457 Visa Processing Times (2014)

One of the most commonly asked questions at 457VisaCompared is what are the current processing times for the 457 visa.
This topic is covered in sections below with resources to help solve your questions.

1) What are the general waiting times

The table below was shown on the Australian Immigration website on the 1st of August 2014.
It highlights that’s the average wait times are between two to three months depending on your application (or your county’s) risk rating.

To be more clear on the terms ‘low risk’ and ‘high risk’

• Low risk is an individual, couple or family were the passport holders can apply of an ETA (otherwise know an Electronic Travel Authority). If your country issues these ETA passports then your categories as low risk. The main countries are:
  • Canada
  • UK
  • France
  • Germany
  • Ireland
  • Singapore
  • Spain
  • USA
• High risk countries are those where passport holders can’t get an ETA eligible passport and include:
  • India
  • China
  • Mexico

2) Can I rely on these processing times?

The answer here is definitely not!!!

The Australian Government processing time service standard is only to meet the table above 457 visa processing time 75% of the time.
There were periods such as July - December 2013 when processing times were a lot longer due to a rush of applications to avoid the 1st of July price rises o 457 visa application prices.

As of the 1/8/2014 there have been no issues flagged by either the DIBP or from application holders who this site corresponds to so its expected that most applications would occur with the timeframes set.
That said, its worth applying early to ensure you don’t have a nervous wait for your 457 visa.

3) I have been waiting for months for my application, what should I do?

If you have a migration agent you should contact them ASAP and them to look up if an issue has been flagged by the government department.

If you made the application yourself contact the DIBP at 131 881. Make sure you can find the case offer looking into your application and make sure there is nothing holding it up (ie additional paperwork etc).
Just a word of caution, this telephone call can take a long time and you may have to speak to a few people first so be patient. Once you are finally put through to the right person they will be very helpful.

 

I hope that helps answer all your questions. Its the most common enquiry to this site and if you feel more content is needed on this blog post, please go to the contact us page and send me through a suggestion!