Agent says 475 not on SA SMP!!!!!

[Guest jillabong]

Morning everyone

Please could someone help me before my head explodes!!!!!

We emailed our agent last night to ask her to contact DIAC and find out what is happening with our application

She emailed back saying that our 475 is not on SA SMP, and that she ‘just took our work for it ‘ that is was…… firstly it is her job to check where we are, not just take our word for it!!!!!! (and OH JOB IS on SMP- Chief Information Officer)

Secondly, there are other members on Pio that ARE SAME STATE, SAME JOB, AND SAME VISA that are in Cat2 and are getting CO

There are also others from SA that are on 475’s in cat2 with CO, so how can she say that SA is NOT taking 475 applicants!!!!!!!

If you look at the SA SMP it clearly says at the top 176 and 475….with whatever the onshore codes are….cant remember….

Really as you can understand my head is totally swimming and I am furious!!!! She has left us thinking for over a month that we are Cat2 and all is well, which according to everyone else in the same position as us is correct

She still has not replied to us and I am pulling out my hair waiting!!!!!

PLEASE, any advice and help would be greatly appreciated before my head explodes!!!!

Our timeline is on our sig if anyone wants to know!!!!!

Thanks in advance

Jill

[Guest littlem]

Hi Jill

I am not an expert but it clearly says on the smp on the SA migration page that it includes ss 475's. So i think you are right and your agent is wrong. maybe worth going back to them and questioning it.

 

Michelle

x

[HEAPS GOOD !!!]

There is a member on here called Gollywobbler.....drop them a PM she may be able to help or give yoyu some advice.....

 

HG

[Guest jillabong]

thanks guys.....

we mailed our agent back first thing this morning and she has not relpied

 

obviously i would ring or send DIAC PLE myself, but they wond discuss our case with us!!!!!!! as were not the contact!!!!! aaarrrgggghhhhhhhh

 

thanks again x

[Guest Traceyp]

thanks guys.....

we mailed our agent back first thing this morning and she has not relpied

 

obviously i would ring or send DIAC PLE myself, but they wond discuss our case with us!!!!!!! as were not the contact!!!!! aaarrrgggghhhhhhhh

 

thanks again x

Jillabong,we are on the same visa (Padayachee,475ss..CIO).Whats wrong with your agent,we gotour co yesterday.Am sure there is a way to get Diac to only deal with you,I think theres a form you must fill out stateing that you no longer want the agent to contact Diac on your behalf,you should research that.I understand that you must have paid alot of money for the agent service,but remember there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

[Guest jillabong]

Jillabong,we are on the same visa (Padayachee,475ss..CIO).Whats wrong with your agent,we gotour co yesterday.Am sure there is a way to get Diac to only deal with you,I think theres a form you must fill out stateing that you no longer want the agent to contact Diac on your behalf,you should research that.I understand that you must have paid alot of money for the agent service,but remember there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

 

 

Hi Tracey

 

thanks for that, in fact we used you as our example as you are exactly the same as us, although you applied in Sep 09, so couple months before us!!!!

 

she has now replied and this is what she said:

 

Yes you have applied for a 475 visa, and your ASCO does Map to Chief

Information Officer , but according to the list for SA Chief Information

Officer is not available. If your friends did get a case officer then they

are very lucky, as you are currently not a category two application.(this is where we were referring to you)

I can

'e' mail DIAC and see what they come back with.

 

If in the next state migration plan CIO is put on the SA list then you will

be moved to category 2.

 

I will be in touch when I hear from DIAC.

 

Regards"

 

It also says quite clearly if you read on SA site- "Sponsorship availability applies at the time of decision for new sponsorship applications. All occupations listed will receive Priority Processing 2 by DIAC regardless of sponsorship availability."

 

 

i am so cross!!!!!! i just want to ring them and shout down the phone.....but know that wont get me anywhere!!!

 

thanks again for replying and again congrats on getting a CO

 

Jill

[Guest Traceyp]

"It also says quite clearly if you read on SA site- "Sponsorship availability applies at the time of decision for new sponsorship applications. All occupations listed will receive Priority Processing 2 by DIAC regardless of sponsorship availability."

 

Well I honestly cannot believe this,your agent is missing the point totally.Am so sorry for the heaps of trouble you are going through.

My agent took our R18.000 and then liquardated,not to mention so many others.Even though I lost that amount of money,OH and I decided to give it our best shot,we worked hard on every part of application.

Still, coming back to your issue,I cannot understand what your agent is onn about.

Wish you the best,good news to follow.

[Guest knsc]

Hi

 

Reading your time line surely this part applies to you

• When an occupation on the SSML reaches it’s planning level, its status will shift from "Available" to "Not Available".
  
• This means that no NEW applications will be accepted but for sponsorship applications that have already been approved and submitted to DIAC, will receive priority processing.
  

Here is the link to the page it is on http://www.migration.sa.gov.au/sa/immigrate_from_overseas/state_migration_plan_south_australia.jsp

It sounds like your agent has got It wrong and she is just looking at the first line and not the second as you already have state sponsorship or am I reading your time line wrong.

[Guest R175]

Hi jillabong.

 

As heaps good says there is someone called gollywobbler on these forums but I used her help on PomsInOz not on here.

 

If you can contact her she is an absolute dream and without her help we would not have our visa.

 

I have a disability and they were just about to knock us back and she gave me reams of advice to help us

 

Hope you get some help

[Gollywobbler]

Hi Tracey

 

thanks for that, in fact we used you as our example as you are exactly the same as us, although you applied in Sep 09, so couple months before us!!!!

 

she has now replied and this is what she said:

 

Yes you have applied for a 475 visa, and your ASCO does Map to Chief

Information Officer , but according to the list for SA Chief Information

Officer is not available. If your friends did get a case officer then they

are very lucky, as you are currently not a category two application.(this is where we were referring to you)

I can

'e' mail DIAC and see what they come back with.

 

If in the next state migration plan CIO is put on the SA list then you will

be moved to category 2.

 

I will be in touch when I hear from DIAC.

 

Regards"

 

It also says quite clearly if you read on SA site- "Sponsorship availability applies at the time of decision for new sponsorship applications. All occupations listed will receive Priority Processing 2 by DIAC regardless of sponsorship availability."

 

 

i am so cross!!!!!! i just want to ring them and shout down the phone.....but know that wont get me anywhere!!!

 

thanks again for replying and again congrats on getting a CO

 

Jill

 

Hi Jill

 

Right! Please take a deep breath and a firm step backwards!!! Being angry or upset is not going to help to sort this situation out, hon, so please try to hang loose. (Wise advice but almost impossible to do it, I know!)

 

Earlier in this thread, you have said as follows:

obviously i would ring or send DIAC PLE myself, but they wond discuss our case with us!!!!!!! as were not the contact!!!!! aaarrrgggghhhhhhhh

 

However on another forum you said that DIAC told you that they have no record of having received a visa application for you.

 

These two statements contradict one another, hon. If DIAC have not received a visa application, that fact would be inconsistent with a claim from them that they can't discuss your visa application with you since you are not the contact on record at their end. Could you clarify what DIAC say that the problem is, please? Thanks.

 

Meanwhile, State Sponsorship from SA. First of all,their SSML list covers applicants for both of the sc 176 visas and the sc 475 visas. It says so in the rubric at the top of their SSML.

 

I can't give you a direct link to the SSML because it is a type of PDF file that does not open with a URL address at the top. However, please click on the link below and then click on the link for SA's SSML. (It is the SMP - they have merely given the document a different title.)

 

State Sponsored Migration List 2011 :: Make The Move

 

The SSML was last updated on 4th January 2011 according to the words at the bottom of the page. The effect of the list is that they want Chief Information Officers for SA but by 04/01/2011 they had already sponsored enough people with this occupation so they don't want any new applicants for it during the Financial Year ending on 30th June 2011. Whether this occupation will be on SA's SMP for 2011/2012 remains to be seen and there is no point in speculating about that for the time being.

 

Your agent has told you that you received your State sponsorship on 9th November 2009 - over a year ago. (Is the date in your timeline correct? You don't mean 9th November 2010, do you?)

 

If the State sponsorship has already been granted, then it is possible that your application has moved into Cat 2 BUT - this is not certain at present! It is not certain because the SSML says that in order to get SMP sponsorship, the visa applicant needs an IELTS score of 7.0 or above even if s/he is British. This is confirmed by the rubric at the top of the SSML. So - does your OH have an IELTS score of 7.0 or above in each of the 4 modules of the IELTS. please?

 

SA do not say what their policy is where they have already provided State sponsorship but the applicant does not have an IELTS result because it was not one of SA's requirements at the time and the requirement for 7.0 was not one of DIAC's requirements at the time either. Ergo, do SA consider that your OH has SMP sponsorship or don't they? Have you asked them about this? If you have, what did they say, please?

 

At this stage, my own inclination would be to trust what DIAC tell you and what Immigration SA tell you. They will provide you with advice that is 100% accurate and with a bit of luck it will also be crystal clear. Your agent is not being equally clear about the whole thing, to judge from your descriptions of what she has been saying.

 

Please could you try to answer the questions that I have asked in this post? I've put the questions into italics to make them stand out.

 

Many thanks

 

Gill

[Gollywobbler]

Hi All

 

Just to let people know if they are concerned about the situation described in this thread, it is now under control.

 

Immigration SA have confirmed that they granted state sponsorship over a year ago and that they sent Form 1100 to DIAC at the time. DIAC say that they never received Form 1100 but Immigration SA have agreed to send it again.

 

Immigration SA have also confirmed that Jillabong's OH is being treated as someone whom SA have sponsored according to their SMP, so that is OK. It is definitely a Cat 2 visa application and it should now be processed fairly promptly.

 

DIAC also say that although they have received the visa application itself (submitted on-line) they have never received any of the supporting documents to go with it. That could be due to a number of reasons:-

 

1. It could be that an inefficient migration agent simply forgot to upload the supporting documents;

 

2. It could be that there was an error in the migration agent's office and that although she sent the supporting documents, they were given the wrong "TRN Code" (or whatever one does to make sure that the supporting documents will be attached to the visa application at DIAC's end if the two aspects of this are not lodged at the same time) ;

 

3. Since DIAC appear "not to have received" the Form 1100 which Immigration SA insist that they sent, the same thing might have happened to the supporting documents for the visa application - ie everything fell into a large, black cyber-hole somewhere.

 

However the good news is that anything which DIAC say is missing can be sent to them/sent to them again before this weekend, so hopefully it will all be plain sailing from now on.

 

I thought that I would just post this to bring everyone up to date because I have reiterated DIAC's own advice to Jill, which is that she should phone her migration agents in Oz instead of relying on e-mail, but I've added that she should then go to bed!! (I'm not sure whether DIAC also mentioned bed.) I can bring this thread up to date for her whilst Jill phones her agents and then grabs some zzzzs.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest jillabong]

Thanks Gill very much, l am still up and waiting to get in touch with agent, have called twice and left message, they dont seem to have an office you can call, every time it goes to a messaging service!!!!

have also sent urgent email to agent asking to ring me ASAP, i am awake and waiting!!!

but nothing still!!!

 

Jill

[Gollywobbler]

Thanks Gill very much, l am still up and waiting to get in touch with agent, have called twice and left message, they dont seem to have an office you can call, every time it goes to a messaging service!!!!

have also sent urgent email to agent asking to ring me ASAP, i am awake and waiting!!!

but nothing still!!!

 

Jill

 

Hi Jill

 

I suspect that Bali could be to blame!

 

My sister lives in Perth. She has naffed off to Bali for 10 days at the moment - they will be back in Perth on Sunday afternoon, apparently, according to my mother. Mum says that the children go back to school on Wednesday next week and apparently there were some last minute, super-cheap package holidays to Bali on offer recently, hence my sister grabbed the chance and I should think that loads of other Westralians have done so as well.

 

Who have you e-mailed? Did you e-mail Maryanne or the other lady? Maryanne might not get an e-mail that isn't addressed to her?

 

With the other lady, if you want to talk to her, have you tried her own migration agency phone number or only the one for Maryanne's agency?

 

From the MARA entry, my guess is that the other lady merely works as a part-time sub-contractor for Maryanne. If Maryanne is away, the other one probably isn't in Maryanne's office either. Please see the link below for the other lady's contact details:

 

https://www.mara.gov.au/agent/ARDetails.aspx?ud=1908&BackToSearch=True&FolderID=394

 

Good luck and please let me know how you get on?

 

Hugs

 

Gill

[Guest jillabong]

So have eventually received a call back, agent said paperwork was submitted, ........everyone is blaming everyone else!!!!

did say they would submit it again, but why if DIAC supposedly already have it......hhhmmmmm?!?!

also said they would be in contact with SA and DIAC and would let us know that all docs have been received by DIAC, and would let us know when they know......

 

Also i had to clarify to them what the "not available" meant on the SMP, so actually i do know more about immigration!!!!!

good god, what a day, now for 2 1/2 hours sleep then up for work!!!!!

and thanks again Gill x

 

Jill

[Guest Traceyp]

Sooooo happy for you Jillabong,,,you finally have answers to whats happening.So lets wait for your CO now.All good news from now on,you have had a rough time and we are thinking of you.

[Guest guest3462]

Oh Jill what a stressful day you have just been through!!! I really do feel for you and I am so glad that there are now some clearer answers. I hope that you get your case officer in the next few weeks and your visa very soon. Will follow your case - I have a story myself so I truly know how hard it can be.

Coming from immigration stresshead No1 this sounds a bit odd, but try to relax a bit now and let things take their path for a week. Fingers crossed everything works out smoothly from now on!

All the best

Julia x

[Gollywobbler]

Hi Jill

 

I agree with Julia (churchj.) Try to spend this weekend relaxing, if possible.

 

You have had a dreadful experience which would not have happened if you had dealt with your visa application by yourself. That fact is both undeniable and inexcusable, imho.

 

It is inevitable that everybody is now trying to pass the buck. I think it is quite likely that there is an error at DIAC's end of this. Immigration SA are not fibbing so when they say that they sent Form 1100 to DIAC on 18th March 2010, it is reasonable to suppose that this is exactly what Immigration SA did.

 

Somehow, DIAC have not managed to e-attach the Form 1100 to your e-file so the chances are that they have not managed to do so with the supporting documents for your visa application either. It is a blessing that you made a fuss and found out that DIAC are in possession of a mess by way of an e-file. (I don't know anything about computers but your OH might be the right type of computer-wizard to be able to work out why the electronic end of your visa application seems to have gone wrong. I do know that some of DIAC's own staff are suspicious of the e-visa system because it is not 100% reliable, apparently. The good news, though, is that if they suspect that the DIAC computer is corrupting or hiding data, they can simply print everything and then they can deal with the whole thing manually instead. Plus the fax machine works even if a computer does not.)

 

Please ask your OH to examine what DIAC say on the links below:

 

Contact Us - Department of Immigration and Citizenship

 

Attaching Documents to a General Skilled Migration Visa Application

 

I haven't got a clue about "computer protocols" (which I understand they are called) but the DIAC computer seems to me to be very fussy about its food. If it doesn't like the food, it doesn't eat it.

 

It is also an extremely polite contraption. Instead of sending a "Delivery failed" notification, it merely fails to send a receipt. If it swallows the offering, it sends an automatic receipt immediately.

 

(The DIAC computer works on the old Rolls-Royce principle, methinks. A Rolls-Royce never "breaks down." It merely "fails to proceed" according to the publicity burble from about 1910! They used to equip every car with a comprehensive tool kit just in case it should ever "fail to proceed" - unlikely though that was - according to a documentary that I saw not long ago!)

 

A couple of years ago I helped a couple whose migration agent had sent all the supporting documents. The agent eventually produced a copy of an e-mail which proved that his lady assistant had indeed tried to send the supporting documents. By then, the MARA were involved because the visa application had been refused. I sent the e-mail to another RMA who was helping to sort out the mess. He identified that the first agent's girl had put the documents into a zipped folder and that the DIAC computer is allergic to Winzip. The obvious question then was, "What happens to a document if the DIAC computer doesn't accept it?" The MARA's computer-wizards asked DIAC's computer-wizards but apparently the latter did not know what happens in this situation. We all concluded that there must be a black hole in cyber-space somewhere. However it turned out that the first agent had not received the magic auto-receipt from the DIAC computer, which should have given the agent's girl the clue that something was wrong. The first agent moaned to the MARA that he and his clerks were not supposed to "micromanage" each and every file. The MARA said that micromanagement is exactly what a Registered Migration Agent must do at all times.

 

I think it is worth asking your OH to get genned up on DIAC's instructions about the likes and dislikes of their computer and then asking him to contact your agent to make absolutely sure that there is nothing wrong computer-wise with any of the supporting documents this time around. I think that this time, the supporting documents probably have to be attached to several e-mails and sent to the "adelaide.gsm.documents" e-mail address:

 

General Skilled Migration Enquiry Forms - Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs

 

Officially, the DIAC machine is programmed so that it will only accept uploaded documents for 30 days after it receives the visa application. After that time, one has to use the gsm.documents e-mail address, apparently.

 

However the DIAC computer seems to be fussy about file-sizes so it may be necessary to use 4 or 5 e-mails to get all the supporting documents sent to them in a way that their computer will accept. I would watchdog the agent to make absolutely certain that she does not get the cyber end of things wrong because she should have realised ages ago that something had gone wrong but she evidently did not realise it, and then she made matters worse by offering you inaccurate advice - which is inexcusable.

 

The answer might be to get the agent to send your OH a complete copy of everything that she re-sends to DIAC, so that he can double-check that the DIAC computer won't choke on any of the data, maybe? (I defy ordinary mortals to understand the details about that computer's dietary preferences, frankly, but a professional computer-wizard might be able to make sense of it all!)

 

All that said, the good news is that now that you have caused a flurry, DIAC are likely to process the visa application pdq. If anything has gone wrong at their end, they always go the extra mile on behalf of the visa applicant and ensure that they put matters right without delay.

 

Cheers

 

Gill

[Guest Lynda&Adam]

Hi Jill

 

Thanks for the chat earlier today & putting me at ease. I have mailed my agent & insisted she contact DIAC to check all docs are in place, after what you have been through and due to any confusion the latest update from GSM has caused. WIll, of course, keep you updated. So good to see Gollywobbler on here again.

 

When you get to Oz & you hear a knock on the door, don't panic, it will be us with some cold ones to go with the barbie!! xx

[Guest jillabong]

so a quick update

 

our agent has said today that DIAC have received Form 1100 again and accepted our State Sponsorship!

they also said that we haven't been allocated a CO yet and would get one in the next round!!! a bit peeved about that really as feel as we have been overlooked in the first instance as things wernt how they should have been, but anyway, i just hope we get a CO soon and can put this nightmare behind us. And i wont be able to relax properly either until we actually get a CO.....

 

in the mean time have sent of Police Checks and have booked medicals of the 24th, so hopefully everything will be in order for when someone actually picks up our file......

 

still feel a little deflated and hope to be getting the good news soon, good luck to everyone else waiting too

 

Jill