Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi oi oi! - 2

This morning I looked over my shoulder & saw a flash of bright green & orange, the colors the scooter mail carriers wear. He knocked on the door, and since I'm expecting a package from my mom, I thought it was that. But instead he held out a large yellow envelope and asked me to sign for it. The return address didn't look familiar, and it didn't have a NAME of a place on there, just the post office box in the city. So I signed, shut the door, and opened it, and out came one of those page protector things holding the birth certificates, marriage certificate, wedding invitation, and pictures we'd submitted to DIMIA for the visa application. Um, okay. That's it? So I looked back in the envelope to see if there was a letter or something explaining why they sent these back, and there was. And it states this:

Dear Ms HOFFMEYER,

I refer to your application for permanent residence and I am pleased to advise that the following person(s) included in your application have been granted a Partner (Temporary) (Class UK) Visa subclass 820 on 20 May 2004.

MELISSA CARRIE HOFFMEYER (DoB - 23/01/1976)

And a bunch of other stuff about working, social security, Medicare, etc.

So anyway. Bottom line, I'm legal for the next 2 years. And there was much rejoicing (yay).

Happy, happy, joy, joy.

My medical report from HSA has arrived as of today. In about twenty minutes I'm catching a bus downtown to hand it in at DIMIA.

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.

And today...

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.

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.

This morning we drove into the city and lodged the visa application. We're just waiting for the medical stuff to arrive (either here or there) and we'll be all set for a decision.

Okay, now I know those of you who are interested in that (which I assume would be anyone who's reading this) are going to want updates every time you talk to Darrin or me. And I don't blame you, really, but please, please, don't ask us how it's going every time you see us. We'll post updates here when things happen, I guarantee you. Asking us multiple times isn't going to make things happen faster or more smoothly. So be patient.

Anyway. We got to the DIMIA (Department of Immigration, Multicultural & Indigenous Affairs) office just after 9 and there was a line. We waited in line for 5 minutes, then gave the lady at the desk all our paperwork. She put it in an envelope, gave it back to us, gave us a number, and asked us to sit down till someone called our number. And we waited for ages. And the TV was showing the Ricki Lake show. "Once a cheater, always a cheater?" was the show's topic...how wonderful. What a wonderful portrayal of American television, and Americans in general. No wonder the rest of the world thinks Americans are rude, stupid, irresponsible, etc.

Anyway. It must've been half an hour we waited, and I'd had too much water to drink before we left the house, so I was pretty uncomfortable. And our number finally got called, and we jumped up out of our seats to get away from that revolting talk show. And we took our envelope to another lady at a desk, and handed it over, and gave her my credit card, and paid a whole bucketload of money for the application fee. And she told us that the bridging visa (the visa they give you while you're in the application process, in case your current one runs out before the application is decided) would go into effect when my current one expires. But I'm not sure if it's another electronic one, or an actual sticker/stamp in my passport, so I guess I'll wait till I get the letter in the mail in a few days, once they start processing things.

And that's really all we know at this point, so if you ask us to go into more detail, don't be surprised if you get a dirty look.

And I'm not talking about the visa stuff, either. I saw an entire cricket match. And I'm actually starting to understand it. Not that it was really very interesting, but it kinda makes sense now.

"1. Obtain statutory declarations from at least two people (Australian citizens or permanent residents over age 18). We've printed five forms."

And handed out two.

"2. Finish filling out my half of the application form."

Done.

"6. We need a certified copy of Darrin's birth certificate.
7. We need certified copies of both our passports."

Which are easily obtained at any bank or post office.

"8. I need to get four passport photos.
9. Darrin needs to get two passport photos."

Which are easily obtained at any shopping centre, including Tea Tree Plaza and Rundle Mall.

"3. File my taxes, preferably online."

Done, but I'm not getting nearly as much money back as I'd hoped. Stupid greedy tax offices wanted a cut of my 401(k) withdrawal.

And that Kitchen Aid mixer I saw advertised for $1185? Did some searching online today and found out that's the extra special chrome mixer. The regular "baked enamel" colorful ones are about half that. So it's not such a farfetched idea to buy one sometime in the future. After all the visa cards/bills/immigration stuff is paid off, of course.