# Offshore 309 Visa online lodgement from China - 4 months and no update/CO



## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

Hello everyone,

Been getting a lot of information from this forum for my wife's 309 visa application. We applied mid August and it's coming up to 4 months since our application. We applied online and have not gotten any updates or correspondence in regards to our application. We haven't even received any word of being assigned a CO.

I was just wondering if this is normal for online applications?

I have been trying to find out where our online application has gone and if there is someone I can contact for some more information but have so far come up with nothing. Can anyone shed light on the matter?

I've been living in China with my wife while waiting for the visa and really want to come home as a family. The waiting isn't that bad, but waiting without any news or signs of progress is very frustrating. I've tried the search function to find similar cases and nothing appeared so I thought I'd start a new thread.

Any information would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

Regards,
Yang Gao
P.S. I am an Australian Citizen


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

Ryugen said:


> Hello everyone,
> 
> Been getting a lot of information from this forum for my wife's 309 visa application. We applied mid August and it's coming up to 4 months since our application. We applied online and have not gotten any updates or correspondence in regards to our application. We haven't even received any word of being assigned a CO.
> 
> ...


Hi Ryugen,

Nice to finally meet someone who has applied from china too. my situation is similar to yours...Me and my partner( Australian) live in China and applied online about 4 months ago. We still havent heard anything from the immi office. Like you, I've also been trying to find out where exactly our application ends up. I found some info about this somewhere (http://www.china.embassy.gov.au/files/bjng/Where-to-submit-a-visa-application.pdf ) where it mentioned that there are 3 catchment areas in China - Beijing,Guangzhou and Shanghai where applications are processed/applied. Not so sure about the online applications though.

I read normal waiting times before anybody contacts you can be anything between 4-9 months or even more.
Hope we both get contacted soon with some good information....please post whenever u hear from them and i'll do the same.

good luck


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

@itishreee Wow, our situations are nearly mirrored haha. Mind if I ask where abouts are you staying? Yes I read about the catchment areas but I think they are for paper lodgements. I actually did call up the Visa application (not the Australian embassy) center in Beijing and quoted my TFN number. They explicitly told me that they do not handle nor can track online applications.

I did read that the visa processing centers in China almost function like courier companies, with all applications sent to Australia so my best guess would be that some Australian visa processing place has our online applications...but that's just a guess. I will definitely update here when I have anything but I assume any news will come after New Years at this point.


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

hi Ryugen,

You're right our situations are pretty similar  Like u said,it was difficult to find anybody else who had applied in China but thx to this forum, I finally met someone with similar scenario. U might be right about that catchment thingy, i am still confused which part of the world my application actually is haha. 
By the way,I live in Sichuan. What about u?


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

I'm currently living in Zhengzhou, Henan. Best of luck to both of us =)


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

hi ryugen,

a quick question- did u already get ur No criminal record letter inn China? If u did, is it the one u get from PSB or something from notary office? I got one from the PSB, got it translated by NAATI approved translator and sent it to the immi. Was I required to go to the notary office?

please reply , I'm a bit confused.thx


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

Hi Itishree,

We had to get both a Chinese Police Check and a German Police Check, pain in the..... 

For the Chinese Police Check, we first went to our local police department. Every district should have one, they handle things like police checks, Resident ID renewals/lost etc, Household book updates etc for Chinese citizens. (If they can not do it, they will usually point you in the right direction. I say this because in my experience, parts of China can be so drastically different.)

What they will give you should be a piece of written, signed and stamped paper stating that so-and-so (Name) has not committed any crimes (ours was hand written but that was fine). We had to then take this to the Notary Public to get it notified. Once it's notified, it is then deemed as a real Police Check. Again your requirements may vary due to the many inconsistencies. The Notary Public is used to dealing with English translations and will include the translation in the document they hand back to you if you require an English translation. I'm not sure if you have gotten anything notified before but it's like a little booklet.

This was what we were told was required for a Police Check to be official in China. Hope that helps. 

Regards,
Ryugen


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## edit2403 (Feb 9, 2012)

I am putting together an application for partner visa, which I will submit in Shanghai. Maybe I'll ask some questions of you guys who have already applied in China.

One thing: Did they expect you to translate all your evidence papers? Like, if you had bank statements, receipts, lease agreement etc. in Chinese, did these necessarily have to be translated?


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

edit2403 said:


> I am putting together an application for partner visa, which I will submit in Shanghai. Maybe I'll ask some questions of you guys who have already applied in China.
> 
> One thing: Did they expect you to translate all your evidence papers? Like, if you had bank statements, receipts, lease agreement etc. in Chinese, did these necessarily have to be translated?


Hi welcome, I'm willing to help anyone as I know first hand how much of a pain it was to get examples/information.

The Australian governments official stance is that anything not in English must be translated by an official translator (Sealed with their stamp). Since I haven't had any correspondence with them yet, I don't know how strict they are on this. Our German Police check was translated by my Missus as she is fluent in German. We laid it out identical to the original but obviously we don't have a translators seal. It's up to them to accept/reject this.

Anything official like must be Notified with translation (according to what we were told, so we did). Things include:

Resident ID Card

Marriage Books

Household Books

Police Checks
The Notary Public should have their own translation department and are able to do standard translation for the above. Anything they can't handle, they would have an associated Translation company they like to point you to (Usually due to some deal they have together.)

For safety, I'd recommend using the Notary public for the above listed documents and for anything of importance. In the examples you listed, I'd recommend the lease agreement. Everything else just a translation should do.

I realize they can charge quite a bit for Notary services but to us time is money so we decided to go with the safer route.


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## edit2403 (Feb 9, 2012)

Hi Ryugen,

Yeah, I have the same opinion. In fact, when I last applied for a tourist visa for my wife, I translated her hukou by myself and there were no problems. I'll get all the major documents properly translated and notarized though.

Another question to you guys: How did you address Part C Q27 of the 47SP: How well do you communicate in English? 

Do your partners both have formal test scores? Were you asked to provide certificates of proof? My wife hasn't done a test (although I estimate she's has functional English).


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

Hi edit2403,

Umm I don't remember but it was the middle one? Think functional? We didn't have any specific proof. We did submit her university degree she got from Germany which was half English. All courses in Germany require competent English skills. If the CO doesn't know this and asks, we can bring it up.

But answering your question, no formal test scores, no certified proof.

Regards


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

Ryugen said:


> Hi Itishree,
> 
> We had to get both a Chinese Police Check and a German Police Check, pain in the.....
> 
> ...


Thx Ryugen for claryifying that for me. I might have to go to the notary office soon.


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

hi edit2403,

welcome to the forum. It's good to know there are people here ready to help each other.
regarding the translating documents question, I got all the documents that were not in English translated by one of the NAATI approved translators ( found it through the immi website) but like Ryugen said getting them done by the notary office should also be OK.

The other question about English level- I think I also chose functional for myself but since I haven't taken any English proficiency tests like IELTS, I don't have any proof. 

Hope this helps, good luck
Itishreee


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

Ryugen said:


> Hi edit2403,
> 
> Umm I don't remember but it was the middle one? Think functional? We didn't have any specific proof. We did submit her university degree she got from Germany which was half English. All courses in Germany require competent English skills. If the CO doesn't know this and asks, we can bring it up.
> 
> ...


hey Ryugen,

under which category did u submit your wife's uni degrees? I don't think I submitted mine! Did I overlook something on the form???
thx


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## Confused2 (Oct 19, 2013)

We got our 309 from shanghai office like a year ago. I m here to help in anyway i can.


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

Confused2 said:


> We got our 309 from shanghai office like a year ago. I m here to help in anyway i can.


hi Confused2,

thanks a lot you for offering help.

I live in China and applied online about 4 months ago.could u tell us where is the online visa processed-in China or Aus? How long it took for a C.O. to contact u and how long it took to get the Partner visa.

Sorry for asking so many questions...

thank you,
Itishreee


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

hi edit 2403,

I was just going through the forum and I found something about a 50% increase in partner visa fee from 1st Jan. From what I understand, u haven't applied yet so thought this might be helpful to you--
http://www.australiaforum.com/visas-immigration/98401-50-price-increase-partner-visa.html

itishreee


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## dejainc (Jun 23, 2013)

Visa is processed in China in one of the 3 catchment offices. Chances are you won't be notified until they get to your file and request the police check and medicals. If they do email you it will be from family.<city>@daft.gov.au, e.g. [email protected].

Also expect a phone interview, ours lasted for about 45mins.

Processing times you see on the web is a bit of lie, we applied in Feb 2014 and our CO tells us that its unlikely to occur this year.


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## edit2403 (Feb 9, 2012)

Yeah, great to find some people with China experience. I did contact AVAC Shanghai about a year ago and asked them about translation. They basically have the same advice as Ryugen - letters and main docs and statements need to be translated, but no need for minor evidence docs such as receipts, bankslips, tickets etc. Translation and notarization by local public notary is fine, no need to track down an NAATI. Last week they informed that you do not need to get passports of applicant and sponsor notarized. 

This is just anecdotal, always best to check yourself though as requirements can change.


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## dejainc (Jun 23, 2013)

We only got 2 things translated, her Residents book (Hukou) and her Passport at the notary office. Cost was about 1200yuan for both.

The rest you don't need official translation, you can do it yourself.


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## edit2403 (Feb 9, 2012)

itishreee said:


> hi edit 2403,
> 
> I was just going through the forum and I found something about a 50% increase in partner visa fee from 1st Jan. From what I understand, u haven't applied yet so thought this might be helpful to you--
> http://www.australiaforum.com/visas-immigration/98401-50-price-increase-partner-visa.html
> ...


Yes, I'm aware of that now. I'm gonna have to wear that cost-- won't rush to get it in by end of year. I'm not prepared enough. It's a disgrace, but it's part of the government's wider agenda.


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## Confused2 (Oct 19, 2013)

I m happy to help.

could u tell us where is the online visa processed-in China or Aus?

In China 


How long it took for a C.O. to contact u and how long it took to get the Partner visa. 
They wont contact you unless they require any outstanding documents. For us the contacted in 2 months as they required Police clearance. Our case was bit different as my partner isn't Chinese and its bit hard to get police clearance for foreigners in china. we got the visa in 14 months. took us bit long because of PCC from china issue.


Usually Shanghai office is really quick . Their service is excellent and the case officers are very nice. you will be interviewed. you and your partner. Its something Shanghai/Guangzhou office do. They interview all applicants and their partner. They even interview my partner when she applied for tourist visa. 

Good luck to you guys. hang in there .Zai Jian


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

Confused2 said:


> I m happy to help.
> 
> could u tell us where is the online visa processed-in China or Aus?
> 
> ...


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

hi confused2,

sorry to trouble u again.
Its been about 4 months since we applied, I submitted my police clearance but not the medicals so I expect them to contact us but since the haven't, do u think its a good idea to email them and enquire about our application? I fall under Guangzhou catchment area so not sure who to email.

Any suggestions are appreciated. Thank you


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## Confused2 (Oct 19, 2013)

itishreee said:


> hi confused2,
> 
> sorry to trouble u again.
> Its been about 4 months since we applied, I submitted my police clearance but not the medicals so I expect them to contact us but since the haven't, do u think its a good idea to email them and enquire about our application? I fall under Guangzhou catchment area so not sure who to email.
> ...


Yes, you should have received medicals by now. Have you got your VLN?/ acknowledgement email/letter? if you have then email them back to inquire about your case officer. if you haven't got any acknowledgement letter than email to [email protected] . I'm sure they will reply u with a contact number or email for Guanzhou office.


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## LizBee (Jul 18, 2013)

Hi Ryugen and Itishreee

Good luck for your application! On the right-hand side of this forum page, under "+Australia Timelines", there is a drop-down called "All family and spouse applications". It is a list of EVERYONE on this forums processing times for their applications. It is a bit of a pain to use because the Search function doesn't seem to work, but if you've got time, you can scroll through it and see if there are other Chinese applicants and how long their applications took.

(Itishreee, please fill in your Timeline under "Your family and spouse timeline" in the right hand column on this page, so that future Chinese applicants can see your processing times.)


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## Redson (Jan 30, 2014)

When I began scouring this site over a year ago I expected to see plenty of threads about applications in China,but didn't find that much,so it's nice to see some pop up now. After hearing of the increased fees on Tuesday night,my Chinese wife and I almost went into panic mode,with a 98% completed application planning to personally lodge in Guangzhou on Jan 19th.I began last minute tidying up of documents and searching for international couriers to send the complete 1.8kg of papers to my wife,with the hope of her lodging on Dec 29th,providing it arrives on time. Then it occurred to me that maybe we can lodge the 47sp and 40sp with the necessary supporting documents and provide all the other supporting evidence a few weeks after.So I called AVAC Guangzhou to check this out and they said 'sure,why not',almost as if it were a stupid question.Spent yesterday furiously scanning the main documents,uploaded to my wife,she printed and signed,then we meticulously collated the documents (as my internet connection was experiencing intermittent dropouts and QQ's video quality was usual poor quality) in checklist order.Of course I was still suspecting something to go wrong,maybe they'd been instructed to find or create loopholes in order to delay applications until after Jan 1st,but just hours ago they accepted our 309/100 application and told us to bring in the other supporting documents at our leisure.It's been a stressful 48 hours,but now we're in the que(minus the extra $1500 or so price tag) and I've heard Guangzhou AVAC is quite efficent,so far so good.The waiting game is on.Wheee yooo.


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

Wow good to see so many people are applying from China as well.

@Redson Congrats on your application and well done getting it in before the price hike. Yes the waiting game does indeed begin.

@Confused2 That Shanghai immigration email you posted, would I be able to use that to enquire about our CO assignment? Do they frown upon emailing them for inquiries like this? We have been waiting for about 4.5 months. We fall under the Shanghai/Beijing catchment.


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## edit2403 (Feb 9, 2012)

*statements*

Just wondering about the statements by applicant and sponsor.

Am I right in assuming I write mine on an Australian Statutory Declaration form and get it witnessed by an Australian authority (like the consulate in Shanghai), and my wife writes hers (in English) on a Chinese equivalent of a Statutory Declaration form and gets it witnessed by the local Public Notary?

I do want these statements to be statutory because it gives them more weight.

How did you guys go about this?


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

@edit2403

We did our on plan paper. The only statement that were witness were the two statements from friends. How they did it was download the provided statutory declaration forms from the immi website (sorry don't have a link at the moment), filled it in with the necessary stuff (anything past their provided space can be put onto blank paper and signed off individually) and then mailed me the physical copies. I then scanned these statements onto my computer and uploaded to the online application.

For the witnessing part, both my friends are engineers and many of their friends are part of the engineers association. A certified engineer is a listed as a possible witness so it was pretty easy for them.

Minor changes aside, I'd assume it would work the same for your own relationship statements so:
1. Download the provided statutory declaration statement forms (It's provided by them so why not use it?)
2. Fill it in then witness signed
3. Depending whether your application is online or physical, either scan then upload it or mail it to your allocated AVAC.

For your wife, how confident is her English? If you want it notified at a notary public, I would recommend she write it in Chinese and then get it officially translated. You are going through statutory decs for your statements for weight so why not go the full length and get her documents officially translated for her mother language? Just my thoughts.


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

Haven't posted here in a while, just thought I'd update (although not my own). First and foremost Merry Xmas and Happy New Year everyone.

We still haven't heard anything in regards to our application but my wife keeps a close tab on a Chinese forum where they discuss their applications. Supposedly a lot of people that applied back in August are being assigned COs and starting to receive contact from immigration. Fingers crossed we and the rest of you waiting here something soon.

Anyone have any updates on their situations?


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

No updates yet...waiting....


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## jjhinh (Jan 22, 2015)

Hi, guys! 

I just joined the this forum after searching furiously for information about 309 Offshore Visa! I'm so glad I found one about China! 

My husband was recently (a few days ago!) rejected by the MTR after lodging for Spouse Visa onshore. We were told he did not have good enough "compelling reasons" on why he should be able to stay in Australia (Melbourne) to lodge for a Spouse Visa - unless we have children. Our reasons was because we purchased a property and also started a small budget business (tutoring centre) for investment, so if he had to go back to China, we would not have enough money to pay off the house and rent for the business. My husband is a full time construction worker, while I am in my final year at University and also working as a casual sales assistant. Without my husband's steady income, we will not be able to pay off the property and it would put me in a financially and mentally bad situation. The judge at the MTR was quite unreasonable and did not take our situation into consideration and only asked us questions based on our house. She kept mentioning that this was a burden we created ourselves and we should face the consequences. I've heard from others that these judges usually ask questions about our lifestyle, how we met etc. Our agent even prepared a list of questions the judges usually asks so we were well prepared, but this judge asked completely different questions.

Since my husband has been rejected, he now has 28 days to prepare to leave Australia. Our agent suggested it is best for him to leave within 28 days and lodge the same application offshore instead of appealing his case again which will get him nowhere and will be rejected again. He is planning to leave early February so he is back in time for Chinese New Year! 

Now, my only question is, how long does it usually take to be granted the Visa? I have read on many threads that it does take approximately 5 - 12 months but since China is a high risk country, will it ever take over 12 months to be granted a Visa? What's the earliest time you/partner has been granted a Visa? I'm preparing myself for around 8 - 9 months. 

Thanks!!!!! 

Joanne


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

any updates anybody? i am still waiting...thx


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## wrussell (Dec 31, 2014)

MRT members are not judges and if your member failed to exercise jurisdiction, the refusal decision is reviewable on a point of law in a federal court. This is a very costly process, so depending on the reason for refusal, reapplying offshore might well be your best strategy.


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

@itishree Nope, no updates at all. Emailed the Beijing branch and never got a reply.

@jjhinh Wow...that sounds complicated. Sorry I have no experience what so ever you your situation so I have nothing to offer. Good luck.


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## PAPPER AND SALT (Jan 30, 2014)

I did applied from China, I was working there by then and not a citizen. I had case officer within 3 months of application and did my medicals. On the 9th month my visa was approved. It was PMV 300 and I am also from high risk country. I attended interview at shanghai office. And I am sure if you are lucky enough, you will get it within that time frame. All the best


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

hi everyone...
I am planning to do my medicals soon. Since u guys have already done it, could u please give me an idea of how many days did it take for them to give u an appointment and upload the results on immi website? thx in advance
good luck to all of us


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

@PAPPER AND SALT How long ago was this? My cousin got her 309 visa in around 2 months back when she applied with her husband. The processing times have seriously ramped up in the past few years. I think she got hers like 3-4 years ago.

@itishree Get the print out from the online immi website. I don't remember exact specifics but I believe once you get the print out, they will give you a reference number. Call the closest medical centre to you that is able to do the check up(we went to Wuhan) and make a booking. They will be able to tell you when they can give you the appointment, depending on how busy they are (I think ours was like within 2 weeks, very short). After the medical, the results are posted up pretty fast, like within a couple of days so no worries there. Just remember to bring the print out.

We kind of regret getting our medicals so early as they do expire within a year but honestly we were not expecting the wait time to be so damn long. Like I said above, my cousin got her 309 in like 3 months.


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

a quick update guys....
I got a call from consulate in Guangzhou asking me to do my medicals soon and upload some more documents. She was apparently my CO and said that she emailed me in December asking for these documents....i have no idea y i didnt get the email or I just stupidly deleted it from my junk mail. stupidly may have prolonged my own process. so I did the medicals and uploaded other docs. 
tried to call the Guangzhou visa office today to talk to my CO but the avac person kept saying that since the application was lodged online, they have no info about my application and told me do go through the website to try and contact the CO.* does anybody know how to contact them like email or phone*? the phone no. on the Guangzhou visa website doesnt really help.
thank u all in advance and wish the best for all.
the waiting game continues...............


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

@itishree Wow that is incredible news...soured but still good. Congratulations on at least some progression. My wife says the Guangzhou office is faster than the other places but since we are in Henan we will be allocated to Beijing. Keep up update on your progess. Fingers crossed we get some news soon as well.

In regards to your question, yes the respective visa offices only deal with hard copy application. I've already tried calling the Beijing visa office and got the same answer. I did manage find some emails and phone numbers to the Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou branches however I didn't right them down. Let me dig around and see if I can find them again. I'll post it here.


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

Thank you Ryugen. Hope you hear some good news soon. There is a chance that since u guys have provided all the documents already, they don't need to contact you until the final decision is made. Anyway like you said fingers crossed for all of us. Will keep updating whenever possible. Thank you for your efforts.
Happy new year 新年快乐 to you and your family.


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## VialVial (Mar 10, 2015)

Most fascinated about the China visa process. 
We submitted our forms 7.5 months ago at the GZ embassy. My wife was told to do a medical within a couple of days submitting the application. Then, no word from the embassy at all. Called a few time to see where it is at nut was basically told to go away and not bother them. 
The visa application got approved a month ago and the most surprising thing was that there was no phone interview from the embassy people which really surprised me.


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

I've heard a lot of sources say Guangzhou is the fastest out of the three locations. Shanghai is I think 2 months behind and Beijing not enough cases to gauge. Unfortunately I believe we got allocated to the Beijing branch.

@VialVial Would you still happen to have the number you used for the GZ branch? itishree might still require it and I've looked a few times and can't seem to find where I glanced it from last time. Congratulations on your visa approval, we are still waiting with no word yet.


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

Hi Vial Vial,

first of all congratulations to you and your partner, that's really great news. 
I also applied online about 7 months ago and my application is being processed at Guangzhou. I have a CO and she asked me to do my medicals before Chinese New Year. I tried calling them to get in touch with CO but it was just impossible. Were u given a contact no. or something for CO? Also, would u mind sharing your Co's name/ initials? No interview wow  . You must have had really good relationship evidence .

Thanks and wishing you a great life ahead in Australia and keeping fingers crossed for the rest of us waiting.

Regards


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## VialVial (Mar 10, 2015)

Ryugen said:


> I've heard a lot of sources say Guangzhou is the fastest out of the three locations. Shanghai is I think 2 months behind and Beijing not enough cases to gauge. Unfortunately I believe we got allocated to the Beijing branch.
> 
> @VialVial Would you still happen to have the number you used for the GZ branch? itishree might still require it and I've looked a few times and can't seem to find where I glanced it from last time. Congratulations on your visa approval, we are still waiting with no word yet.


First contact, I called through on the 3rd. Onto of waiting to their call centre and requested to speak to my case officer where I was told that she was unavailable. Regardless, I spoke about the slow progress and asked where it was at and I was advised it was best to email the case officer instead. Regardless I left a message to our case officer to be a bit quicker.

Second contact, we emailed the case officer in August and our case officer advised that everything is done in chronological order and that in due time we will contact you. She stated if nothing has happened for after a year, that's when the applicant should contact the visa officer. Standard copy and paste email with little to no personalisation of the email. Haha

Third contact, my partner and I met halfway in Singapore and we took heaps of happy snaps of us together. We figured maybe this needs a reminder so we sent 100MB worth of happy snaps of us to our case officer. Saying how much we had a great time together and how we can't wait for the visa to be approved. Got back the stock standard reply but also a personalised message that they required no further information from us, so please don't send anymore photos. Haha

I get the sense they don't want to be contacted at all and that this is just a mysterious process that no one is meant to understand. I heard of a distant relative who got theirs same partner visa in 3 months in Guangzhou embassy...

I'll pm you guys the number.


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## VialVial (Mar 10, 2015)

I can't pm.... Hahaha not enough permission or something.

Anyway, my case officer was JQ. I had a look at their email and its their [email protected]

Like I said, I never ever spoke to my case officer. Only the call centre people in the GZ embassy.

Good luck and well done. The process is exhausting but it is really well worth it.


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## VialVial (Mar 10, 2015)

By the way, we submitted offline by hardcopy with 250 pages of documentation including scrapbook of how we met, lots and lots of WeChat documentation, approximately 5 Stat Dec from friends and family and financial information including Tax Return etc.


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

Thank you for the info Vial Vial. My CO also told me the standard procedure time is 12 months and she is still processing the documents and will ask for any more info if required. cant help worrying!!!

anyway thx a lot and good luck everyone waiting.


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

Update:
We got our visa!!!!! but let me bring it back a bit and say what happened

We initially got contacted by the Shanghai branch back in April. Just a random phone call one day without any warning. The person on the other end explained that they were from immigration. Surprisingly this was also the interview. They asked a couple questions of my wife and of me about our relationship and current arrangement. After the interview the person told us that we are missing a piece of evidence and will email us about it after the phone call. She mentioned that that time frame to upload the piece of evidence is 21 days and to expect our visa to be decided roughly 2 months after.

The email came like 10mins after the call and requested that we get a certified birth certificate for my wife and upload it. We got that done in about a week from the notary office and uploaded it asap. I emailed them about 15 days later to confirm that they received it and they replied that they received it about 2 days after I uploaded it. 

So after that more waiting, we suddenly received an email on the 7th of May (Yesterday) that contained her visa. Was pretty sudden and random with no warning. We are given until September 12th to enter Australia for the first time.

According to the Chinese forum my wife keeps updated with, yesterday a huge batch of visas from the Shanghai branch was approved and released.

So yup, now our waiting is finally over!!! Now we just have to tie up some loose ends here in China. Pretty stoked.


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

That is awesome news Ryugen. Congratulations to you guys.


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## 136138 (Oct 22, 2014)

Thank you.

Any word on your side of things?


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

Ryugen said:


> Thank you.
> 
> Any word on your side of things?


Last time I talked to my C.O.,she said they try and process applications within the standard processing time of 1 year.So, I have to wait for the decision at least until August


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## jjhinh (Jan 22, 2015)

Congratulations Ryugen !!! So happy for you and your family! 

My husband and I are still waiting for the final decision! Just to let everyone know, we are from the Guangzhou catchment - Fu Zhou. My husband applied offshore through a migration agent in Australia on the 9th February 2015. 3 months later around 5th May 2015, we both received a phone call for a phone interview. It went for nearly 1 hour or so. They asked a lot of questions about our living arranges, who went to our wedding ceremony, the names of our best friends etc. (I think they were trying to match up the answers we both gave to see if it's genuine). The same night, we received an email from our migration agent stating that the case officer asked for my husband's police check and notary check. We then sent both of them to them ASAP. 

It's been 2 months now and we still haven't heard anything! We are hoping to hear the final decision by August. We figured that it took 3 months to be assigned a case officer, so it might take us 3 months for the final decision as well. Hopefully this is true !! I hope my husband can come back in time to participate in my graduation next month !!! I will update everyone when I hear something from them. 

Also, Ryugen, do you happen to know what site your wife has been using to find visa updates? Thanks!!


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

Hi jjinh,

I also applied offshore and was in the Guangzhou catchment area. Just got the good news few days ago about the visa after a wait of about 11 months. Hopefully yours will be soon. 
Good luck


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## jjhinh (Jan 22, 2015)

itishreee said:


> Hi jjinh,
> 
> I also applied offshore and was in the Guangzhou catchment area. Just got the good news few days ago about the visa after a wait of about 11 months. Hopefully yours will be soon.
> Good luck


Oh, wow !! Congratulations to you too !! 11 months is such a long time! Did it take you a long time to be assigned a case officer and also a phone interview? I find this really weird because my friend had to go to Guangzhou for a face-to-face interview, whereas most people got a phone interview. What's the difference between these and do you know why? Thanks!!


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

jjhinh said:


> Oh, wow !! Congratulations to you too !! 11 months is such a long time! Did it take you a long time to be assigned a case officer and also a phone interview? I find this really weird because my friend had to go to Guangzhou for a face-to-face interview, whereas most people got a phone interview. What's the difference between these and do you know why? Thanks!!


Thx jjhinh! 
I actually got the CO assigned around December when she sent me an email but somehow I didn't receive the email.So, she called me in January asking me to do the health check. Given the fact that I am from a high risk country, I was told it would take 12 months. So my application was actually finalised a little earlier than expected. 
Regarding the interview, I am not sure about their criteria because I did not have any phone or face to face interview.I was also surprised by this but equally happy. I have also heard of most people having phone interviews.
What's your CO's initials?

Good luck !


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## jjhinh (Jan 22, 2015)

itishreee said:


> Thx jjhinh!
> I actually got the CO assigned around December when she sent me an email but somehow I didn't receive the email.So, she called me in January asking me to do the health check. Given the fact that I am from a high risk country, I was told it would take 12 months. So my application was actually finalised a little earlier than expected.
> Regarding the interview, I am not sure about their criteria because I did not have any phone or face to face interview.I was also surprised by this but equally happy. I have also heard of most people having phone interviews.
> What's your CO's initials?
> ...


I'm not 100% sure when we were assigned a CO but the day we got a phone call for an interview - both at the same time, that's when we found out they were reviewing our case. Our agent also told us it will take roughly 12 months but a lot of his clients came to back to Australia within 6 - 9 months, so here I'm hoping it'll be us as well!

I think an interview is required if they think there's something "fishy" going on so they're trying to bust you out! Good thing you didn't have an interview. It was so bad and they're quite rude (maybe it's just me!). Our CO is EY. How about you?

Thanks for your good luck! We really need it !!!


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

jjhinh said:


> I'm not 100% sure when we were assigned a CO but the day we got a phone call for an interview - both at the same time, that's when we found out they were reviewing our case. Our agent also told us it will take roughly 12 months but a lot of his clients came to back to Australia within 6 - 9 months, so here I'm hoping it'll be us as well!
> 
> I think an interview is required if they think there's something "fishy" going on so they're trying to bust you out! Good thing you didn't have an interview. It was so bad and they're quite rude (maybe it's just me!). Our CO is EY. How about you?
> 
> Thanks for your good luck! We really need it !!!


Hey we also had the same CO. She called me a couple of times asking for the medicals and police check. Since she is done with mine, hopefully next in line is your application. Hope you hear some good news soon.

Best wishes,
Iti


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## kenyannina (Jun 20, 2015)

hi
am kenyan, in china with a student visa. is it possible for me to apply for a partner visa in china?


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## itishreee (May 2, 2014)

Hi kenyannina,

Yes u can apply on a student visa in China. I was also on a student visa when I applied.


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## jjhinh (Jan 22, 2015)

Hi, Kenyan!

Yes, my partner is currently in China as well and his agent has lodged the form for him. It is possible to apply for a partner visa in China but it must be the "*Offshore *Partner Visa" application.


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## PAPPER AND SALT (Jan 30, 2014)

kenyannina said:


> hi
> am kenyan, in china with a student visa. is it possible for me to apply for a partner visa in china?


It's possible if only you qualify


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