Submitted... What to expect next?

[Chantel]

Hi guys,

We are now 18 working days into waiting for our 189 visa grant. We submitted 14 November. The last email our agent received was the one from the CO requesting all our paperwork... our agent loaded that a day later. 

 

We have not received any other correspondence as of yet. Should we have gotten a mail from the CO saying he received our documents and how long we can expect for proccessing? Or do we simply wait for our status to change from "assessment in progress" to "finalized"? (what are the different things the status can change to throughout?)

 

Im driving myself nuts checking my immi account twice a day every day. Not sure if I should contact my agent and ask what next or if I should just be patient and wait.?

 

I see most ppl say that the average time for proccessing is 28 days. Is this more or less accurate? or is this best case senario? Maybe we r lucky and get a lovely christmas pressie ?

 

We are hoping and praying to have it by atleast Jan. My hubby has 3 interviews lined up, my registration with QCT is approved which means im authorised to teach in Queensland... all we wait for is approval of our visas ?

 

Would love to hear you advise and views... thanks guys.

[SD_MOA]

Hello Chantel,

If your application is showing 'Assessment in Progress' then it is waiting to be picked up by a VPO to review.  This is normally at least 28 days after the request for documents is made but can often be longer.  The application could go back to 'Information requested' if the VPO needs further information or ideally 'finalised' at which point you should receive your grant emails.

 

I hope this helps!

 

Regards

[Chantel]

Thanks so much guys. I thought as much... my agent explained the same to mw yesterday and she sent my CO an email... but no change today 

 

Anyways, sorry for my ignorance, but what is a VPO? Is that different to a CO?

 

Thanks guys. And thanks for the words of encouragement.

[FingersCrossed]

Hi @Chantel

 

I have exactly the same questions as I am also waiting for some feedback. My application is also in "Assessment in Progress" and the waiting is killing me.

I have to actually tell myself to forget about it and to rather focus on my work else I would be checking 10 times a day (At least) :-)

 

Hoping we all get some answers before Christmas cause it will definitely make for a awesome present to my wife.

 

Good luck.

[JonathanR]

2 hours ago, Chantel said:

Anyways, sorry for my ignorance, but what is a VPO? Is that different to a CO?

Hi @Chantel,

As I understand it a VPO is a Visa Processing Officer and is the new name for the CO (Case Officer). So they are one and the same thing, although CO is still widely used in the industry because it has been around forever.

[Husky]

@Chantel

Thanks for asking about VPO - also didn't know. Holding thumbs that we all get some good news for Christmas. Submitted our 190 end October.

I am trying to only check my immi account once a week. I know that once we get close to the 28 day mark, I'll be checking every day.

Does the DIBP still work throughout December, close or have skeleton staff?

All will be well 

[SD_MOA]

Hi Guys,

Sorry about the acronyms! 

 

The change from Case offcier (C/O) to Visa Processing Officer (VPO) is more than just a name change.  In the past a C/O was assigned to a case until that case was finalised.  A VPO is not assigned to specific cases.  A VPO is assigned cases from the 'pool' then assesses the case and either requests further information and returns the case to the pool or finalises the case. 

 

If a case is returned to the pool then it will be assigned to the next available VPO when the information requested has been provided.

 

I hope this clarifies the situation.

 

Regards

[RedPanda]

That sounds like a recipe for the odd bungled case? Or do they only return simple cases to the pool? (Queue mental image of Telkom technical assistance phone call, fourth operator: Oh, Ma'am, let me pass you on... and you silently going 'Oh FFS!!!' because you just know you'll have to sing your whole song again.)

Or do they manage things better?

Edited December 14, 2016 by RedPanda

[Husky]

Thanks for the clarity @SD_MOA

Is the 28 day benchmark from when your CO/ VPO originally requested more information or from when you submitted the additional information? 

[BBAUER]

Greetings all,

 

Just would like to find if visas only get approved when medicals have been done or can they be approved prior to that.

[Chantel]

As far as I understand, you have to have medicals, ppc and all docs completed before they will process. They dont provisionally approve anything... processing only starts once your application is 100% complete.

 

Hope that helps ?

[ChrisH]

2 hours ago, BBAUER said:

Just would like to find if visas only get approved when medicals have been done or can they be approved prior to that.

 

 

If you haven't completed medicals yet they will request it and the application status will be Information Requested until you've provided the outstanding information.

[BBAUER]

Thanks ChrisH.

[SD_MOA]

21 hours ago, RedPanda said:

That sounds like a recipe for the odd bungled case? Or do they only return simple cases to the pool? (Queue mental image of Telkom technical assistance phone call, fourth operator: Oh, Ma'am, let me pass you on... and you silently going 'Oh FFS!!!' because you just know you'll have to sing your whole song again.)

Or do they manage things better?

In my opinion the old case officer system was better for agents and applicants as we had  a point of contact once a CO was assigned.  The VPO system is easier to manage for DIBP.

[Kevin]

@SD_MOA, thank you for explaining how the new VPO system works. Do you have any insight about an application that has never advanced past the "Received" status?  We submitted in August, uploading all documents in advance.  In the 4 months that have elapsed, the only contact we have received is a commencement email.  No additional documents have been requested, nor has there been any status change.

 

Is it possible that a VPO could be assigned our case but then return it to the pool without processing it?

[SD_MOA]

Hello Kevin,

No problem.  4 months is a long time for an application to remain at 'Received'.  I would recommend emailing gsm.allocated@border.gov.au and asking for an update.

 

Regards

[FingersCrossed]

Hi

 

still waiting. Still "Assessment in Progress". I may be going mad. :-)

[Kevin]

Thanks for the advice, @SD_MOA. I have sent them an email. I sent them one at 3 months too, which only garnered the automated response. I hope a human being responds this time.

[SD_MOA]

No problem.  I hope so too!

[MichKen]

@SD_MOA, I was reading through this thread, and I have a question about the VPO system and I was hoping you may share your experience on this if you don't mind, please.

 

We lodged our 489 on 2/12/16; first contact after 12 days, all documents submitted by 09/01/17; then a second contact on 10/02/17.

With the second request for documents about a week ago, it was simple documents that we had uploaded, but seems they were just uploaded incorrectly (in the wrong place).

First question, does this make sense that they can be "in the wrong place"? They were all in one PDF file, not under each applicants individual profile.

Secondly, nothing else was questioned, queried or requested, only these documents were requested, which were then uploaded in the correct place on the same day.  Could the next VPO request different documents / raise new questions about other documents or can we assume the rest are okay? In other words does the next VPO conduct a whole new assessment or do they pick up where the last one left off. I'm just concerned that this could go around in circles, first one thing, then the next...