time there was maintenance being done to the immi portal. Don't worry about what the status shows as it appears to change at different stages for everyone.

It's not a 20-25 month wait. 75% processed in 20 months means 75% of applicants are estimated to be processed in 20 months. Applicants processed in one month, two months, ten months, and so on all fall into this category. Only around 15% estimated are processed between 20-25 months. Another 10% takes longer.

 

[TheFluff]

Ah the waiting game.

It took awhile from when it was listing as submitted for the "estimated processing time" to come up on the screen.

I figured 2 years anyway.
God uploading is such a bitch, condense to PDF, realise you didn't make the photos small enough, resize and condense again.

I think I've probably missed uploading something, but they'll let us know. A friend who did it said their assigned case manager gave them plenty of opportunities to fix up things they'd miss in adding in.

 

[Skybluebrewer]

Ah the waiting game.

It took awhile from when it was listing as submitted for the "estimated processing time" to come up on the screen.

I figured 2 years anyway.
God uploading is such a bitch, condense to PDF, realise you didn't make the photos small enough, resize and condense again.

I think I've probably missed uploading something, but they'll let us know. A friend who did it said their assigned case manager gave them plenty of opportunities to fix up things they'd miss in adding in.

Yeah.... they've made changes and they won't be helping people who missed things. They probably realized how people supplying unfinished apps can draw out processing times so much.

If you applied before 18 Nov 2017, they will only contact you once for missing documents. After 18 Nov? Not a chance. A decision will be made based on what you supplied.

In my opinion, the latter is how it should be.

 

[Skybluebrewer]

And we've seen an 820 grant in 7 months within this month. Not so unlikely to be in that 75% category.

 

[TheFluff]

Wow, 7 months.

I do agree about the what you submit is what they process with. Just simple things like the cost and annoyance of getting police checks and medicals which expire within 12months.

I'm pretty confident about the stuff we've uploaded. We submitted in September so before the november changes came into affect, but still prefer to cover the bases for that one so as not to risk rejection and loosing like $8k+ in total when you include registration, checks etc.

Thanks for the headsup about the missing doc stuff :-D

 

[HRose313]

Wow, 7 months.

I do agree about the what you submit is what they process with. Just simple things like the cost and annoyance of getting police checks and medicals which expire within 12months.

I'm pretty confident about the stuff we've uploaded. We submitted in September so before the november changes came into affect, but still prefer to cover the bases for that one so as not to risk rejection and loosing like $8k+ in total when you include registration, checks etc.

Thanks for the headsup about the missing doc stuff :-D

There is a thread discussing the changes, and from what I can tell, it is still up in the air about whether some of the changes SkyBlueBrewer mentioned are in full effect now:

The MIA has received confirmation from the Department of changes to Partner (SC 309/100 & 820/801) and Prospective Marriage (SC 300) visa application arrangements mooted at the MIA National Conference.

The following policy will be applied to applications lodged before and after 18 November 2017 and not finally decided:

• Undocumented or poorly documented applications lodged by RMAs, eg applicatons that only meet the basic Schedule 1 requirements for lodging a valid application, may be refused without notice and without requests for further information.

• Where natural justice letters have been sent to RMAs, no follow up or subsequent reminders will be sent. The Department will decide the application on the information before it, unless an extension of time has been requested and granted.

• For applications lodged prior to 18 November 2017, the Department will provide only ONE opportunity to submit additional information and/or documents or respond to a natural justice letter.

These measures have been implemented by the Department because of the high level of incomplete and undocumented applications lodged and are aimed at freeing Departmental resources to address the second stage processing backlog.

The Department has also indicated that it will prioritise well documented and low risk applications in 2017 - 2018. AAT applications will also be remitted to one central office to speed up processing.

According to a user who works for the DIBP, the only change to the partner visas to be fully enacted is that it's mandatory for applicants to apply online only. Nonetheless, I would upload everything you have (except for the police and medical checks) as soon as possible as we don't know when these changes will come into effect. Personally, I think these aforementioned changes concern those from high-risk countries who only submit their application, IDs, and other required information (ie. no supporting financial or social evidence). If you've submitted solid supporting evidence that you and your partner are together you should be fine .

I'm not a big fan of these changes as anyone who doesn't want to dish out extra money for a migration agent or doesn't think to visit these forums would be in the dark about changes such as these. I was contacted by immigration once after receiving my generic e-mail. Once I received the generic email (around 9 months after applying), I got all my police checks and medical done. Six months after that, I got an e-mail requesting my partner fill out the paper form for the 40SP (which is odd since I applied online). I got my 820 about two weeks after that. So, the only time I was ever personally contacted by a CO was to upload a document we already provided, but there was quite a bit I continually uploaded to immi on my own, and if these items weren't taken into consideration with the items I uploaded from the start, I would've been screwed. Best of luck to you!

 

[davii]

My partner and I submitted our 820 application online on the 19th of Oct 2017 and we're still waiting, hoping we submitted everything we need. Fingers crossed we hear something soon.

 

[HRose313]

My partner and I submitted our 820 application online on the 19th of Oct 2017 and we're still waiting, hoping we submitted everything we need. Fingers crossed we hear something soon.

Best of luck, Davii...but in terms of hearing from immigration, you may be waiting a while. I'm not sure how these new changes will speed up the process, but many members on hear don't hear from immigration for MONTHS after submitting their application if at all. Just sit back, and enjoy the wait

 

[davii]

Best of luck, Davii...but in terms of hearing from immigration, you may be waiting a while. I'm not sure how these new changes will speed up the process, but many members on hear don't hear from immigration for MONTHS after submitting their application if at all. Just sit back, and enjoy the wait

Thanks Rose! We came from PMV as well, not sure if this makes any difference too.

So once we receive the 820 grant we wait another 2 years for them to re-assess us for 801?

Thanks!

 

[Mish]

Thanks Rose! We came from PMV as well, not sure if this makes any difference too.

So once we receive the 820 grant we wait another 2 years for them to re-assess us for 801?

Thanks!

I think from memory al_ghazal whose husband arrived on a PMV is still waiting on his 820. I think they have been waiting since May but not 100% sure.

Once you get the 820 you are eligible for the 801 2 years after the application date of the 820. All it means you are eligible then but the granting of the 801 can be 12+ months after eligibility date. In 2 years time you might be looking at 18 months - at the moment 801 grants are around 14 to 16 months after eligibility date.

You will need to provide evidence since the grant of the 820 for the 801.