Visa Processing Times

The time it should take to process a visa application is governed by the department's service standards. These standards apply to applications lodged with complete documentation and do not include processing time of nominations/sponsorships. It should be noted that the service standards are a target only, that is, individual cases may take longer than the service standard depending on the caseload of the office concerned, the complexity of the case, etc.

Processing implications:

As of now, only General Skilled Migration applications which are State/Territory sponsored, or which have nominated occupations on the new Critical Skills List will be processed. There will be no visa grants to other applicants until further notice, which is not likely to be before 1 July 2009, and may be much longer.

The Minister's media release can be found at: http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/media-releases/2009/ce09030.htm