Search Results for the term : 'adelaide'

Current Australian Immigration processing lead time as of June 2008

Guys, latest Australian Visa Processing time line for June 2008.

Any comments or questions please post them in this thread on our forums.

RECEIPTING AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF APPLICATIONS

The ASPC is currently receipting new applications within service standards.

Once an application has been receipted it undergoes validity checking and an acknowledgement letter with client information and a receipt will be sent.

If an application is determined to be invalid documents will be returned and a refund of the visa application charge arranged.

As of June 2008 the ASPC Admin Section is processing applications as follows:

Onshore Applications: receipting and acknowledging applications received on 10 June 2008.

Offshore Applications: receipting and acknowledging applications received on 10 June 2008.

Once an application has been acknowledged it will be allocated to a case officer for further assessment as soon as possible, however, the ASPC receives a large number of applications and you will not be contacted immediately.

PROCESSING AND ALLOCATION INFORMATION - For the week of 10 June 2008

Applications lodged on or before the dates shown below have been allocated to case officers for further processing.

Read more

Popularity: 8% [?]

Current Australian Immigration processing lead time as of April 2008

Well, we’re into April so let’s look at the current Australian Visa Processing timelines for April 2008.

To discuss this post, please use the appropriate thread in our forums here

PROCESSING AND ALLOCATION INFORMATION - For the week of 1 April 008

Applications lodged on or before the dates shown below have been allocated to case officers for further processing.

Applications Lodged Before 1 September 2007

Onshore Skilled visas (permanent and provisional)

Student/Graduate applications - Class DD and DE visas
Subclass 880: 18 August 2007 (paper), 9 August 2007 (e-lodged)
Subclass 881: 29 August 2007 (paper), 29 August 2007 (e-lodged)
Subclass 882: 29 August 2007 (paper), 29 August 2007 (e-lodged)

Onshore Skilled Independent Regional (Provisional) (SIR) – Class UX visas Subclass 495: All applications: all applications are now allocated to case officers

New Zealand Citizen (Residence) - Class DB visas
Subclass 861, 862 and 863: all applications are now allocated to case officers

Offshore Skilled visas (permanent and provisional)

Skilled Migration visas - All paper based applications for Class BN, BQ, BR, UX and UZ visas
Subclasses 134, 136, 137, 138, 139, 495 and 496: 2 May 2007

e-lodged Skilled Independent Regional (Provisional) applications
Subclass 495: all applications are now allocated to case officers

Applications Lodged After 1 September 2007

General Skilled Migration visas: Class VE, VF,VB and Class VC subclass 487
Subclasses: 175, 176, 475, 476, 885, 886, 887, and 487
E-lodged: 8 November 2007
Paper lodged: 16 September 2007

General Skilled Migration visas: Class VC subclass 485 only
E-lodged: 29 September 2007
Paper lodged: 16 September 2007

If a visa application was made more than two weeks before the relevant date shown above and you have not been contacted by a case officer please contact the Adelaide Skilled Processing Centre from the web page which can be viewed by Clicking Here

Popularity: 10% [?]

Australian Real Estate Market - So Whats Happening?

It’s been a whilst since I wrote about the Australian Real Estate Market so I thought I’d write an entry to give an update on whats going on from a housing perspective in this great land of ours.

In Perth the rising interest rates and an exodus of investors has trebled the number of houses on the market.

Figures released by the Real Estate Institute of Western Australia (REIWA) show a dramatic increase in number of properties for sale.

The Institute says that the number of properties for sale has climbed from 4-thousand 8-hundred two years ago to almost 17-thousand today.

The President Robb Druitt says some investors are pulling out because it is no longer as profitable to invest in Western Australia and having seen the slow down in the rate by which houses are increasing over here I can certainly validate this point.

Houses are still selling though. On our street alone it doesn’t seem to be too long before the ‘For Sale’ sign outside of peoples houses is quickly replaced with a SOLD sign.

House prices appear to be stabalising at the moment to but this still means that by ‘old Aussie standards’ houses are still a lot more expensive then they were 3 - 5 years ago.

Having said that, it looks like house prices could continue to rise even higher with some Analysts predicting that Housing prices across Australia could rise by a further 40 percent!

Economic forecaster BIS Shrapnel says the housing affordability crisis will only get worse as demand for housing continues to outstrip supply but surprisingly the relatively high interest rates here in Australia could influence this.

Our forecast is for anywhere between 25 and 40 per cent across most of the capital cities… The environment will still stay tough for the next 12 to 18 months because of rising interest rates. But as the interest rate situation stabilises we expect a lot of those pent-up demand pressures to be released onto the market in terms of rising price growth.

Apparently at least 30,000 more homes need to be built each year to keep up with the demand for housing, especially with overseas migration at record highs. Unfortunately the actual number of new houses being built falls well short of this figure.

The lack of land seems to be a pretty large influencing factor here, after all theres no point building 30,000 new houses a year if there is no where to put them and this is starting to have a further knock on effect on housing affordability, especially with first time buyers!

An Article in the Sydney Morning Herald indicates that the average first-home buyer can only afford one in four Sydney properties.

Heading back to Perth again, the average first-home buyer can afford to buy only one in 10 properties!

In summary I think it’s fair to say that the property market here in Australia is a little ‘vexed’ .

I know there are still some great buys in Adelaide. Melbourne also offers opportunities to pick up a nice house at a price which by UK standards is bit of a bargain.

The problem starts if you don’t want to live there.

On the bright side, if your a builder, bricklayer, electrician or someone holding a skill which would be well utilised within the building industry then don’t worry. It looks like you’ll have plenty of work to keep you busy for a very long time

Popularity: 6% [?]

Current Australian Immigration processing lead time as of January 2008

Well, we’re into 2008 so let’s look at the current Processing timelines for January.

To discuss this post, please use the appropriate thread in our forums here

The Australia Immigration Department put into operation major reforms to the General Skilled Migration (GSM) programme with effect from 1 September 2007.

Prior to the introduction of these changes there was a significant increase in the volume of applications received by the department.

The surge in applications resulted in delays in getting all of these applications receipted and acknowledged.

All applications lodged prior to 1 September 2007 have now been processed and receipted. While every effort is being made to acknowledge these applications as quickly as possible there will be
a delay before a full acknowledgement is made.

As of 1st January 2008 the ASPC Admin Section is processing applications as follows: Read more

Popularity: 51% [?]

Australia - A review of living down under one year on

It’s been a while since I’ve written a decent sized blog entry so I thought I’d spend a little time writing this one.

It was the 25 November 2006 when we landed in Australia and over one year on we still call this place down under home.

Although I’ve written a lot about life in Australia during the past year I didn’t think I would be right to give an ‘informed’ view about living here in Oz until I had at least got a full year under our belt.

We still have so much to learn about this country, its culture and its people. After all, although I’ve travelled to all the Aussie states on business in the last 12 months, we decided to call Perth our home and the majority of our Aussie experiences are based on our time here in Western Australia.

Having said all that and in no particular order. Read more

Popularity: 24% [?]

Current Australian Immigration processing lead time as of December 2007

Hi folks, please find below the latest time lines from the ASPC. Any comments or questions please post in the appropriate thread made in our forums here

PROCESSING AND ALLOCATION INFORMATION - For the week of 26 November 2007

Applications lodged on or before the dates shown below have been allocated to case officers for further processing.

Onshore Skilled visas (permanent and provisional)

Student/Graduate applications - Class DD and DE visas

Paper based applications: 15 June 2007 (subclass 880), 16 April 2007 (subclass 881) and 18 April 2007 (subclass 882)

E-lodged (on-line) applications: 20 July 2007 (subclass 880) and 30 July 2007 (subclass 881) and 30 July 2007 (subclass 882)

Onshore Skilled Independent Regional (Provisional) (SIR) – Class UX visas

Paper based applications:7 August 2007
eSIR (on-line) applications: 26 July 2007

New Zealand Citizen (Residence) - Class DB visas

All applications: all applications are now allocated to case officers Read more

Popularity: 35% [?]

Current Australian Immigration processing lead time as of November 2007

Hi folks, please find below the latest time lines from the ASPC. Any comments or questions please post in the appropriate thread made in our forums here

As of November 2007 the ASPC admin section is processing as follows:

Applications lodged on or before the dates shown below have been allocated to case officers for further processing.

Student/Graduate applications – Class DD and DE visas

Paper based applications: 3 May 2007 (subclass 880), 9 March 2007 (subclass 881) and 9 March 2007 (subclass 882)

E-lodged (on-line) applications: 7 July 2007 (subclass 880) and 26 July 2007 (subclass 881) and 26 July 2007 (subclass 882)

Onshore Skilled Independent Regional (Provisional) (SIR) – Class UX visas

Paper based applications: 7 August 2007
eSIR (on-line) applications: 23 April 2007 Read more

Popularity: 34% [?]

So where are you heading?

A little while ago I added a poll (which is displayed on the left hand side of every page) to the site to try and get an indication of where folks would be heading to once they move down under.

I’m not sure if the poll is a little bias towards Western Australia because that’s what I’m writing about most of the time and will therefore be the kind of stuff people might stumble upon when searching for Western Australia on the internet.

Still, at time of typing its good to see that its not all about Western Australia.

The rankings for most popular Australia destinations for new migrants (according to our extensive poll of 84 people ) are as follows:

1. Western Australia (yay!)
2. South Australia (that’ll be Adelaide then).
3. Queensland (aka Brisbane)
4. Victoria (Melbourne)
5. New South Wales (aka Sydney)
6. Northern Territory

Ok! Its only a bit of fun but the results are still kinda interesting. I’m surprised to see New South Wales down in fifth Spot but its good to see the West and South taking some healthy pickings of new migrants.

If you’ve not taken our poll yet then go ahead You’ll find it in the side bar to the left of this post. Read more

Popularity: 14% [?]

Current Australian Immigration processing lead time as of June 2007

Latest processing times from the ASPC - If you have any specific questions, please post these in our forums

As of 8 June 2007 the ASPC admin section is processing as follows:

Onshore Applications: receipting applications received on 5 June 2007 and acknowledging applications received on 5 June 2007.

Offshore Applications: receipting applications received on 28 May 2007 and acknowledging applications received on 26 March 2007.

Applicants and representatives who have not authorised e-mail communication will not receive separate advice that the ASPC has received and receipted an application and will receive the standard acknowledgement letter and receipt details in due course.

Please note that any delay in acknowledging an application does not affect the date on which a valid application is recorded as having been received and does not delay processing of the application.

Once an application has been acknowledged a case officer is appointed to assess each application as soon as possible, however, the ASPC receives a large number of applications and you will not be contacted immediately.

Processing and Allocation Information - For the week of 12 June 2007

Applications lodged on or before the dates shown below have been allocated to case officers for further processing.

ONSHORE APPLICATIONS

Student/Graduate

Paper based applications: 8 January 2007 (subclass 880), 20 December 2006 (subclass 881) and 22 December 2006 (subclass 882)

E-lodged (on-line) applications: 2 January 2007 (subclass 880) and 22 December 2006 (subclass 881) and 29 December 2006 (subclass 882)

Skilled Independent Regional (Provisional) (SIR VISA)

Paper based applications: 22 December 2006
E-lodged (on-line) applications: 12 January 2007

New Zealand

All applications: 4 October 2006 (all subclasses)

OFFSHORE APPLICATIONS

All paper based applications for Classes BN, BQ, BR, UX and UZ (subclasses 134, 136, 137, 138, 139, 495 and 496)

Priority Applications: 14 September 2006*
Non-Priority Applications: 31 August 2006

*this data includes paper based SIR applications which are processed as part of the priority caseload

Skilled Independent Regional (Provisional) (eSIR visa applications)

E-lodged (on-line) applications: 05 February 2007

Notes

Onshore: means that the visa being applied for can be granted while the applicant is in Australia.

e-lodged: applications lodged on-line have quicker processing times. See: Online Services - General Skilled Migration

SIR visas: All applicants for a Skilled - Independent Regional [SIR] visa receive priority processing.

Offshore: means that the visa being applied for can only be granted when the applicant is outside of Australia.

If a visa application was made more than two weeks before the relevant date shown above and you have not been contacted by a case officer please contact the Adelaide Skilled Processing Centre from the web page http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/visa-enquiries/professionals.htm

Applications eligible for priority processing

1. Applicants whose nominated occupation is on the Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL)

2. For applicants whose nominated occupation is not on the MODL, applications for any of the following visas are given priority:

a) Skill Matching (Migrant) (Class BR) - Subclass 134 - Skill Matching
b) Skilled - Independent (Migrant) (Class BN) – Subclass 137 - Skilled - state/Territory-nominated Independent
c) Skilled - Australian-sponsored (Migrant) (Class BQ) - Subclass 139 - Skilled - Designated Area Sponsored
d) Skilled - Independent Regional (Provisional) (Class UX) – Subclass 495 - Skilled - Independent Regional (Provisional)
e) Skilled Designated Area-sponsored (Provisional) (Class UZ) – Subclass 496 - Skilled Designated Area-sponsored (Provisional)
f) Skilled New Zealand (Residence) visa class (Class DB) - Subclass 863 - Skilled - Onshore Regional-Sponsored New Zealand Citizen
g) Skilled Australian-sponsored Overseas Student (Residence) (Class DE) - Subclass 882 - Skilled Designated Area-sponsored Overseas Student

Eligibility for priority processing does not mean that any processing requirements can be waived.

Offshore Applicants can now initiate Health and Character Checks before being allocated a case officer

The inclusion of health forms on the department’s website means that applicants can reduce the time taken to finalise the application by commencing health and character checking before their application is allocated to a case officer, however, applicants and migration agents should be aware that:
o Applicants are responsible for all costs associated with medical examinations and providing police clearances;
o Health examinations and police clearances have limited validity periods, generally for a period of 12 months;
o If clearances expire before the application is finalised they may be requested again, and must be provided at the applicant’s cost;
o The ASPC may need to undertake other checking in respect of the application that can delay a decision; and
o Undertaking health examinations and providing police clearances does not guarantee an application will be successful.

IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT:

Applicants are not obliged to undertake these checks now and may wait until receiving a further request from the department.

If any applicant is pregnant - please contact this office for further advice before any person included in the application commences health or character checking.

Non-migrating family members of applicants for a SIR visa should not undertake health and character checking unless specifically requested to do so.

Medical Examinations

Information on health checking requirements and medical forms can be obtained at http://www.immi.gov.au/allforms/health-requirements/index.htm Please pay careful attention to the information available on this page including Form 1071i detailing health requirements for permanent entry to Australia. Visa applicants in Australia must contact Health Services Australia (HSA) to arrange a health examination.

Applicants outside of Australia must arrange their health examination with a panel doctor and/or radiologist nominated by the Australian Government. A list of panel doctors and radiologists is at http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/panel-doctors/index.htm

Please note that the panel doctor is required to send all medical results to the Local Clearance Unit in Australia and not give them to applicants or their representatives. Information about the Local Clearance Unit including their address is available at
http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/australia/processing-centres/lcu-sydney.htm

Before attending a health examination applicants need to:

1. Print off the required numbers of forms 26 and/or 160 to present to the panel doctor and radiologist; and
2. Complete the “Office use only” box to indicate the visa class applied for (eg subclass 136), the file reference number and / or the ICSE Request ID number on each form.

Finalising Applications

Please note that the information provided above is not about the time it will take to process an application to completion. The time it is expected to take to process a General Skilled Migration visa application to completion is detailed in the department’s service standards. Service standards are specified for applications lodged with complete documentation. Individual cases may take longer than the service standard depending on the completeness and complexity of the case. For further information on service standards see: service standards

Telephone + 61 1300 364 613 (outside Australia) 1300 364 613 (within Australia) | Facsimile + 61 (0) 8 8237 6629 | Website: www.immi.gov.au | Webmail: http://www.immi.gov.au/contacts/visa-enquiries/professionals.htm

Popularity: 6% [?]

Busy Busy Busy

Hi Guys

It’s probably been the longest time I’ve spent without updating the blog and I feel ashamed

I managed to get a promotion at work which has resulted in some pretty significant travel and a little less time to update the blog. Still, things seem to be calming down a little now so I hope to get back into the swing of things.

During the last three weeks I’ve flown to some of Australias major cities visiting some of our head office sites in each of the major states.

This has included trips to Brisbane, Sydney Adelaide and Melbourne (pronounced Mel-bun and not Mel-born as I was repeatedly corrected by my Aussie colleagues) before flying back to Perth just over a week ago.

I gotta say, they were literally flying visits and I’ve been left feeling pretty knackard.

Typical itineray meant arriving in the city at about dinner time, quick dinner/drink followed by meetings the following morning and then back to the airport.

I don’t think it will be the last time I visit these places so I hope to get to know each of them a little better.

I already have another trip planned for Sydney early July although I’ve already spent a bit of time in Sydney so have got to know the place pretty well already.

Its nearly officially winter now and the temperatures have been dropping quite low in the early mornings (I even saw my breath for the first time while waiting for the bus the other day).

It transpires that the house we are renting has no insulation so we feel the cold pretty quick. It has still be warming up quite nicely during the day though with the average daily temp still hitting the early 20’s so we are still far from the freezing temperatures we’d be experiencing during the equivalent of late November back home.

Baby number two is still growing. The missus has a very large bump now and with three months to go I have no idea how the heck she can grow any bigger without exploding! It is a perfect bump though (all out front). Kinda on the lines of a large football (the round ’soccer type’) shoved up ther front of your t-shirt. Still damn big though.

More news to follow

Cheers all

Mark

Popularity: 2% [?]

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