ATTENTION!!!! 175/176/475 visa applications suspended!!!!

[Guest guest3462]

Just wondered if everyone was aware that as of midnight tonight EST (7/5/10) all applications for 175/176 and 475 visas will be suspended until 30/06/10 at the earliest. In conjuction with this all lodged state sponsorship applications will also be suspended til this date with the exception of onshore applicants who can still apply up to 14th May.

 

Check it out on www.immi.gov.au

and www.immigration.sa.gov.au

 

As far as I am aware any applications already lodged are fine and will be processed as normal but any applications recieved after this time with be declared invalid and returned to sender. Fees will be returned shy of IELTS fee, medicals and police checks as these are non-government fees.

 

This is a huge blow to us as we thought we were finally going to get on track, as it is i'm growing tired of being kicked in the teeth every other day with every single thing we do here and as much as it pains me to say it because I love Australia dearly, i'm getting to the stage where I no longer feel that it is in the best interest of our family to be here. We are so stressed out by it all and I don't know how much more I can take before they lock me up in the loony bin!!!

 

Somebody please tell me it is still worth the effort and heartache cos i'm fast losing heart and energy with it.

[Guest r_1159]

I am also very upset , I struggled to send my applications to SA yesterday to meet 14 may deadline and now am totally disappointed to read this they play with our life

[HEAPS GOOD !!!]

Just wondered if everyone was aware that as of midnight tonight EST (7/5/10) all applications for 175/176 and 475 visas will be suspended until 30/06/10 at the earliest. In conjuction with this all lodged state sponsorship applications will also be suspended til this date with the exception of onshore applicants who can still apply up to 14th May.

 

Check it out on www.immi.gov.au

and www.immigration.sa.gov.au

 

As far as I am aware any applications already lodged are fine and will be processed as normal but any applications recieved after this time with be declared invalid and returned to sender. Fees will be returned shy of IELTS fee, medicals and police checks as these are non-government fees.

 

This is a huge blow to us as we thought we were finally going to get on track, as it is i'm growing tired of being kicked in the teeth every other day with every single thing we do here and as much as it pains me to say it because I love Australia dearly, i'm getting to the stage where I no longer feel that it is in the best interest of our family to be here. We are so stressed out by it all and I don't know how much more I can take before they lock me up in the loony bin!!!

 

Somebody please tell me it is still worth the effort and heartache cos i'm fast losing heart and energy with it.

 

Keep the faith...just concentrate on the reasons why you came here in the first place....no-one said it was going to be easy...else everybody would do it !!!!

 

HG

[Guest kangomik]

Stiff upper lip and all that. They did this last year is memory serves me right.

 

If they want to grow, they need to open doors. it's just another control method

[Guest caoimhe]

Sometimes you wonder how many more hoops they want you to jump through...we haven't had a easy time here either but have just got our PR so hang in there hopefully you will get a break soon:wubclub:

[Hazel M]

Hadnt heard about that.

Does this include us then as we are just waiting for the visa to be granted. We had already had the OK from all the info you have to attach to the online application, police checks done and meds were passed in April, Does this mean that they wont be making a decision on it til at least July now???:arghh:

[Guest ThistleandRose]

Hello..this is our first post.. We've read the site avidly for a while but today's news has got us joining in.. We hope to get to Adelaide - who knows when though..

 

After staying up much of the night watching the election results,was getting ready for work this morning only to be knocked for 6 when our agent, John Adams, rang to tell us the news. We had been planning to lodge next week so luckily had everything to hand and we were able to get to his offices and get it all in, thanks to him and his team, who have been absolutely brilliant, not just today but all the way through. With the short notice that DIAC gave us all, John and team were going great guns helping out their clients. Now all we can do yet again after another DIAC bombshell is wait and see.

 

Good luck to everyone who just got in and to all others, keep your chin up.

[Yicker]

Hadnt heard about that.

Does this include us then as we are just waiting for the visa to be granted. We had already had the OK from all the info you have to attach to the online application, police checks done and meds were passed in April, Does this mean that they wont be making a decision on it til at least July now???:arghh:

 

From what I've read, if you've already submitted your Visa application then it does NOT include you. Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

We're in a similar position as yourselves except we're waiting to send off our Police certificates.

 

Scott

[Guest Jules37]

Hello..this is our first post.. We've read the site avidly for a while but today's news has got us joining in.. We hope to get to Adelaide - who knows when though..

 

After staying up much of the night watching the election results,was getting ready for work this morning only to be knocked for 6 when our agent, John Adams, rang to tell us the news. We had been planning to lodge next week so luckily had everything to hand and we were able to get to his offices and get it all in, thanks to him and his team, who have been absolutely brilliant, not just today but all the way through. With the short notice that DIAC gave us all, John and team were going great guns helping out their clients. Now all we can do yet again after another DIAC bombshell is wait and see.

 

Good luck to everyone who just got in and to all others, keep your chin up.

 

Hi

 

Well done for getting your application in on time. We are using John too, they are very good and are very on the ball.

Jules

[Guest Fly Away]

From what I've read, if you've already submitted your Visa application then it does NOT include you. Hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

We're in a similar position as yourselves except we're waiting to send off our Police certificates.

 

Scott

 

True, it's only NEW applications which have been affected.

 

However SA Immi has now also closed to new applications for sponsorship. So even more people are going to be affected.

 

http://www.migration.sa.gov.au/sa/migrate_from_overseas/visa_options/gen_skill3.jsp#Updates

[Guest The Coyne Family]

Hi I'm just wondering if someone can clarify is SA halting ALL applications or NEW applications. we submitted our online app on the 13/04/10 and sent our hard copies the same day, more than concerned when they hadn't arrived (21) days later i e mailed them and their response was.....

Dear Thomas

 

We have not received your documents for application xxxxxx. Please resend ASAP.

 

Regards

Immigration South Australia

 

That was may 5th, i resent them by courier that day, ill be sick if they don't process my application any further:shocked:

As far as the visa goes i was sooo lucky i looked on PIO and PIA on Friday i just managed to get my application in on time. Thanks to everyone for the heads up.

Maria.x

[Gollywobbler]

Hi I'm just wondering if someone can clarify is SA halting ALL applications or NEW applications. we submitted our online app on the 13/04/10 and sent our hard copies the same day, more than concerned when they hadn't arrived (21) days later i e mailed them and their response was.....

Dear Thomas

 

We have not received your documents for application xxxxxx. Please resend ASAP.

 

Regards

Immigration South Australia

 

That was may 5th, i resent them by courier that day, ill be sick if they don't process my application any further:shocked:

As far as the visa goes i was sooo lucky i looked on PIO and PIA on Friday i just managed to get my application in on time. Thanks to everyone for the heads up.

Maria.x

 

 

Hi Maria

 

You did the right thing to make your visa application immediately without worrying about anything else on Friday. The is the first thing because like the bluddy Lottery, you have to be in it to win it, NOT that I believe that any responsibly-minded Government should ever behave in the way that Australia has been acting lately.

 

With regard to your State sponsorship application:

 

1. What is the main applicant's occupation, please?

2. Which visa have you applied for and which visa have you requested sponsorship for?

 

Turning to the mechanics of the SS application:

 

A. You say that you originally sent the application electronically on 13th April 2010. What happened to that application?

 

B. You say that you also sent hard copies the same day. How did you send the hard copies, please? Did you send them via a document courier, International Signed For via the Royal Mail or by ordinary airmail/post, please?

 

My feeling with you is let us find out exactly what has happened before we worry about the future for the time being.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Gollywobbler]

Just wondered if everyone was aware that as of midnight tonight EST (7/5/10) all applications for 175/176 and 475 visas will be suspended until 30/06/10 at the earliest. In conjuction with this all lodged state sponsorship applications will also be suspended til this date with the exception of onshore applicants who can still apply up to 14th May.

 

Check it out on www.immi.gov.au

and www.immigration.sa.gov.au

 

As far as I am aware any applications already lodged are fine and will be processed as normal but any applications recieved after this time with be declared invalid and returned to sender. Fees will be returned shy of IELTS fee, medicals and police checks as these are non-government fees.

 

This is a huge blow to us as we thought we were finally going to get on track, as it is i'm growing tired of being kicked in the teeth every other day with every single thing we do here and as much as it pains me to say it because I love Australia dearly, i'm getting to the stage where I no longer feel that it is in the best interest of our family to be here. We are so stressed out by it all and I don't know how much more I can take before they lock me up in the loony bin!!!

 

Somebody please tell me it is still worth the effort and heartache cos i'm fast losing heart and energy with it.

 

Hi Julia

 

If you want to make new lives for yourselves in Australia then your pain at the moment will soon be forgotten once you have your visas and get to Australia.

 

You say that you are a registered Nurse and that Richard is an anaesthetist.

 

You could easily get a temporary, employer-sponsored 457 visa working for one of the hospitals or the "health service" in SA, I would think. (I'm not sure what the "health service" is called in any of the Aussie States but I am sure that there is one in each State - like there is a Department of Education in each State.)

 

Two of the moderators on Poms in Oz are Nurses, so a fair amount has been posted on PiO which is specifically aimed at helping Nurses. Please see the link below:

 

Jobs & Careers - PomsInOz Forum

 

Via that link, you can soon find out about employer sponsorship for Nurses.

 

I trained as a solicitor in the UK so I have absolutely zero idea of medicine and even less idea about how a "health service" actually works. However my guess would be that although they would rip your own arms off to get you, they would probably foam at the mouth and moan with joy if they caught sight of Richard as well/instead.

 

From Richard's point of view, a website called DoctorConnect is said to be very informative and useful:

 

DoctorConnect - Home page

 

Both occupations are worth 60 Points on the current SOL. I would think that both occupations will command the maximum number of Points in the new Points Test which the Minister for Immi has threatened. Both occupations are on the current CSL and both of them are bound to be on the new State Migration Plan for South Australia as well.

 

One of the Minister's utter stupidities on Friday 7th May is that he has shown that all of his mucking about is really annoying the high-calibre prospective migrants on the man's bluddy CSL - which cannot possibly be clever, frankly. Doctors in particular can earn a heck of a lot more money in the USA than they can earn in Australia, for fewer hours.

 

Which one of you was intending to be the main visa applicant, please? I am not sure about the skills assessments for specialist doctors - I believe that they are quite complicated but I do not know the details. However I also believe that if a specialist doctor is sponsored by an Aussie employer, it might be possible to avoid doing a full skills assessment at this stage. That said, I am NOT certain so you and Richard need to check this out, please.

 

I think that the skills assessment is much more straightforward with a Registered Nurse and again, whilst I am not 100% sure, it might not be necessary to do it at all for an employer-sponsored visa.

 

I don't think that either of you will be adversely affected by the new SOL, so in some ways you might as well get on with the skills assessment and apart from that, put your feet up and relax until at least 1st July 2010.

 

Otherwise, if you feel energetic, you could leap around and find an employer sponsor for one of you. Please remember that the whole of SA is considered to be "regional Australia," therefore an RSMS visa (which grants Permanent Residency from Day One)

is possible anywhere in SA, including in Adelaide.

 

Finally! I have a question for you, please: what is an "emergency retrieval doctor"? Does this mean that Richard goes to the scene of car crashes etc in order to deal with the casualties or is it a euphemism for something a bit less gory?

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest The Coyne Family]

Hi Gill,

Its lovely to hear from you again i hope you a well. I don't know if you remember me but you gave me some great advice on PIO not to long ago. It was about changing from family sponsorship to state sponsorship.

 

No 1. My husband applied as a general electrician.(105 POINTS)

 

No 2. We applied for a VE 176 visa with family sponsorship my husbands uncle is an australian citizen.

As regards to state sponsorship SA received the electronic application 13/04/2010, i can check it online, the status says completed and submitted.

I stupidly sent the hard copies through normal post (from Ireland), with all the disruption caused by the volcano i guess they went missing.

 

I just had a look at the couriers tracking system the documents are in Adelaide now so they should get them Monday morning.

Hopefully when/if we are granted state sponsorship ill change over for the higher priority. I'm hoping general electrician will be on the SMP for SA.

Thanks a mill Gill.

Maria.x

[Gollywobbler]

Hi Gill,

Its lovely to hear from you again i hope you a well. I don't know if you remember me but you gave me some great advice on PIO not to long ago. It was about changing from family sponsorship to state sponsorship.

 

No 1. My husband applied as a general electrician.(105 POINTS)

 

No 2. We applied for a VE 176 visa with family sponsorship my husbands uncle is an australian citizen.

As regards to state sponsorship SA received the electronic application 13/04/2010, i can check it online, the status says completed and submitted.

I stupidly sent the hard copies through normal post (from Ireland), with all the disruption caused by the volcano i guess they went missing.

 

I just had a look at the couriers tracking system the documents are in Adelaide now so they should get them Monday morning.

Hopefully when/if we are granted state sponsorship ill change over for the higher priority. I'm hoping general electrician will be on the SMP for SA.

Thanks a mill Gill.

Maria.x

 

Hi Maria

 

As regards to state sponsorship SA received the electronic application 13/04/2010, i can check it online, the status says completed and submitted.

 

I had a look at the Immigration SA website earlier today. I gather DIAC made their announcement late on Friday afternoon AEST. So late on a Friday, SA would have had a job to get anything onto their website at all, I would think.

 

What they actually said is as follows:

 

Applicants under the General Skilled Migration Program should be aware that DIAC has made an announcement today suspending all Offshore GSM application. Please direct any enquiries on this matter to DIAC via your nearest Australian High Commission and not to Immigration SA.

 

As a result, Immigration SA will also be suspending processing all Offshore Sponsorship applications, until further notice. However, Onshore sponsorship applications will proceed at this stage.

 

General Skilled Migration

Immigration South Australia

 

I strongly suspect that, so late on a Friday, Anne Johnson found herself having to make a snap judgement and having to make a very swift, short announcement to prevent the problem from becoming worse over the weekend. She is the boss of Immigration SA and I understand that she was in her office on Friday 7th May.

 

I think that the situation will settle down in the coming days. You can bet your boots that the bosses in the State Immi Depts have been talking to each other all weekend and they will have been talking with DIAC's most senior Officers over the weekend as well.

 

A further row is brewing because one lot within DIAC announced that they would accept visa applications up until midnight AEST last Friday but nobody told the DIAC bods who look after the on-line visa system about it. The on-line system went down at 11.30pm on Friday, I gather, for maintenance which turned out to have been scheduled. That alone will lead to claims of unfairness and threats of litigation, for sure.

 

This sort of hasty action by the Minister gets him into trouble. A large organisation like DIAC simply can't react quickly enough to what he wants to do every five minutes.

 

The Minister has shot himself in the foot anyway. He claimed that the people on the CSL are in such short supply that their applications must be fast-tracked, hence the CSL. Well - where are their applications? The ASPC have been granting visas to people in Category 5 up to and including Friday 7th May.

 

Also, the CSL includes doctors, nurses, engineering professionals, computing professionals and accountants who tick all of the Minister's boxes. Where is the value to Australia of annoying all of those prospective applicants so much that this highly mobile and clever group are likely to be considering the USA, Canada and NZ instead of the chaotic Australians?

 

What about the people who were planning to lodge family sponsored GSM applications under the old SOL? They all have family members in Australia. There is nothing to stop the family members from flying to Canberra and convening on the steps of Parliament House, is there? Where the media would be after them like bloodhounds to find out what they think. The Press absolutely LOVES the underdog. The Minister ought to know that by now, surely?

 

I could continue with examples but I think you get the drift. Over on Poms in Oz, Ozzieland is right. S/he reckons that this is one of the Minister's over-hasty actions and that the consequences of it have not been thought through fully before the announcement was made.

 

There might be a quiet back-down by the Minister. 3 months ago, he trumpeted like an elephant when he announced that he instended to Cap & Cease all GSM visa applications made under the old rules which applied until midnight on 31st August 2007. When it was pointed out that many of those applicants actually live in Australia, the Minister left DIAC to whisper that he had "changed his mind" and no longer intended to shaft people who are already living in Oz.

 

3 months later, the rest of us are still waiting for him to start axeing the remainder - with the barristers and solicitors licking their lips because they know they will be instructed to sue the Minister if they possibly can.....

 

I reckon that a re-think is possible.

 

Fingers crossed.

 

Gill

[Guest guest3462]

Hi Gill, thanks for your reply,

We are already in Adelaide and have been here since Jan 2009 on a 457 visa. Richard works at the RAH and with MedSTAR, but they are unable to offer employment sponsorship at this stage due to Rich not being a consultant yet. (The MBSA have decided that they want him to resit his final exam and last 2 years of training, which is normal so we are led to believe) However, he has completed his full skills assessment programme and is fully registered with both the AMC and ANZCA (he is an anaesthetist by speciality).

The main problem we had was not being eligible for an onshore visa and then due to points not being immediately eligible for the 175 visa. We are 5 points short and need to take IELTS, which Rich is struggling to fit in due to his hectic on call schedule!!! So, the 176 seemed the perfect option for us and after speaking with immiSA they said to go for it. We lodged last wednesday and delivered the hard copies by hand to the office, then on friday afternoon I rang them and was told that our application had been passed onto the general skills migration team but we might not see a change on the web status for several days and to ring back next friday. She never mentioned anything about them being suspended and I only found out when my friend txt me to say it had been on the news. Confused is an understatement as we don't really know where we stand. The only good thing I suppose is that our current visa lasts until August 2012, so even if we have to wait full term, we should only have to depart Australia to validate the PR visa!

 

Ps, aeromedical emergency retrieval registrar is Rich's official title when flying with MedSTAR. He is part of the emergency rescue squad that flies out in the helicopter (or lear jet plane if its really rural) to scenes of accidents and other life threatening incidents all over SA where land ambulances would provide a slower service or are totally inaccessible by road.

 

Thanks again

Julia x

[Gollywobbler]

Hi Julia and Maria

 

South Australia have changed their website today and have softened their approach. I think both of you will be OK.

 

The new link is here:

 

Make The Move :: General skilled migration

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest The Coyne Family]

Thanks so much for sharing that information Gill, Ive sent off my e mail so fingers crossed we get the sponsorship.

Thanks again,

Maria.x

[Guest janmoo]

We got our Perm Resident Visas in Feb and are moving out in Sept 2010 (mind you we have had 9 trips to OZ in as many years just to be sure LOL) Hope this helps... I did all the paperwork for ours myself (we are both 44 yrs old!!! and got APPROVED). Anyway the point is I met someone when we were in Oz in April 2010 who told us they are tightening up BUT apparently the Dept of Immigration looks more favourably on those applications which have been submitted by the individual as opposed to using an emigration agent!!! I must say it wasa hell of a lot of paperwork but honestly it isnt difficult and even if you are using an agent you will still hae to chase around after all the s^^^ they as you for anyway. Those agents are making a packet out of us ozzie wannabes. We were told by one that we hadnt a hope of getting in even though we have jad aussie bank accounts for 7 yrs and owned an investment property. Oh I had so much fun ringing him to tell him we had been approved!!!! DONT give up trying coz it really is a better way of life. Good luck and if anyone wants help PM me. I am soooo happy we got news today that our offer has been accepted on a block of land in the eastern suburbs!!!

If anyone has had experience of dealing with burnside council re planning approval then PLEASE pm me. YIPPEE its all coming together !!

[Riponian]

Hi Gill, thanks for your reply,

We are already in Adelaide and have been here since Jan 2009 on a 457 visa. Richard works at the RAH and with MedSTAR, but they are unable to offer employment sponsorship at this stage due to Rich not being a consultant yet. (The MBSA have decided that they want him to resit his final exam and last 2 years of training, which is normal so we are led to believe) However, he has completed his full skills assessment programme and is fully registered with both the AMC and ANZCA (he is an anaesthetist by speciality).

The main problem we had was not being eligible for an onshore visa and then due to points not being immediately eligible for the 175 visa. We are 5 points short and need to take IELTS, which Rich is struggling to fit in due to his hectic on call schedule!!! So, the 176 seemed the perfect option for us and after speaking with immiSA they said to go for it. We lodged last wednesday and delivered the hard copies by hand to the office, then on friday afternoon I rang them and was told that our application had been passed onto the general skills migration team but we might not see a change on the web status for several days and to ring back next friday. She never mentioned anything about them being suspended and I only found out when my friend txt me to say it had been on the news. Confused is an understatement as we don't really know where we stand. The only good thing I suppose is that our current visa lasts until August 2012, so even if we have to wait full term, we should only have to depart Australia to validate the PR visa!

 

Ps, aeromedical emergency retrieval registrar is Rich's official title when flying with MedSTAR. He is part of the emergency rescue squad that flies out in the helicopter (or lear jet plane if its really rural) to scenes of accidents and other life threatening incidents all over SA where land ambulances would provide a slower service or are totally inaccessible by road.

 

Thanks again

Julia x

 

Julia

 

I am so sorry to hear that you are struggling, but please don't give up hope if you guys can come through this fighting you know it will be worth it in the end. I hope it all gets sorted and you can get you PR one way or another.

 

Fingers crossed for you

 

Michelle

x

[Guest snowy10]

Hi Gill,

Its lovely to hear from you again i hope you a well. I don't know if you remember me but you gave me some great advice on PIO not to long ago. It was about changing from family sponsorship to state sponsorship.

 

No 1. My husband applied as a general electrician.(105 POINTS)

 

No 2. We applied for a VE 176 visa with family sponsorship my husbands uncle is an australian citizen.

As regards to state sponsorship SA received the electronic application 13/04/2010, i can check it online, the status says completed and submitted.

I stupidly sent the hard copies through normal post (from Ireland), with all the disruption caused by the volcano i guess they went missing.

 

I just had a look at the couriers tracking system the documents are in Adelaide now so they should get them Monday morning.

Hopefully when/if we are granted state sponsorship ill change over for the higher priority. I'm hoping general electrician will be on the SMP for SA.

Thanks a mill Gill.

Maria.x

 

Hi there,

 

I appllied for State sponsorship end of April and they now have my documents, unfortuntely i missed the deadline for visa applications on Friday so will just have to sit it out and hope "Aircraft Technician" is on the new SOL.

With regards to your State sponsorship please see the reply I have had from SA Immigartion pasted below, If you have applied for your visa you need to e-mail them with your details as described below and they will process your sponsorship, if not then you will just sit in the queue until the new SOL is released.

 

THE E-MAIL I RECEIVED:

 

UPDATE

On 7 May 2010 the Commonwealth Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) made an announcement advising that DIAC will be suspending the acceptance of all Offshore Visa applications under the General Skilled Migration Program until further notice. The full announcement is available at http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/whats-new.htm

This announcement was made by DIAC and Immigration South Australia was not involved in this decision. If you have any questions about this announcement or the Visa application process, you must contact DIAC direct and not Immigration SA.

Sponsorship Applications

This announcement will impact on Sponsorship applications. As a result, Immigration SA will also be suspending processing Sponsorship applications for Offshore Visas until further notice.

Onshore Visas:

If you have applied for Sponsorship for an Onshore Visa, your application will proceed as normal. Note that the Sponsorship Application System will be closed for all applications on 14 May 2010.

Offshore Visas:

• If you have already submitted your Sponsorship Application with Immigration SA AND sent all your supporting documents AND have already lodged your Visa application with DIAC for an Offshore Visa before 8 May 2010 - send an Email to Immigration SA at gsm.sa@sa.gov.au with a copy of the Visa Application lodgement Acknowledgement OR a copy of the Notification email from DIAC AND your Immigration SA Reference Number before 14 May 2010. Your Sponsorship application will then be processed accordingly. If you do not include the Immigration SA Reference number, your Sponsorship application will not be identified and the application will not proceed.
  

2. If you have NOT submitted your Sponsorship Application with Immigration SA BUT have already lodged your Visa application with DIAC for an Offshore Visa before 8 May 2010 – 1) Submit the Online Sponsorship Application urgently. 2) Send the complete set of supporting documents before 14 May 2010. 3) Include in the supporting documents a copy of the Visa Application lodgement Acknowledgement OR a copy of the Notification email from DIAC AND your Immigration SA Reference Number. Your Sponsorship application will then be processed accordingly. If you do not include the Immigration SA Reference number, your Sponsorship application will not be identified and the application will not proceed.

3. If you have not lodged your Visa application with DIAC for an Offshore Visa before 8 May 2010 but have completed an Online Sponsorship application and have sent the supporting documents, processing of your application will be suspended until further notice. Advice will be provided on the Immigration SA website in due course to inform you of the status of your application. Do not ring Immigration SA but monitor the website regularly at www.migration.sa.gov.au

4. If you have not lodged your Visa application with DIAC for an Offshore Visa before 8 May 2010 but you have completed an Online Sponsorship application but have not sent the supporting documents, we suggest that you wait until DIAC reinstates the Visa application process and the publication of the revised Skilled Occupations List. Advice will be provided on the Immigration SA website in due course to inform you of the status of your application. Do not ring Immigration SA but monitor the website regularly at www.migration.sa.gov.au

5. If you have not lodged your Visa application with DIAC for an Offshore Visa before 8 May 2010 but have received Sponsorship Approval from Immigration SA, we suggest that you wait until DIAC reinstates the Visa application process and the publication of the revised Skilled Occupations List. Advice will be provided on the Immigration SA website in due course to inform you of the status of your application. Do not ring Immigration SA but monitor the website regularly at www.migration.sa.gov.au

Note that Immigration SA does not advise or make a decision on the appropriate visa for which you might apply. Sponsorship decision will be made on the criteria for the visa for which you have applied.

General Skilled Migration

Immigration South Australia

DEPARTMENT OF TRADE AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Email: gsm.sa@sa.gov.au

Web: www.migration.sa.gov.au

[Guest The Coyne Family]

Hi Micheal,

Thanks for that i sent m email off yesterday and got conformation from SA this morning. All my doc's are now showing received 11/05/2010.

I was sooo lucky i looked on PIO and PIA on Friday as I'm not using an agent i would never have known about the new change i just got in by the skin of my teeth.

I'm so sorry you missed out on Friday i really hope your on the new list fingers and toes crossed for you best of luck.

Maria.

[Guest guest3462]

Maria, If your docs are showing recieved on 11/5/10 then I am led to believe that they will be put in the "suspended" queue as they were not processed prior to the 8th may. Our forms were taken in person on the 7th May, but the dates on line say the 10th, when I rang to clarify, they told me that they were recieved too late and we would have to wait. Perhaps you should ring them and make sure you are going to be in the short queue??

In the end though, we think we should only be delayed by about 4 weeks and we are certain that our occupations will both be on the new SOL in June (Dr and nurse).

Hopefully you will be luckier than us and get the whole process started now.

JC x

[Guest The Coyne Family]

Hi Jc,

Gosh i didn't realise that, ill have to ring them and see, i sent off an e mail with my DIAC TRN number and got a replay that didn't really clarify the situation. Its all so confusing.

I actually sent off my first set of documents on the 13/04/2010 but just my luck they were lost in the post. I should have used a courier, wont make that mistake again. My husband is an electrician so I'm hoping he will be on one of the lists.

I see your living in Aldinga Beach is it nice ? It looks lovely on the net.

Its very hard to know were to settle Ive been looking around the Mt Barker area and Aldinga and surrounds. I'd love to be their by this time next year but the way things are going it looks highly unlikely.

Here's a copy of the e mail they sent me.

Best of luck.

Maria.

 

Thank you for your e-mail with DIAC approval confirmation attached. All applications are being placed into the Off-shore processing queue from date when the Immigration SA office receives/received all supporting documents (i.e. registration date).

When Immigration SA resumes Off-shore processing of 475 and 176 sponsorship applications, these applications will be processed in the order of date when original supporting documents were received.

Please regularly check Immigration SA for updated information:

http://www.migration.sa.gov.au/sa/migrate_from_overseas/visa_options/gen_skill3/criteria_for_state_spons.jsp

 

Also the DIAC website:

What's New? Recent Changes in General Skilled Migration

Regards

Program Support Officer, General Skilled Migration

[Guest Rich&Susie]

Hi everyone,

 

We've been having a few problems with applying for a 475 visa. We applying on the wife's job which is a PLanning & Policy Manager. To cut a long story short we submitted our application a couple of months ago, only for it to be rejected as we hadn't taken an IELTS test. Our agency conveniently forgot to tell us about that. Anyway, the wife went and took this test last weekend, although on Friday we were obviously greeted with the news regarding suspension of GSM applications.

So we chased around to gather all the information that we needed to re-submit but because of the issues with the online application process we submitted our application by email. We have proof that our email was delivered at 11.51pm on Friday night!

 

Now, we contacted DIAC on Monday to check whether they had received our application and they said that it would take 7-10 days to confirm this. However, through the agency we have been told that DIAC would not accept email applications. Confused!!

 

There are two things here. Firstly, if this is correct then we will appeal through the Global Feedback Unit.

 

Gollywobbler, you said this the other day, "The on-line system went down at 11.30pm on Friday, I gather, for maintenance which turned out to have been scheduled. That alone will lead to claims of unfairness and threats of litigation, for sure. " How did you come across to know this? Was it posted somewhere? It might be useful evidence that we need.

 

Sorry for all the questions, but it feels that we've been screwed over twice now with this application. We're both pretty dissolutioned at the moment. Any advice that anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

 

Rich & Susie.