SDS Posted November 28, 2018 Report Share Posted November 28, 2018 (edited) Woo...hooo....Finally got a contact from the CO requesting for documents. Unfortunately the only pending thing is AoS which I have no control over - it will be 25 weeks since application lodged for AoS this week - I am willing Centrelink to call soon 🙂 I also asked my mum in responding to the CO to request that they escalate my case given the application is ready for assessment and is being held up pending Centrelink progress. It may come to nothing, but no harm asking. I wait and hope.......Not long for the rest of June 2015 applicants. I hope they start to move the July 2015 and beyond invitations to commence preparation of documents. With current Centrelink saga I expect the wait will continue to be excruciating unless some miracle happens in that department Lodgement date: 25/06/2015 Acknowledgement Letter: 07/07/2015 Invitation for further documents: 03/04/2018 AoS application: 8 June 2018 AoS interview: Still waiting for phone interview AoS payment: Still waiting AoS Acceptance Letter: Still waiting CO's Formal Request for docs: 28/11/2018 2nd VAC Payment: VISA GRANTED: Edited November 28, 2018 by SDS 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirkz Posted November 28, 2018 Report Share Posted November 28, 2018 @SDS For what its worth, the same happened to me last year. My AoS had not been finalized by the time my CO was appointed. I then emailed my CO and she from their side contacted the AoS departmentent requesting the AoS Acceptance Letter which was required to finalize the visa grant. That then took a week or two to get. So I suggest your mom replies to her CO email and give all the relevant details concerning the AoS application and approval dates of the AoS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDS Posted November 28, 2018 Report Share Posted November 28, 2018 32 minutes ago, Dirkz said: @SDS For what its worth, the same happened to me last year. My AoS had not been finalized by the time my CO was appointed. I then emailed my CO and she from their side contacted the AoS departmentent requesting the AoS Acceptance Letter which was required to finalize the visa grant. That then took a week or two to get. So I suggest your mom replies to her CO email and give all the relevant details concerning the AoS application and approval dates of the AoS. Thank you Dirkz. My case is slightly different. I have had no contact for phone interview so technically one step behind where you were. I had called twice last week and requested Centrelink staff put a note to consider priority for phone interview given I’d waited out 20 plus weeks and CO assignment was imminent. They said they would but who knows whether they do and if it’s heeded by the processing team that sits in Canberra. I will call again tomorrow. Mum has responded to CO making request to push Centrelink along. Hopefully things will roll from here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDS Posted November 29, 2018 Report Share Posted November 29, 2018 (edited) 14 hours ago, SDS said: Thank you Dirkz. My case is slightly different. I have had no contact for phone interview so technically one step behind where you were. I had called twice last week and requested Centrelink staff put a note to consider priority for phone interview given I’d waited out 20 plus weeks and CO assignment was imminent. They said they would but who knows whether they do and if it’s heeded by the processing team that sits in Canberra. I will call again tomorrow. Mum has responded to CO making request to push Centrelink along. Hopefully things will roll from here. I have called Centrelink today and requested they escalate my AoS phone interview as urgent given the CO has demanded everything be provided within 28 days failing which they will assess based on what is available. I applied AOS on 8 Jun 2018 I.e. 25+weeks ago. The officer who took the call asked me to upload this letter onto MyGov to help demonstrate that the escalation criteria was met. I did that while she was on the call and she put me on hold and confirmed that she had escalated to the Team. It took only 1 hour and 8 minutes of being on the call incl all wait times 🤪 Unfortunately there is no appointment booking feature so I will be holding onto my phone for dear life to ensure I do not miss any incoming calls - by the way they use an unknown number apparently so I will risk picking up some spam calls until they decide to call me. Thought sharing my saga will help anyone else on this journey. So anyone with CO contact waiting on Centrelink upload the letter from CO to MyGov and then make an escalation request and continue to wait and hope knowing it is getting closer 🙂 Edited November 29, 2018 by SDS 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeTMI Posted November 29, 2018 Report Share Posted November 29, 2018 Not related to the 143 - other than potentially of interest to some people who have a long wait still. The Minister has announced. 'Applications for the Temporary Sponsored Parent visa will open in the first half of 2019.' This is the 3 to 5 year Temporary Parent Visa that the government have some time ago announced they expected to commence in November 2017. There is expected to be considerable interest in this visa option as the Balance of Family does not need to be met, we have been advised that there will be yearly quotas set for this visa. There is more info on the thread 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onthemove Posted November 29, 2018 Report Share Posted November 29, 2018 22 hours ago, Dirkz said: @Onthemove Well at last! Congrats! I'm sure the frustration of waiting has been relieved a bit. If all goes well it won't be too long now. Once your CO has gone through all your documents, you should get the most exciting email of all - to pay the 2nd VAC. That means your visa application has been approved and you are on your way to Aus !!! For the rest of the roomies in the waiting room, vasbyt ! All I can say is that it's worth all the waiting and stressing. @Dirkz thank you and yes, the longest wait is behind me. Just a little longer for the assessment and confirmation of documents - I may just receive an exciting gift in time for Christmas 🎄 yippee - booking the flight and landing in one piece and (I know I'm getting ahead a little of myself now), finding a job will be the most important thing to do once over the jet lag. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ike Posted November 30, 2018 Report Share Posted November 30, 2018 Latest update. Processing 29 June 2015. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odendaal Posted December 2, 2018 Report Share Posted December 2, 2018 Good day everyone, been a while since I was last on here So great reading this thread and seeing that the support I received (and gave) back in our 189 visa days is still so alive and strong on this forum But here we are, applying for the 143 visa for my mom and what a privilege it is! We have only just started the process with the form 47PA just about done and all supporting docs about 90% done. My mom will bring all of this with her when she comes for a visit mid December. Form 40 also not yet done but will get onto it as soon as the December break starts. We will be doing a form 956a as well so that I receive all correspondence (makes it easier I think and I am a control freak haha). We are looking at submitting the application, along with payment etc in the third week of Jan 2019 only because she cannot apply if she is in Aus on a tourist visa 600. Then we wait I suppose Good to get the ball rolling though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ike Posted December 2, 2018 Report Share Posted December 2, 2018 (edited) On 12/2/2018 at 5:55 PM, Odendaal said: Good day everyone, been a while since I was last on here So great reading this thread and seeing that the support I received (and gave) back in our 189 visa days is still so alive and strong on this forum But here we are, applying for the 143 visa for my mom and what a privilege it is! We have only just started the process with the form 47PA just about done and all supporting docs about 90% done. My mom will bring all of this with her when she comes for a visit mid December. Form 40 also not yet done but will get onto it as soon as the December break starts. We will be doing a form 956a as well so that I receive all correspondence (makes it easier I think and I am a control freak haha). We are looking at submitting the application, along with payment etc in the third week of Jan 2019 only because she cannot apply if she is in Aus on a tourist visa 600. Then we wait I suppose Good to get the ball rolling though! Only thing that I would do differently if I did it again. There is a form change in circumstance. Get all your documents 99 % submit, then submit the changes when you have the information or documents. We wasted a year waiting to get birth certificates. We could have been in Australia already. Every month counts when you are waiting. Get your name in the queue. Edited December 3, 2018 by Ike Correction 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odendaal Posted December 3, 2018 Report Share Posted December 3, 2018 11 hours ago, Ike said: Only thing that I would do differently if I did it again. There is a form change in circumstance. Get all your documents 99 % submit, then submit the changes when you have the information or documents. We wasted a year waiting to get birth certificates. We could have been in Australia already. Every month counts when you are waiting. Get your name in the queue. Hi Ike, well it looks like your response came at a very good time. Upon reviewing my mom's gathered docs, we noticed that we are missing full (unabridged) birth certs for all 4 but 1 child (me). We are now in the process of obtaining these and paying to get it expedited. So am I right in your suggesting that we apply for the visa anyway and submit the missing full birth certs as soon as we get them? We will only be applying in the third week of Jan 2018 so hopefully we'll have these certs by then anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elna57 Posted December 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted December 3, 2018 @Odendaal Warm welcome to your mom and you. I definitely found it helped a lot that all correspondence went to our son, especially in the last few hectic months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ike Posted December 3, 2018 Report Share Posted December 3, 2018 (edited) @Odendaal, I waited a year to get full unabridged birth certificates. In the process I lost a year in the queue. I would submit what I have knowing that I have at least 3 years to correct what I do not have. Not being a migration professional not 100 % sure of how sound the advice is, but if I was to start again I would definitely get in the queue ASAP. Then resolve unfinished business, it changes over the three years anyway. Good luck. Edited December 3, 2018 by Ike Correction 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDS Posted December 3, 2018 Report Share Posted December 3, 2018 Hi all Good news. My escalation request for AoS yielded results. They called me within 48 hours of escalating (see my post dated 28/11 for my journey). The phone interview took all of 5 mins and all she confirmed was the relationship of Assurer and Applicant and read out a disclaimer. I then asked about next steps. The officer confirmed that they would send a letter via MyGov which takes 2 working days to route through the system. At this stage I requested if there was a way to speed it up as I was leaving Australia this weekend and returning only 5 weeks later and am keen to progress everything before that. She was kind enough to invoke a manual process to help me. Essentially she generated the letter manually and told me to go to a nearby Centrelink office and get it printed. She also gave me detailed instructions on how staff at the branch where I present should approach this request as they have a fair few systems and this is not a routine activity. The staff at Centrelink were also great and it took all of 25 minutes from start to finish. Armed with the letter I then made my way to CBA, opened the Term Deposit and lodged the Guarantee of $10,000. Now I have uploaded both: 1. Acknowledgement of term deposit and 2. Bank Guarantee via MyGov. The Centrelink official said she will keep an eye on my account and proceed to Approval ASAP. So despite waiting an interminable 6 months, when they did get to it they have been good with customer service. I dread to think if I had to go on leave and lose a further 5 weeks plus ask for extension from CO etc which would have been so messy. I feel positively liberated and a huge weight off my shoulder. The rest of the formalities I should be able to pick up over email whilst overseas. Mum is pretty excited. I hope by some stroke of luck we get a grant when I am with her and then I can actually convince her to travel with me. Well that is the hope! I hope my missive helps those who are facing tension as the year draws to a close and many of the Assurers have holiday plans. There is scope to negotiate Best wishes to all - every day is a step closer to the finish line. Lodgement date: 25/06/2015 Acknowledgement Letter: 07/07/2015 Invitation for further documents: 03/04/2018 AoS application submitted: 8/6/2018 CO's Formal Request for docs: 28/11/2018 Escalation at Centrelink for AoS progress based on CO request: 29/11/2018 AoS interview: 3/12/2018 AoS payment & bond lodged: 3/12/2018 AoS Acceptance Letter: Still waiting 2nd VAC Payment: Still waiting VISA GRANTED: Still waiting 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mavy Posted December 4, 2018 Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 Hello everyone.. am new here but following all of you from last six months.. very helpful information.. thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mavy Posted December 4, 2018 Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 On 12/3/2018 at 4:06 AM, Ike said: Only thing that I would do differently if I did it again. There is a form change in circumstance. Get all your documents 99 % submit, then submit the changes when you have the information or documents. We wasted a year waiting to get birth certificates. We could have been in Australia already. Every month counts when you are waiting. Get your name in the queue. Hello @Ike one thing i want to ask you..is there birth certificate for all is necessary including sponsor...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ike Posted December 4, 2018 Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 51 minutes ago, Mavy said: Hello @Ike one thing i want to ask you..is there birth certificate for all is necessary including sponsor...? @Mavy, i know that all applicants and children require an unabridged birth certificate. Not sure about sponsor, with us it is our son so we had his. The form is fairly straight forward and they do give simple instructions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipDepp Posted December 4, 2018 Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 still waiting, haven't heard back anything from immigration to submit even a single document... today I have called and they said its taking 42-45 months for immigration to ask for the documents...... Application lodged : 10 July 2015 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeTMI Posted December 4, 2018 Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 8 minutes ago, pipDepp said: still waiting, haven't heard back anything from immigration to submit even a single document... today I have called and they said its taking 42-45 months for immigration to ask for the documents...... Application lodged : 10 July 2015 The Department of Home Affairs are currently processing 143/173applications lodged before 29 June 2015. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDS Posted December 5, 2018 Report Share Posted December 5, 2018 (edited) On 12/4/2018 at 2:33 PM, Mavy said: Hello @Ike one thing i want to ask you..is there birth certificate for all is necessary including sponsor...? Hi Mavy I think they ask for birth certificates to validate the parent and children names against info supplied in Form 80. As I intend to be sponsor for mum mine was required. But there is no requirement that the sponsor should be a child of the applicant - I have no experience in what happens in such cases. There is a footnote in my request for documents that for countries that don't issue birth certificate a family book etc is acceptable. Does anyone know if passport can be used for this purpose? Edited December 5, 2018 by SDS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDS Posted December 5, 2018 Report Share Posted December 5, 2018 On 12/3/2018 at 10:15 PM, SDS said: Hi all Good news. My escalation request for AoS yielded results. They called me within 48 hours of escalating (see my post dated 28/11 for my journey). The phone interview took all of 5 mins and all she confirmed was the relationship of Assurer and Applicant and read out a disclaimer. I then asked about next steps. The officer confirmed that they would send a letter via MyGov which takes 2 working days to route through the system. At this stage I requested if there was a way to speed it up as I was leaving Australia this weekend and returning only 5 weeks later and am keen to progress everything before that. She was kind enough to invoke a manual process to help me. Essentially she generated the letter manually and told me to go to a nearby Centrelink office and get it printed. She also gave me detailed instructions on how staff at the branch where I present should approach this request as they have a fair few systems and this is not a routine activity. The staff at Centrelink were also great and it took all of 25 minutes from start to finish. Armed with the letter I then made my way to CBA, opened the Term Deposit and lodged the Guarantee of $10,000. Now I have uploaded both: 1. Acknowledgement of term deposit and 2. Bank Guarantee via MyGov. The Centrelink official said she will keep an eye on my account and proceed to Approval ASAP. So despite waiting an interminable 6 months, when they did get to it they have been good with customer service. I dread to think if I had to go on leave and lose a further 5 weeks plus ask for extension from CO etc which would have been so messy. I feel positively liberated and a huge weight off my shoulder. The rest of the formalities I should be able to pick up over email whilst overseas. Mum is pretty excited. I hope by some stroke of luck we get a grant when I am with her and then I can actually convince her to travel with me. Well that is the hope! I hope my missive helps those who are facing tension as the year draws to a close and many of the Assurers have holiday plans. There is scope to negotiate Best wishes to all - every day is a step closer to the finish line. Lodgement date: 25/06/2015 Acknowledgement Letter: 07/07/2015 Invitation for further documents: 03/04/2018 AoS application submitted: 8/6/2018 CO's Formal Request for docs: 28/11/2018 Escalation at Centrelink for AoS progress based on CO request: 29/11/2018 AoS interview: 3/12/2018 AoS payment & bond lodged: 3/12/2018 AoS Acceptance Letter: Still waiting 2nd VAC Payment: Still waiting VISA GRANTED: Still waiting The Centrelink officer was as good as her word and called me yesterday to confirm they had accepted my AoS effective 4/12/2018. She also informed me that Electronic notification will go on 10/12/2018 to PVC. I am still waiting to receive this letter on MyGov but am so relieved that she cared enough to call and update me. I can now travel without anxiety of unfinished requirements hindering assessment. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKB Posted December 6, 2018 Report Share Posted December 6, 2018 Good news, request for our 2nd VAC came in this morning 😎 Nearly there with our 143 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onthemove Posted December 6, 2018 Report Share Posted December 6, 2018 20 minutes ago, AKB said: Good news, request for our 2nd VAC came in this morning 😎 Nearly there with our 143 Congrats 🍾🍾🍾 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
data Posted December 6, 2018 Report Share Posted December 6, 2018 Awesome news!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bernadette24 Posted December 13, 2018 Report Share Posted December 13, 2018 On 11/8/2018 at 12:04 AM, Elna57 said: There are a few companies providing this service but legislation now requires that a person has to be OUT of SA when applying. People who are still in SA can not use these services any more. Police clearances Postnet Pretoria and Doc assist are 2 other options which I am aware of. Always good to compare reviews on any company, folks. Yeah. As @Dirkz mentioned, we had to leave Aus w On 12/4/2018 at 4:10 PM, TeeTMI said: The Department of Home Affairs are currently processing 143/173applications lodged before 29 June 2015. hen we least expected to in order for our visas to be granted but Fiji was absolutely fantastic! And arrangements with Immi team were pretty straight forward. Just emailed them the exact dates and our itinerary and our visas were granted during that time. Loved it there. The people were so hospitable and we got to meet the Fijian 7's rugby team. Such an honour! Yeah, I am a big rugby fan. 😆 PS... there are quite a number of jobs for which one may need to apply for SA police clearance again eg. teachers, some hospitality jobs. So keep those companies' details in case you may need that in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pipDepp Posted December 14, 2018 Report Share Posted December 14, 2018 i have just received an email immigration asking for further documents... wohoo.. we have applied my Mum's visa on the 10 July 2015 .... hey guys so letter says we can apply AoS online... can anyone please guide me towards AoS ... Many thanks 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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