Hanna

Congrats! I also saw people getting grants before me and was worried that the system skipped me. It’s sometimes strange how they work but glad to see you got your grant finally. All the best! And thanks for always updating us and keeping track on grants. It was nice having you in this forum.

Grant [emoji322] Family of 2 Enter Adelaide: 4.6.2018 Applied: 5.6.2020 Traveled for 17 days overseas (not our home country) for a holiday. Granted: 1.9.2020 CO: Christopher See link to a pdf file bellow what documents we have provided. IELTS was almost 3 years old but because of Superior English, it was accepted. We updated all police checks just in case because the old ones were requested 6 months before moving to Australia and it says that it has to cover ALL time spent in that country. We didn’t want to take the risk and ordered new ones. I cannot stress enough how important it is to request documents well ahead of your application. We requested AFP 1 month prior to lodgement and PCCs too. You want to make sure all documents are at all times up to date otherwise you risk a delay in your processing time. Do not wait for CO to contact you. Also, name your documents properly, COs first scan your documents to check if something is missing and request based on the document names. Some people complained about COs requesting the same documents already provided in the application. So carefully name them and upload everything when you lodge is my advice. Finally, update regularly especially in the case of a newborn and residency changes. Good luck to everyone, this group has helped a lot in clearing out uncertainty around the application process. https://drive.google.com/file/d/17cTGm-gcNyuUbllYruA1Y34hM3aJftLi/view?usp=sharing

March grants started on the August 4 and April grants started on the August 12, May grants started today (except for some that were accessed in May this year already) but keep in mind two things: 1. During the month of April applications COs were also focusing on clearing the backlog 2. May is the all-time biggest month in terms of applications Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

They did some this Monday. They do it regularly but allowing 1.5-2 months generally since contact. Stay positive, it will be soon [emoji3526] The queue is getting shorter day by day, it’s incredible.

Yes, I know this is frustrating and I heard that every CO is allowed to apply the law on a case to case basis which creates some inconsistencies. However, I felt obliged to warn people based on the knowledge and experience by people in the similar situation, because this is precisely one of the reasons why there is a 2 years backlog of applications. You see, we need to help each other to be ready for the worse case scenario. Sometimes it is a matter of calculating it right, a simple mistake that can cost people a lot of time and grey hair. There was no case known that would get any questions about travel if they were offshore for less than 28 days but there are many cases that were asked to explain why they don’t meet the requirement of 730 days in the regional and those were the ones with offshore period of longer than 28 days. If you search back you’ll see a couple of those who were offshore for mere 29 days and got asked about it, their entire time being deducted and experiencing now a 2 month delay and perhaps more if CO will not be satisfied. Even if there is no solid answer, it is up to the applicant to take the risk or not and up to us as a community to simply warn them about the matter. I hope everyone gets it after an inquiry, but I even more so I wish for everyone to get a direct grant because it helps everyone in this group.

@Mkaur@Waseem correction: 20 days of paid annual leave with weekends it makes up to 28 days.

@Mkaur does this clarify your question as well?

Hi Waseem, I understand your concerns and you’re right. The legislation applied here is that of Australians having in total 20 days of paid leave within 12 month period which is about 4 weeks (28 days if you include weekends). They not only apply immigration legislation but also that of the citizens of Australia. Does it make sense? The logic to follow is, if you work full time you collect a certain amount of time for your holiday which does not exceed 28 days within 12 months period. We have learned from previous applications that all applicants exceeding 28 days from the date that they traveled got questioned about it by the CO who deducted ALL of their offshore period if they were away for more than 28 days within 12 months period as they didn’t consider that a lawful annual leave since Australians generally don’t have more than that either. However, applicants who traveled less than 28 days were granted without questions asked even though that they applied exactly 2 years after their stay in the regional. Furthermore, Australia’s immigration law services posted about it and on many MARA websites you’ll read about 4 weeks being the maximum. Hope this helps.

Watch out, the moment you exceed 28 days, all the days will be deducted not only the days on top of 28

Yeah I’ve heard they were changing requirements and don’t get me wrong I am not defending the system, there are flaws and injustices, 100% agree with you. You were truly unlucky that the change happened right in that moment your application was opened [emoji21]. However, I must say that there is a lot of people out there who do not upload their APCs and English proofs for dependants when they lodge application and don’t calculate their time in regional, don’t read the requirements and then they complain that it is taking long after the initial contact and argue that they should be processed before other people such as yourself who completed the application with all the documentation. I believe that those instances are not fair either. COs having to contact applicants to require more evidence is slowing down the process for everyone. But your case is different and to be honest, it should be a crime to wait for such a straight forward visa for so long. I feel your pain and your case is not fair so I hope you complained about it. You can easily argue that the rules at the time of application should apply! Anyway I wish you luck and hope you get your well deserved visa soon.

I know it’s frustrating but the way to see this is: everyone has an equal chance to get a direct grant. If CO had to request extra documents, that case is put in another queue. To prevent that applicants need to be on top of their applications, keep on updating documents and uploading evidence. Imagine if they would process cases by waiting for applicants to upload everything and keep on asking for documents until they can reach decision we would see a 5 year processing time. To speed up for everyone they keep moving on in the current queue, granting completed applications and asking for more documents for those who didn’t submit everything while periodically assessing submitted documents (that queue is however longer and goes back to 2018). It is a fair and quicker process. Applicants who didn’t provide everything missed their shot at direct grant and essentially gave up their spot in the queue. COs will get back to those cases as soon as possible. Have faith. It will happen sooner rather than later. Sometimes complaining can help them to re-open your file again.

This Australian Law Services explains it nicely: https://www.australiavisa.com/immigration-news/from-a-489-to-a-887-visa/

Departure day is considered as offshore already. The only thing they can do is to say it was all a paid leave so that the CO would perhaps waive those 1-2 days or argument that both travels were done in 2 separate financial years although within 12 month period. It would be up to the CO though. Rules clearly say the main applicant can’t be offshore for more than 28 days during a 12 month period. I am truly hoping they have a reasonable CO that would see those 1-2 days over the limit isn’t a big deal and is a matter of interpretation of their rules.

I feel for you mate but you were still away more than 4 weeks in total during 12 months which then calculates the entire time as off shore. It might be that this caused a problem in the system. I would still comment by saying that to your understanding paid annual leave isn’t calculated as off shore but consult a professional as well if you get further inquiries.

To my understanding it’s permitted to travel for 4 weeks in a 12 month period (to match the annual leave component in Australia). The moment you were off shore for more than that it wouldn’t count as “holiday” (your case shows that you were off shore for more than that during 12 months period). Also, if you’re not employed in that time or paying rent it doesn’t support your case as to be a “holiday” only. Consult an agent and if not sure you’d have to withdraw the application and reapply because if your visa gets refused then 887 will no longer be an option.