We at Down Under Visa have always advised our clients that there is no point in trying to get progress reports or updates on what is happening with their visa applications.

We DO understand that you get worried. Your future is up in the air, and you feel you’re being kept in the dark. This is tough when the outcome means so much to you, and we wish we could let you know what is happening, but we can’t. We’re not being lazy, and we most definitely DO care.

Take note of the auto-response email that the Embassy sends out when you do email the permanent visa section:

We do not respond to enquiries about the status of a visa application that is currently within visa processing service standards, and encourage you to read this weblink:

http://www.philippines.embassy.gov.au/mnla/Visas_and_Migration2.html

Due to the volume of correspondence received by the Immigration and Visa Office and by each case officer, it is not possible to respond to all enquiries immediately.

Now, take note of what the Embassy website says about visa processing times. Please click on the link below, and see what it says under “PERMANENT VISAS – Partner Migration (Subclass 300 and Subclass 309)”:

http://www.philippines.embassy.gov.au/mnla/Visa_Processing_Times2.html

12 months!

Note that we still say that our experience with our clients is an average processing time of 6 months. This is the “Global Service Standard” which includes applications lodged at overseas ports that are not so speedy, and would also include applications lodged by the applicants themselves without any help or guidance and which often require a lot of “repairs”. But 12 months remains as the current “Global Service Standard”.

So what they are saying very clearly is that they will not respond to enquiries about the status of partner visa applications within 12 months of lodgement!

These are the people processing your application, and this is what they are saying. It would be to your benefit to respect what they say. We do! And we respect what they say because we want the best results for you, our clients. And at the end of the day they do their job and visas get granted.