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We have a case officer!

7K views 20 replies 7 participants last post by  H.Protagonist 
#1 ·
We have our case officer, we applied in the first week of January.

I do have a question though that has been stressing both hubby and I out.

On the email we recieved, she stated that she needed to make sure our relationship was still ongoing and to submit evidence to that effect. The issue is that we continually upload evidence as we recieve it - joint mail etc. we submitted stacks of evidence when we first applied and then have submitted one or two pieces of additional evidence every month since then. The last big piece of evidence was our new joint lease we finally managed to get at the end of May and notification from the hospital of our daughters birth (we are in the process of applying for her birth certificate). We also submitted two pieces of jointly addressed mail in June and another photograph of us with friends in July.

Everything else such as form 888s, joint bills, insurance, joint travel, joint memberships to clubs, bank statements, photographs, evidence of wedding etc etc have all been submitted. Our numbers of files totals around 200.... I was very meticulous and bordering on neurotic about evidence.

We literally have practically nothing left to submit....we will upload in our daughters birth certificate and our most recent bank statement for our joint account....but we have no other new evidence.

Do you think it was just a standard email and that our case officer will be satisfied with the evidence we have already submitted?

Should we try and find another person to do another form 888? We have six currently plus two notarized statements from the US. Should we do a statement declaring our relationship is still genuine and continuing?

I'm so stressed :(
 
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#2 · (Edited)
Good Luck!!!

We have our case officer, we applied in the first week of January.

I do have a question though that has been stressing both hubby and I out.

On the email we recieved, she stated that she needed to make sure our relationship was still ongoing and to submit evidence to that effect. The issue is that we continually upload evidence as we recieve it - joint mail etc. we submitted stacks of evidence when we first applied and then have submitted one or two pieces of additional evidence every month since then. The last big piece of evidence was our new joint lease we finally managed to get at the end of May and notification from the hospital of our daughters birth (we are in the process of applying for her birth certificate). We also submitted two pieces of jointly addressed mail in June and another photograph of us with friends in July.

Everything else such as form 888s, joint bills, insurance, joint travel, joint memberships to clubs, bank statements, photographs, evidence of wedding etc etc have all been submitted. Our numbers of files totals around 200.... I was very meticulous and bordering on neurotic about evidence.

We literally have practically nothing left to submit....we will upload in our daughters birth certificate and our most recent bank statement for our joint account....but we have no other new evidence.

Do you think it was just a standard email and that our case officer will be satisfied with the evidence we have already submitted?

Should we try and find another person to do another form 888? We have six currently plus two notarized statements from the US. Should we do a statement declaring our relationship is still genuine and continuing?

I'm so stressed :(
Hey Star Hunter,

Congratulations on finally getting a case officer :D:D I don't think you should worry about providing more form 888s as you have already provided more than required ;) and so you should be fine.
Minimum 2 form 888s are required, but you have 6 plus witness letters from the States;)

As for additional documents- sounds like you have a very fat file of evidence which is GREAT! I know how you feel right now about the evidence, I've already submitted additional documents twice since my face to face interview in February 2014 and have still somehow managed to forget some documents like movie tickets, theme park tickets, hotel bookings....arghhh :rolleyes::rolleyes: which I will be sending with my PCC (hoping that would be the final package I will have to send to the AHC).

All the additional documents you have mentioned in your post should be plenty. Don't freak yourself out....
WOOH SAAAH!!!....hahaha
Wish you all the very best and hope your partner gets his visa very soon. Happy news could be at your door step :D:D
Good Luck!! Please do share the good news with us ;)
Hope this helps.

Kind Regards,
Becky
 
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#3 ·
Hi Becky,

Thanks so much for the reassurance! It's so nerve wracking! Especially as it looks like they are strictly enforcing the 60 file limit and now we can't upload any more documents so will have to email anything we find from now on.

I just don't understand why she needs more evidence since lodgement, when we've been sending in additional evidence regularly as it comes to hand. Everything additional, we have already submitted so I don't understand why she's asking for even more? Do you think the email is more of a "I'm about to make a decision so make sure you have submitted everything" rather than a "I'm not happy with the evidence that you have submitted so far" email? Seriously, I think we have submitted more than most applicants from low risk countries and our relationship is definitely genuine. We have a child together! He's a step father to my other children and our lives are very mundane and normal. I wish we could just videotape every second of our lives for 6 months and submit that, haha!

I'm about to snap with worry, seriously!! I never, ever in a million years expected an email telling us to submit more evidence!!
 
#4 · (Edited)
Hi Becky,

Thanks so much for the reassurance! It's so nerve wracking! Especially as it looks like they are strictly enforcing the 60 file limit and now we can't upload any more documents so will have to email anything we find from now on.

I just don't understand why she needs more evidence since lodgement, when we've been sending in additional evidence regularly as it comes to hand. Everything additional, we have already submitted so I don't understand why she's asking for even more? Do you think the email is more of a "I'm about to make a decision so make sure you have submitted everything" rather than a "I'm not happy with the evidence that you have submitted so far" email? Seriously, I think we have submitted more than most applicants from low risk countries and our relationship is definitely genuine. We have a child together! He's a step father to my other children and our lives are very mundane and normal. I wish we could just videotape every second of our lives for 6 months and submit that, haha!

I'm about to snap with worry, seriously!! I never, ever in a million years expected an email telling us to submit more evidence!!
Hahaha!! Sending video tapes...I wish!! Show them how genuine we are ;) My husband was actually asking if we could do that...LOL

As far as the case officer's email is concerned, I think it's more of a "last minute reminder if in case you have more evidence that you would want to be considered before the decision is made" kinda email rather than the scary option. From what you say, I don't think you have anything to worry about :) Although it is natural to freak out after receiving the email that you just described. And if you have exhausted the limit on your ImmiAccount, then you shouldn't worry at all :)

Did your case officer ask you to send her additional documents to her email address because you can't upload any more documents? Can applicants do that or are they only allowed to upload the evidence/documents?

My husband and I get minor heart attacks every time we see an email in our inbox from immigration@dfat.gov.au address or get a phone call from AHC...those are the scariest moments of my life, scarier than being on the giant drop...hahaha!
:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Nothing to worry about, you should be FINE :)
Good Luck!!

Kind Regards,
Becky
 
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#5 ·
We have our case officer, we applied in the first week of January.

I do have a question though that has been stressing both hubby and I out.

On the email we recieved, she stated that she needed to make sure our relationship was still ongoing and to submit evidence to that effect. The issue is that we continually upload evidence as we recieve it - joint mail etc. we submitted stacks of evidence when we first applied and then have submitted one or two pieces of additional evidence every month since then. The last big piece of evidence was our new joint lease we finally managed to get at the end of May and notification from the hospital of our daughters birth (we are in the process of applying for her birth certificate). We also submitted two pieces of jointly addressed mail in June and another photograph of us with friends in July.

Everything else such as form 888s, joint bills, insurance, joint travel, joint memberships to clubs, bank statements, photographs, evidence of wedding etc etc have all been submitted. Our numbers of files totals around 200.... I was very meticulous and bordering on neurotic about evidence.

We literally have practically nothing left to submit....we will upload in our daughters birth certificate and our most recent bank statement for our joint account....but we have no other new evidence.

Do you think it was just a standard email and that our case officer will be satisfied with the evidence we have already submitted?

Should we try and find another person to do another form 888? We have six currently plus two notarized statements from the US. Should we do a statement declaring our relationship is still genuine and continuing?

I'm so stressed :(
Hi Star Hunter
I am sure you received the stock standard one size fits all email that is routinely sent out.
I have followed your progress and i am sure you have provided more than ample evidence of your relationship.
Remember your partner is from a low risk country so you have no problems with document fraud etc.
I think you should look on the email as an indication that at long last you are making the progress you have been waiting for.
Good luck
.
 
#6 ·
I said this elsewhere, but QUIT WORRYING! ;) Seriously, if you want to assuage your fears, just email her back. Say something like -

"Hi, I received your email asking for additional evidence. We've already provided over 200 pieces of evidence of our relationship, and have continued to add additional evidence while our case has been processing of our ongoing and continuing relationship. Can you confirm if you actually need MORE evidence from us? I'd actually thought we probably overwhelmed you with evidence, so I thought maybe I'd misunderstood your request? If you truly need more evidence, please just let me know and we'll try to track some down - but it will have to be emailed to you or something as the online system will no longer allow me to add additional documents. Thanks!"
 
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#7 ·
Congrats, Star Hunter! It does seem like more of a stock email, and you've given them so much stuff already. I wouldn't worry too much.

On that note, though, should I continue to add stuff to my own application even though it was submitted back in late April? My husband and I bought a car and I do have all the wedding pictures now from the actual ceremony. Is it good to keep adding this stuff...?
 
#8 ·
It certainly won't hurt to do that, HP. :)
 
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#21 ·
It is done.

Evidence of the car purchase coming out of our joint bank account and photos from the wedding party have been pdf-ed and uploaded for their viewing pleasure.

When they see our adorable koala favors surely they'll grant my VISA right then and there. I'm pretty sure the small print on the website said that was a way to speed things up. Probably. :)

Haha! CG stop being reasonable and let me enjoy being a stress head ;) No, seriously thank you for putting my mind at rest.

Thanks to everyone who has posted. I feel so much better and didn't realise how on edge I've been regarding this application. As organised as you know, logically, that you are, the worry is just there all the time.

HP - I would either keep submitting evidence or, At the very least, keep anything you could use as evidence in a file and upload it when requested, like we were asked to do.
The whole thing is pretty nerve-wracking. Correspondence, any correspondence, seems like a good sign, though. It means something's moving. Little wheels are turning and sleep-deprived, overworked eyeballs are looking at your app. I expect good news from you soon.

For my part, I dropped the 2 new bits of supporting evidence on there and stared meaningfully at the "Processing" note on my app for a while, willing it to change to "Granted" or "Finalized" or even "Coming Soon!"

Anyway, if anything else looks worthy to upload, I will. Cheers to you and CG for the tip.
 
#10 ·
Haha! CG stop being reasonable and let me enjoy being a stress head ;) No, seriously thank you for putting my mind at rest.

Thanks to everyone who has posted. I feel so much better and didn't realise how on edge I've been regarding this application. As organised as you know, logically, that you are, the worry is just there all the time.

HP - I would either keep submitting evidence or, At the very least, keep anything you could use as evidence in a file and upload it when requested, like we were asked to do.

DragonBug, that's a very good point. She probably doesn't realise that some of the evidence is recently acquired evidence because they are used to people submitting evidence at lodgement and then not submitting anything else....we kinda anticipated that they would want to know our relationship is still ongoing so we kept adding evidence as it came to hand. I guess, not everyone is going to do that so they are the ones that need to be asked to submit more.

We were also asked to submit the form 80, which we have already submitted so I'm guessing she actually hasn't gone through our application particularly carefully.

I'm going to relax a little now. We also managed to dig up some new evidence anyway - a water bill from last month, some more mail and a Telstra bill. We can print out our latest joint bank statement and our child's birth certificate listing us both at the same address. We also have text messages etc of us communicating like a married couple "can you grab some more bread babe? I love you" etc. That should be enough to satisfy them anyway.

If we get rejected then I'll tear my hair out, but I'll cross that bridge at that point ;)
 
#11 ·
You are lucky you live so far away, lady. Otherwise I'd be insisting we have coffee (er, maybe something non-caffeinated for you ;)) so I can talk you down off the ledge, hahaha. You are NOT going to get rejected. You are MORE than qualified for this visa, and the CO will see that. Deep, cleansing breaths! ;)
 
#12 ·
Distance or not, I'm still counting on a catch-up at some point! Hubby and I are planning an anniversary trip to your state sometime in Oct. Poor hubby has never left SA and so we are planning to edge our way around Oz and do the touristy things. We will have to organise something!
 
#13 ·
Yes!!! I would love that. :) We have (an) anniversary in October too - two years since our engagement (19th). Hubby doesn't know it yet, but we're celebrating it. ;) Hahaha. I like any excuse to get dressed up and go out. :D
 
#14 ·
Everyone is so far away from me. I'll be in Brisbane :p:p
 
#17 ·
I lived in Townsville with my ex husband :) grew up in Adelaide, then moved to the 'Ville for ex husbands work. Came back to Adelaide after we separated for the family support.

CG I will definitely let you know more closer to the date :)
 
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