This morning I went into town and asked at HSA what the hick was taking so long with my medical papers. The lady put my name in the computer and looked me up, and then told me my file has been sent to HSA in Melbourne.
Melbourne?!
She also said that I should tell DIMIA this and they'd "know." Whatever that means.
So as soon as I got home, I fired off an email to the lady at DIMIA who's handling my case (didn't feel like standing in line or waiting endlessly watching the stupid TV again). Because my deadline for getting all the paperwork to them is Monday.
UPDATE: The lady at DIMIA wrote back and said that my email was sufficient to get an extension. So who knows how long it'll take to get the records back to Adelaide...but once they arrive, it'll be another 2-3 weeks to actually get the visa. I hate bureaucracy.
I made copies of seven more documents with my name or Darrin's name or both names AND our address, to prove we really are living at the same place. And I took them to the post office and got them certified. And then I took them to DIMIA and submitted them with my file number, so hopefully at least they'll be satisfied with that part, and we can just be sitting here on our butts waiting for stupid HSA to send me (or DIMIA) the medical report.
Also while I was in the DIMIA office, I asked what I needed to do to sign up for Medicare. They gave me a form to fill out, which they then send to Medicare, and Medicare will send me a letter.
And I want more. You can never have too much Tupperware.
I was looking at the Tupperware web site last night actually, and yes you can order online, if you're in the US or Canada, and possibly around the world too, but I didn't really look into it. But also, you can host an online Tupperware party. Apparently you just fill out an online form, put email addresses in of people you want to invite to your "party," and after it's finished (it runs for two weeks), you get a gift certificate based on the dollar amount your "guests" spent. Just imagine it: going to a Tupperware party where you don't run the risk of having to host one yourself as a door prize.
"So Mel, is all this to say you're going to have an online Tupperware party?" Maybe. Maybe not. Time will tell. But incidentally, if you do have any interest whatsoever in participating in one, drop me a note. I don't think I'd do it if I had less than ten people interested. If I had more...perhaps.
So today was our interview at DIMIA. We got there about ten minutes before our scheduled time, stood at the front desk for five minutes before they noticed we were there, got a number, and sat down for another fifteen minutes. At least this time they didn't have crappy talk shows on; it was news. Yippee.
Anyway, then they called our number and we went back to a cubicle where a lady was sitting at a desk. She asked us some questions and said "I'm reasonably certain you're genuine, but I need a little more evidence of cohabitation." Fair enough; we didn't really have that much I guess. Also, they haven't received the medical stuff yet, so I may have to chase that down at some point too. But anyway, back to the interview stuff. We did ask about the bridging visa, and she said I don't need evidence in my passport, it's enough that they've got it in their computers that I'm legal. Which is good. And we have 28 days to get the rest of our stuff together, and if we can't because the medical stuff is getting held up (the paperwork she gave us said that can sometimes take a while), then I'll need to go back and apply for an extension. And she also said that once she has all the information she needs, it'll take her two or three weeks to make a decision. Um, okay. Beats me why it'll take that long when she said "I'm reasonably certain," but you know what governments are like.
So tomorrow I'll be making photocopies of things, possibly taking them into town to get certified at the post office, and then back to DIMIA to add to our application. And actually HSA is in the same building, so maybe I'll pop in there too & ask if my medical stuff has been processed yet. Really though, how long does it take to put six pieces of paper together and take it across the building to DIMIA? Or mail it out to me even. That's what I wanna know.
Darrin got a call from DIMIA this morning at work. We have an interview at 2 pm next Monday, the 5th. The guy said it'll take about 45 minutes. And we've heard stories from both ends of the scale: a lady Darrin works with said her son & daughter-in-law went in with everything & came out with the visa. A couple from church said the people were rude and they had to jump through hoops. So who knows. Obviously we'd prefer the former to happen.
