Aussie Partner Processing Wait times

[Gopro]

G'day, thought I'd start a thread to see if any could contribute with dates and time from application to approval.

Submitted ours 12 March 2014 in BKK --Patiently waiting, no case officer yet has contacted us.

Looking forward to hear from others

[David48]

First question.

When you say "no case officer yet has contacted us" ... has your Partner been requested to have a Medical yet?

[woody087]

A couple of days after submitting you should have received an email and phone call with case officers name and number and details of how to complete medical.Then I think its about 16 weeks later officer gets in touch again to check over documents.

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[Larz2013]

G'day, thought I'd start a thread to see if any could contribute with dates and time from application to approval.

Submitted ours 12 March 2014 in BKK --Patiently waiting, no case officer yet has contacted us.

Looking forward to hear from others

We submitted 2 weeks ago through an agent in Australia- but submitted it online & offshore in BKK. Our agent said no one will even look at the app for 4-6 months & the total waiting time he estimates as 7 months.

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[Sandgroper1066]

We submitted in April, within 2 days my wife was contacted by embassy requesting her Thai police clearance.Then contacted again a couple of days later instructing her to get her medical exam.Then after hearing nothing for a month my wife telephoned the embassy enquiring about the progress of her application.She was told they were only just starting to look at applications submitted in January and not to expect any further progress until at least another 2 months.

[David48]

I've heard that they usually contact you within a few days of submitting to request a medical.

My Partner was and a Case Officer asigned.

Then, from what I've read, it sits for up to 4 months in the queue.

We are only 2 months into it, so no further contact at this stage

[krisb]

The wait in the queue depends on if she already had another type of visa. We applied offshore and approved within 2 weeks.

No visa agent used.

Edited June 24, 2014 by krisb

[David48]

The wait in the queue depends on if she already had another type of visa. We applied offshore and approved within 2 weeks.

No visa agent used.

If it's not impertinent to ask ... what Visa did she have when she applied for the Partner Visa?

.

[krisb]

The wait in the queue depends on if she already had another type of visa. We applied offshore and approved within 2 weeks.

No visa agent used.

If it's not impertinent to ask ... what Visa did she have when she applied for the Partner Visa?

.

Fiance.

[woody087]

I find these waiting times an absolute joke.If I give a government agency all my details,ie my financial history, my employment history, my family history a couple of of stat decs to show good character and so on, it could not possibly take more than a few hours( in this day and age of the internet )to find out everything there is to know about me.And still it takes nearly 12 months.

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Edited June 24, 2014 by woody087

[krisb]

I find these waiting times an absolute joke.If I give a government agency all my details,ie my financial history, my employment history, my family history a couple of of stat decs to show good character and so on, it could not possibly take more than a few hours( in this day and age of the internet )to find out everything there is to know about me.And still it takes nearly 12 months.

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I think today's visa prices is what's a joke.

The time frame to process is more of a cooling off period, and helps to sort out genuine applications. Look at tourist visas, sorted in a week.

Really this visa is the path to becoming an Australian citizen, this takes time.

On the other side of the coin, could be worse, look at some of the other countries visa rules.

[ozsamurai]

Without getting out of line too much, I do think the processing time for this visa is waaay to long. I understand your point of weeding out the genuine applicants, but that is what the assembly of all the paperwork is about. Days gone by, when you married a person of a country, you were entitled to citizenship, not just a temp visa.

We have lodged this month, got the mail for the medical, done 2 days later. We have been married more than 5 years and have two Aussie/Thai kids, seriously what needs to be considered for 12 months? Is it not obvious that the kids and I can get on a plane and live there right now, why would they prolong our departure by keeping their Mum here.

For all this angst we get to pay upward of 3G.... bit unorganized in this day and age I think. I'm sure they do their best with what they have, perhaps they just need some more streamlining.

Oz

[woody087]

I guess I should just be happy my wife has the opportunity to live in Australia with all the bonuses that come with that , and eventually have the opportunity to become an oz citizen, and not have to report to immigration every 90 days like we have to do in Thailand.

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[simple1]

Off topic: During Parliamentary Question Time today, Minister for Immigration stated for the moment no further applications are being permitted for Family Reunion as currently applications are taking between 4 - 16 years due to backlog.

[Gopro]

First question.

When you say "no case officer yet has contacted us" ... has your Partner been requested to have a Medical yet?

Yes that's been done. I should say no one has contacted us since this initial first contact to get medical and police cert.

[Gopro]

The wait in the queue depends on if she already had another type of visa. We applied offshore and approved within 2 weeks.

No visa agent used.

As you can see, the Aussie public service is quicker then a thai version serving aussies abroad. Congrats.

My girl has a tourist about to expire next month, so hoping for a quick answer.

Edited June 24, 2014 by Gopro

[David48]

The wait in the queue depends on if she already had another type of visa. We applied offshore and approved within 2 weeks.

No visa agent used.

As you can see, the Aussie public service is quicker then a thai version serving aussies abroad. Congrats.

My girl has a tourist about to expire next month, so hoping for a quick answer.

Mate, thanks for coming back and updating.

But now I have a question.

From your OP (Opening Post) you said that you applied in Bangkok, but now you say ... "My girl has a tourist about to expire next month, so hoping for a quick answer."

So, your Lassie is in Australia?

If you apply in Thailand, she has to be in Thailand to collect the Visa.

Can't find the direct link ... but, my understanding is she has to return to Thailand if she applied there ... do you know different?

Check the revelant web page to confirm.

[ozsamurai]

My wife belongs to several "Thai's in Australia" facebook groups as well, and she reports on the goings on from that side. A few of the already successful applicants have said that depending on the case officer they were assigned, some kept them informed at all stages, with emails, etc... others said they got absolutely nothing till it was all done. So, it seems to be also dependent on the person's 'style' as well. Perhaps a more senior officer may not make the effort all the time, whereas a younger 'gung ho' might. She notes a story from the forum, that a guy with family in Thailand, sent a letter to his case officer stating he was taking off with his kids to Australia, leaving the wife to process her visa, it was done within 2 months.

Oz

[ozsamurai]

David you're right, she has to be in Oz if lodged in Oz and in Thailand if lodged in Thailand when it is granted.

[Gopro]

The wait in the queue depends on if she already had another type of visa. We applied offshore and approved within 2 weeks.

No visa agent used.

As you can see, the Aussie public service is quicker then a thai version serving aussies abroad. Congrats.

My girl has a tourist about to expire next month, so hoping for a quick answer.

Mate, thanks for coming back and updating.

But now I have a question.

From your OP (Opening Post) you said that you applied in Bangkok, but now you say ... "My girl has a tourist about to expire next month, so hoping for a quick answer."

So, your Lassie is in Australia?

If you apply in Thailand, she has to be in Thailand to collect the Visa.

Can't find the direct link ... but, my understanding is she has to return to Thailand if she applied there ... do you know different?

Check the revelant web page to confirm.

Yes she's in oz now, but went back to lodge offshore in BKK, as she has a no further stay 8503 condition on her visa, so she couldn't apply here in OZ.

Yes she will have to go back when they about to grant it, I'm told they will notify us when the grants about to take place.

Back to the original topic....anyone else can post their wait times thanks..Just trying to get an insight into the length of que

[David48]

Everything I've read is that, if the application is complete and correct (ticks all their boxes) the wait time is beteen 4 - 6 months.

[Will27]

David you're right, she has to be in Oz if lodged in Oz and in Thailand if lodged in Thailand when it is granted.

AFAIK, you just have to be outside of Australia if lodged overseas.

So you could for example, if you're in Perth, do a run to Bali if you do not want to go back Thailand.

Edited June 25, 2014 by Will27

[ozsamurai]

the reasoning is pretty simple I would guess, since the ETAS systems introduction, the visa get activated when the party 'checks in' to Australia, if not they would have to 'manually' change the records if you are already there. It would simply be to avoid confusion. So yes, you could leave Oz, head out to anywhere, as long as you check back in at an airport arriving from OS. I think the days of sticking labels in your passport are gone, they haven't done that for about 3 years now for wife's tourist visas.

Oz

[ozsamurai]

An update as of today. We went to submit the police check for the Visa today at VFS, due to the fact that it couldn't be done in time for the lodgement. They informed us that as of last week they now charge 470Bht to send papers to the embassy unless it has been requested from them. So we pay or wait until our case officer requests the police cert. Since the whole fee is 600, a 470 additional charge is a little rude don't you think?

Oz

[ozsamurai]

A case from the 'Thai wives sites'. Recently a case officer has requested that not only the applicant, but the Australian husband get a THAI police clearance certificate. He is in Australia working, she has a tourist visa to stay with him, intends to return to collect her visa. The reason stated was that he had spent more than one year in Thailand.

Oz

[Gopro]

An update as of today. We went to submit the police check for the Visa today at VFS, due to the fact that it couldn't be done in time for the lodgement. They informed us that as of last week they now charge 470Bht to send papers to the embassy unless it has been requested from them. So we pay or wait until our case officer requests the police cert. Since the whole fee is 600, a 470 additional charge is a little rude don't you think?

Oz

Not surprising, then again, this whole visa hasn't been cheap. When we got the Thai Police certificate the BIB were demanding 2500Baht and it took 12 weeks to get, even after teerak went their and had to find the lost application, they asked for $55AUD worth of return postage stamps back to oz, to finally send it on an 80bht stamp.

To answer your post above ozsamurai- it's a requirement, if you have lived in any country for more then 1 year, you need to get a police check from any country you have lived in as we found out again today.

We got an update today finally - So 4 month's and 4 days since lodgement.

Our case officer has asked for teerak to get a Police cert check from OZ as shes been here over 12 months,(fair enough) something I thought they could check themselves,

and they need to confirm some of my addresses with some proof of mail sent to those addresses.

Other then that it looks all go.

[ozsamurai]

I read the application guidelines like I was studying for the finals and at no stage did I realize that (husband) needed a Police check from Thailand. There is a section relating to having a Police clearance from Australia, IF

If there is a dependant under 18 years of age, and you have
spent a total of 12 months or more in Australia since turning
16 years of age, you will need to provide an AFP National
Police Check. If there is a dependant under 18 years of age,
and you have not spent a total of 12 months or more in
Australia since turning 16 years of age, you must provide
police certificates from each country in which you have spent
a total of 12 months or more in the last 10 years since turning
16 years of age. You must provide the original police
certificates.

So as most of us have lived in Australia at least a year since turning 16, we require a AFP check NOT a Thai one. If you have not lived in Australia since you were under 16, then you get one from every country that you lived in for over a year. So where does the Thai thing come in??

Oz

[ozsamurai]

I suppose I must also clarify that both my children are Australian Citizens, so at question #36 on the 40SP I ticked NO. I'm not sponsoring them. Just their mother.

Oz

[Gopro]

Yes it can be confusing. Yes especially with any kids coming or may not be coming. If you have lived abroad for a year then in any country. They want to know if your a kiddy feeler or have been a bad boy.

Edited July 17, 2014 by Gopro

[Gopro]

An update on our application

I politely asked for some details as the embassy strictly emails saying "if this is a processing time request, 12 months is a standard time frame" meaning you don't get an answer.

However, I got an email saying the application has been sent to the decision maker on 7th of August, and that in line with their planning details, 16 weeks from then, approximate, will a decision be made.

That takes us to December from March = 9months, and I just spoke to a friend who just had his approved, and it was 9 months to the day also, he lodged in October last year.

9 months looks the go at the moment.

Edited August 13, 2014 by Gopro