paulineburden
Hello Pauline
My mother is an applicant for a Contributory Parent visa, but her application was lodged on 29 November 2005.
Just today, we have heard from her Case Officer for the first time. So that is about 7.5 months into the whole process. As yet, the CO wants the Police clearances, Form 80 and another form. Those are all ready and we were just sitting on them waiting for the POPC to ask for them.
We front-loaded Mum's meds because she is very old now, plus semi-disabled, so we wanted to consult a Panel Doctor about her chances before we made a final decision about whether to apply for the visa at all. We were willing to pay for two lots of meds if need be - the first visit to the PD was for our own peace of mind, mainly.
The CO rang my sister in Perth (the Authorised Recipient for the application - we are not using an Agent) during the afternoon today Perth time and then followed it up with an e-mail setting out what she needs us to do next.
She told my sister not to contact Centrelink yet. The POPC need to get all the papers that they need gathered together first. The CO said that once she's got the outstanding documents, then she will trigger the bit with Centrelink and advise sister to contact them to make an appointment.
As yet, we have not had a pre-grant letter. I don't think they do that until everything else has been done except paying the 2nd VAC. So I think it will probably be mid-late September before the visa is eventually granted, making the total timeline exactly 10 months or so.
I now DEFINITELY believe that it is worth semi-frontloading the meds suggest doing those voluntarily 5-6 months after the application is lodged, because our experience is proving that it would definitely save a bit of time, whatever an Agent might say about it.
Hope this helps and good luck with your application. Where are you planning to settle?
Regards
Gill
