DIAC Announces New Processing Priorities for GSM and Business Visas - Effective 23 September 2009

[Kirsy]

Yeah Walt, I should be more positive that they are going to look at 176 FS visa's again. When I saw 2011 and 2012 I think my brain went into shut down

[Apollo]

I am very confused????????? We are a 475 Regional Family Sponsored so I read it as priority 6.2 but does this mean we are now being considered for processing.

Based on the previous priorities we were not even being considered.

I am hoping this is a positive sign just confused about the sad reactions and replies being posted?

I think the rain has got to my brain..........................

Apollo

[Flanker]

So what about State Regional Sponsored 475 Applications ?

[Kirsy]

Apollo, what is the diff. between a 176 FS and a 475 Regional FS visa?

[pkn]

Family sponsored only priority with DIAC CSL.

Meds and PCC waste of time and money...they will be outdated in 12 months...bummer!!!

[Toitjie]

SS without Occupation on DIAC CSL means another about 12 months!

SS with Occupation on CSL - worse case about 9 months!

If you already have a CO - no difference, your pushed in the Q again!!

Im not sure I follow...I understand their F&Q doc as without CSL your visa will probably not be finalised until end of 2012...which is 3 years from now

"If your nominated occupation is not on the CSL and you have applied for an offshore GSM visa or intend to apply for an offshore GSM before the end of 2009, it is unlikely that your visa will be finalised before the end of 2012."

This is completely mad! My IELTS will have expired by then, as will my PCC.

[JimmyC]

Toitjie

The way I understand it is that if you apply while your IELTS is still valid, all should be OK, even if it expires while being in the q. Not the same for medicals and PCC though...

[pkn]

That is right, Meds and PCC have a limited lifespan into the future (12 months)...IELTS valid for 24 months from test date to visa application date.

[MarcK]

What a disaster...

I am 176 family sponsored and NOT on CSL or MODL....so guess 2012 is my goal post....and I was hoping to score in 2010!!!!

Bummer.......

[WaltAM]

You are not alone Jumbojet!!!

Looks like there will be a couple of us doing the "we got it" post in 2012

[Jitterbug]

Things are changing and think they are going to change again soon. The MODL is under review and they talk about an intermediate period, which i think is what these changes are. Remember that the CSL will be phased out completely, early 2010. http://www.gettingdownunder.com/2009/09/11...-be-overhauled/

The problem of course is what are the processing priorities going to be like once the CSL is out the door. Will the new MODL system go to the top or will they still place

employer and state nomination first.

I guess we just sit and wait for the dust to settle

[Traveller]

Apologies if this is a stupid question....but how does this affect processing of 457 visas?

[Simpsons]

Things are changing and think they are going to change again soon. The MODL is under review and they talk about an intermediate period, which i think is what these changes are. Remember that the CSL will be phased out completely, early 2010. http://www.gettingdownunder.com/2009/09/11...-be-overhauled/

The problem of course is what are the processing priorities going to be like once the CSL is out the door. Will the new MODL system go to the top or will they still place

employer and state nomination first.

I guess we just sit and wait for the dust to settle

Food for thought Jitterbug. Our minds are all racing with all these going ons.

[Toitjie]

What I would like to know is WHY the timeline is 2012. Surely there cannot be so many applciations that ours will take 3 years to finalise, wherease up to a week ago, it took 4-6 months for a SS visa to come through.

I wish someone could get the stats of the number of applications in each category. Even if SS without CSL is nr 5 on their list, I cant think that there are that many for numbers 1-4!

Our house has been on the market for a year, but now we have decided to take it out of the market. We are not going to rent a place for 3 years, will rather wait a little and see what happens, on the bright side, it gives the housemarket time to get back on track, maybe we will be able to sell the house for more in a year or 2.

another thing, they arent going to stop completely granting visas I reckon, so even though they say those in the qeue are also affected by this timeline, I dont really think they will take so long, otherwise they will have nothing to do!

[Guest fugu1977]

Hello

My occupation is Life Scientist NEC. I would like to know if it is on the Critical Skills List? It is on the eligibility list for Victoria State Sponsored Visa (176). Is that the same thing?

I have not filed my application yet but I want to decide whether I should apply or not.

Regards,

Sapna.

[Michele R]

I think DIAC is still sorting out kinks and ideas, so until things are finalised, I think the timelines should be used as guidelines. With the economy picking up again, things can change so who knows what they will decide...think all we can do is wait and see.

[JimmyC]

Jeepers

I was going to lodge the end of September (176 Family). I really don't know f I can wait for 3 years (2012)! I think I'll start looking at Employer sponsorships like the RSMS visa. This whole thing seems so unfair....

Jimmy

[Sibella]

another thing, they arent going to stop completely granting visas I reckon, so even though they say those in the qeue are also affected by this timeline, I dont really think they will take so long, otherwise they will have nothing to do!

[WaltAM]

At this stage we are just thinking that priorities are constantly changing (2nd time this year)....so we will just wait and see what happens next....

My understanding is that things are once again picking up on the job market and the Minister seems very positive that there will be an upturn in the granting of visas!

Hanging in there!!!

[KimH]

Looks like we'll be waiting until 2012 along with Smartie and Jumbojet. Sigh.

I know our IELTS results will remain valid but what about our ACS skills assesment?

[Toitjie]

It seems, to the best of my knowledge, that

Vetasess is valid indefinitely

ACS is valid for 1 year

PCC is valid for 1 year

Medicals valid for 1 year

IELTS valid for 2 years

But Tracy had her visa rejected because IELTS was out of date 5 weeks. I know of some people who were requested by their CO to redo their PCC and medicals, but will they request us to redo IELTS, or do you have to take the initiative yourself and just redo them?

Im not sure if they look at validity of IELTS at the time of application, or at the time of grant. Maybe Tracy can shed some light?? If its validity at the time of application, then all should be fine, but it seems in Tracy's case that it expired after she submitted??

[Simpsons]

I really hope we won't have to re-do the IELTS too!

[PieterK]

The rule of thumb is that as long as your skills assessment and IELTS is valid at the time you apply it's ok, it doesn't matter when they actually get around to processing your application. Only your PCC and meds need to ge valid, as they determine wheny our initial date of entry will be.

I don't know if that is still the case now that you might be waiting until 2012 however.

[Simpsons]

Thanks PieterK !

At least something is in our favour!

[NotLookingBack]

IELTS is only valid for 1 year for immigration. It is valid for 2 years for study purposes etc.

We also thought it was valid for 2 years, and then the immigration lawyer told us that we have to apply for our ENS before 25 Oct, as our IELTS expires! I was a bit surprised, because if you do a search on the net, it says everywhere that IELTS is valid for 2 years. I eventually found it on immi.gov - stating that it is valid for 1 year for immigration, and then also found another site where it is stated that it is 1 year for immigration, 2 for other purposes.

If it wasn't for her, we would not have known, and we would have had to rewrite ours!

Yolande