# Spouse Visa high risk processing times



## voebe (Apr 15, 2011)

Hi All

Im new to this forum and have read the many posts from everyone and they really helped when I was preparing my partner visa (820/801) application.

I find the visa timeline thread to be encouraging but I feel some of the timelines would be better split up into high risk and low risk threads. When I read how quickly some of the low risk applications were processed ( 1 week was the quickest I saw) I start to get really discouraged. 

If you have recently applied or have been approved for a spouse/partner visa and you are from a high risk country please feel free to share your timeline, experiences or just general words of encouragement.

Heres mine:
Date of application: 1 April 2011
Nationality: Zimbabwean
Visa type: 820/801
Offshore/onshore: Onshore, Sydney
Medicals submitted (yes/no): Yes 6 April 2011
Police check submitted (yes/no): Yes 6 April 2011
Date CO assigned: Not yet
Date Visa granted: Not yet


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## DylanW (Jan 26, 2011)

I have been in Australia, Sydney since 01/04/2010 on a 457 sponsorship visa. have just applied for my 820/801 visa... details below:

Date of application: 7 April 2011
Nationality: South African
Visa type: 820/801
Offshore/onshore: Onshore, Sydney
Medicals submitted (yes/no): Yes 7 April 2011
Police check submitted - South African (yes/no): Yes 7 April 2011
Police check submitted - Australian (yes/no): Yes 7 April 2011
Date CO assigned: Not yet
Date Visa granted: Not yet


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## Malcolm 46 (Mar 1, 2011)

voebe said:


> Hi All
> 
> Im new to this forum and have read the many posts from everyone and they really helped when I was preparing my partner visa (820/801) application.
> 
> ...


I think you are a bit unreal expecting anything this quckly. My wife is Chinese (a high risk country) and we applied off shore and it took us over 5 months


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## DylanW (Jan 26, 2011)

Malcolm 46 said:


> I think you are a bit unreal expecting anything this quckly. My wife is Chinese (a high risk country) and we applied off shore and it took us over 5 months


I agree. I'm expecting around a 6 month wait. I hope to get it before October (6 months) as I have a trip to NZ planned for the Rugby world cup


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## DylanW (Jan 26, 2011)

Great news all! I just got feedback that my 820 partner visa has been granted.
took 14 days from submission


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## voebe (Apr 15, 2011)

winikd said:


> Great news all! I just got feedback that my 820 partner visa has been granted.
> took 14 days from submission


Congratulations Winikd!!!! Im happy for you. I hope I'm as lucky as you.


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## voebe (Apr 15, 2011)

Malcolm 46 said:


> I think you are a bit unreal expecting anything this quckly. My wife is Chinese (a high risk country) and we applied off shore and it took us over 5 months


Im not expecting any miracles. I know there are some people who have waited nearly a year to hear back.

I just wish that somehow by some crazy luck mine gets approved quickly. Winikd 's recent visa approval gives me hope


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## DylanW (Jan 26, 2011)

voebe said:


> Im not expecting any miracles. I know there are some people who have waited nearly a year to hear back.
> 
> I just wish that somehow but some crazy luck mine gets approved quickly. Winikd 's recent visa approval gives me hope


Its Dylan and thank you very much! I am most excited and wish you all the luck in the world. please let me know once yours comes through!

its my bday on the 26th! i couldn't have asked for a biggest present!.


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## Turboadam (Apr 19, 2011)

Voebe, why are you worried? You are already in Australia and have a relationship of 4 years.
Others of us have relationships of much shorter timeframes and the partner is not even in the country whilst we wait.
You are 1 of the lucky ones, and who cares how long your approval takes, your here already.
Don't mean the above to sound nasty.


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## voebe (Apr 15, 2011)

Turboadam said:


> Voebe, why are you worried? You are already in Australia and have a relationship of 4 years.
> Others of us have relationships of much shorter timeframes and the partner is not even in the country whilst we wait.
> You are 1 of the lucky ones, and who cares how long your approval takes, your here already.
> Don't mean the above to sound nasty.


Im not wanting to make anyone feel bad since some people's situations are much worse than mine. 
I've just been antsy since I sent the application. Its hard not to obsess about it every single day when you have no idea whats going on. I begin to worry that there was something wrong with my application.

All I wanted to do in the mean time was to get encouragement from people in the same situation.


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## DylanW (Jan 26, 2011)

There is nothing wrong with what you have done 
Just remember immigration officers are human too and wont just deline you for anything unless its something serious. I believe in most cases they will ask you if they pick up something that you may have put wrong by mistake.


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## djmixsta (Jun 14, 2011)

*801/820*

Well i am zimbabwean my self and thought i would just let you worries down .

My time line was :

December 07 2009 application submitted for 820

in this time i sent all required stuff ie bloods ,police checks

march 26 2010 visa granted

october 7 2011 received second stage partner visa(801)request

which asked for australian police check if i hadn't left australia ,also no medicals were asked for since i did not leave australia . It also asked for 2 declarations by us that w still live together .

Now waiting and waiting


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## djmixsta (Jun 14, 2011)

Well i am zimbabwean my self and thought i would just let you worries down .

My time line was :

December 07 2009 application submitted for 820

in this time i sent all required stuff ie bloods ,police checks

march 26 2010 visa granted


october 7 2011 received second stage partner visa(801)request

which asked for australian police check if i hadn't left australia ,also no medicals were asked for since i did not leave australia . It also asked for 2 declarations by us that we still live together .



Now waiting and waiting


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## voebe (Apr 15, 2011)

Thanks for trying to cheer us all up djmixta. Processing times have changed somewhat since you applied in 2009.

Its been 6 months since my application and I know the official line is now 9-12 months processing. I have no idea if that timeline is longer for high risk countries like Zimbabwe considering they have that backlog at ASIO.

I am just patiently waiting like most people on this forum. I am grateful I get to stay in Australia for processing other people havent been so lucky.


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## Vyktoria (Aug 18, 2011)

If you don't mind my asking, how do you know which countries are considered high risk? Is there a list somewhere? I'm from the US, so I don't think we're considered high risk, but it would be interesting to know how a country is determined to be high risk.


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## Turboadam (Apr 19, 2011)

Vyktoria said:


> If you don't mind my asking, how do you know which countries are considered high risk? Is there a list somewhere? I'm from the US, so I don't think we're considered high risk, but it would be interesting to know how a country is determined to be high risk.


Yes there is a list on the DIAC website. You are not high risk country.

The terms 'Low risk' and 'High risk' show whether passport holders are eligible to apply for an Electronic Travel Authority (ETA). Low risk applies to nationals from countries which issue ETA eligible passports. A list of these can be found on the department's website. High risk countries are those which are not ETA eligible.

This is the list of ETA eligible passports which are considered low risk.

Andorra 
Austria 
Belgium 
Brunei 
Canada 
Denmark 
Finland 
France 
Germany 
Greece 
Hong Kong (SAR) 
Iceland 
Ireland 
Italy 
Japan 
Liechtenstein 
Luxembourg 
Malaysia 
Malta 
Monaco 
The Netherlands 
Norway 
Portugal 
Republic of San Marino 
Singapore 
South Korea 
Spain 
Sweden 
Switzerland 
Taiwan 
United Kingdom - British Citizen 
United Kingdom - British National (Overseas) 
United States of America 
Vatican City.


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## djmixsta (Jun 14, 2011)

voebe said:


> Thanks for trying to cheer us all up djmixta. Processing times have changed somewhat since you applied in 2009.
> 
> Its been 6 months since my application and I know the official line is now 9-12 months processing. I have no idea if that timeline is longer for high risk countries like Zimbabwe considering they have that backlog at ASIO.
> 
> I am just patiently waiting like most people on this forum. I am grateful I get to stay in Australia for processing other people havent been so lucky.


 Hi voebe 
well if you need any other help just yell and we shall help you out .,hey out of curiosity are you getting married very shortly yeh ?if so good luck and wish everything goes well ,you will stay here


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## lui888 (Jan 3, 2012)

To all those high risk groups out there, good luck! 
I've been waiting for almost 8 months now. I've called up immigration and they told me that waiting time is 6-9 months. So... I'm crossing my fingers that 9th month will be my lucky day (though im getting the feeling that its not) . My 457 visa (which I have now) is about to expire in May, I hope I get my spouse visa then.

*Date of application: *Sent application to the Melbourne office on the 30th of May 2011
*Nationality*: I am a Filipino citizen while my husband has a PR visa. 
*Visa type:* Spouse Visa (Subclass 801/802)
*Offshore/onshore:* Onshore
*Medicals submitted (yes/no): *Yes submitted by doctor at the same date as our original application
*Police check submitted (yes/no):* Yes we submitted it with our original application
*Date CO assigned:* Waiting for almost 8 months now.


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## thesmoothsuit (Sep 9, 2013)

Why does it take so long for a case officer to be assigned? I've been waiting for 5 months now. Got letter of acknowledgement they received the application in November but have heard absolutely nothing since. On bridging visa currently. 

To think that the application is just sitting there at Immigration collecting dust is very sad.


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## Dinkum (Jan 5, 2014)

This is pretty much what most of us are experiencing. Some are never notified of a case officer until the visa is granted. But if the case officer needs more info they will contact you earlier. No news is probably good news. DIBP currently says average processing time is 12-15 months for high risk countries. Some here have had earlier grants... But really we all just have to be patient... and try to keep as calm as we can.


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

thesmoothsuit said:


> Why does it take so long for a case officer to be assigned? I've been waiting for 5 months now. Got letter of acknowledgement they received the application in November but have heard absolutely nothing since. On bridging visa currently.
> 
> To think that the application is just sitting there at Immigration collecting dust is very sad.


There's a very simple answer to that. There are simply not enough COs to handle the cases that come in in a more expedient manner. And the processing times only get longer and longer when the current government administration makes budget cuts to the department. Immigration is often one of the first departments to see budget cuts. Think about it - would you rather cut departments that serve the citizens that are voting for you and could vote you out of office, or the one that serves foreigners who aren't citizens yet and can't vote for you? It's an easy place to make budget cuts -- unfortunately for those of us waiting to migrate.

Just to give you an example -- the Washington DC embassy last year had three people (yes, three) handling all the partner visas cases for the US. Processing was taking around five to six months. Then, one of those three people left - and, likely due to budget cuts, they did not immediately replace him. That left TWO PEOPLE doing all the partner visa cases for the embassy, at the EXACT same time as Australia was seeing an explosion of partner visa applications due to changes in skilled visa requirements. This meant partner visa waiting times for DC spiraled out of control from 5 months to 9-12 months, where it still stands. They finally hired someone new to help out again, I think last month, but there's been no discernible drop in processing times yet, likely due to the fact they have to train the new person in addition to handling the significantly-increased application workload.

It all comes down to politicians in the end, unfortunately. Can you tell I used to work for a government agency?


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## boycot123 (Apr 16, 2014)

Dinkum said:


> DIBP currently says average processing time is 12-15 months for high risk countries.


It's a maximum of 8-12 months is what DIBP states depending on whether you lodged it inside or outside Australia.

Please check this link.


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

boycot123 said:


> It's a maximum of 8-12 months is what DIBP states depending on whether you lodged it inside or outside Australia.
> 
> Please check this link.


I really wish DIBP would either take this page down or update the information. It's at least a couple of years old now, and processing times have gone WAY up, they acknowledge that (they tell new applicants to expect to wait 13+ months), yet their outdated website continues to broadcast these completely inaccurate time frames.


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## Dinkum (Jan 5, 2014)

Hi boycot 123 -
That link shows the DIBP processing 'standards'. It confused me at first as they rarely meet that standard. This link shows the 'average' processing times for 820/801 partner visas lodged onshore as 12-15 months. The page for offshore applications has no average processing times shown, but I have learned from other posters on this forum that they vary depending on the embassy or processing centre. 
Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801)


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## boycot123 (Apr 16, 2014)

CollegeGirl said:


> I really wish DIBP would either take this page down or update the information. It's at least a couple of years old now, and processing times have gone WAY up, they acknowledge that (they tell new applicants to expect to wait 13+ months), yet their outdated website continues to broadcast these completely inaccurate time frames.


Ah......after all these years I've spent on immigration crap, I still come across new things and this one is a prime example of it. Thank you CollegeGirl for correcting my out-dated information. I feel like a stupid now!


Dinkum said:


> Hi boycot 123 -
> That link shows the DIBP processing 'standards'. It confused me at first as they rarely meet that standard. This link shows the 'average' processing times for 820/801 partner visas lodged onshore as 12-15 months. The page for offshore applications has no average processing times shown, but I have learned from other posters on this forum that they vary depending on the embassy or processing centre.
> Partner visa (subclasses 820 and 801)


Something that I didn't ever notice before. You are so correct and the worst part is, if application lodged off-shore, it will take longer to finalize (being an HR country) if not similar to 801-820 timeframe.

I guess I just have to be away from my better half for much much much longer than we both initially expected. Tell you what, this wait time is like an awful nightmare worse than applying for my own visa.


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## CollegeGirl (Nov 10, 2012)

Nah, you're not stupid. Immigration really needs to update their info so people aren't expecting timeframes that aren't going to happen! And they need to break down offshore application processing times by embassy as even low-risk embassies like the US and UK are taking 8-9+ months now. Different embassies take different amounts of time.... you can't lump them all together.


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## boycot123 (Apr 16, 2014)

CollegeGirl said:


> Nah, you're not stupid. Immigration really needs to update their info so people aren't expecting timeframes that aren't going to happen! And they need to break down offshore application processing times by embassy as even low-risk embassies like the US and UK are taking 8-9+ months now. Different embassies take different amounts of time.... you can't lump them all together.


How's that for an idea? .... Why not we, like the famous 'Christopher Columbus', discover a new land and do everything the proper way?


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## AfricaTwin (Jan 29, 2015)

Hello all,

I am new to this site. My application has been dragging on for over a year now so I thought I’d seek some input/advice from this forum.

Applied and paid online - 04/01/2014
Received email from CO – standard attachments saying processing time at least 8-9 months
Medical - two weeks later
Form 80 – submitted a week later after medical
No contact from CO after that.
At the time of applying my relationship with my wife was 3.5 yrs long, now its over 4.5years
I am a Kenyan citizen so considered “high risk”

Sent CO email asking for timeframe for decision 27th Jan 2015, no reply yet.

Any advice/input will be most welcome and appreciated.


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