Hi

I am sorry but you did not say if you got the state sponsorship, I think I missed it if you did mention it in your posts.

From what I heard, Victoria has been turning down applications for state sponsorship for no reason even for skill in their list.

The visa processing timeline right now is erratic. No one can say what visa subclass would take how long but once you do have your state sponsorship, it takes 3-6 months to get the visa. the CO is allocated in a month to two months and the rest of the formalities takes anothe couple of months.

I am in the same boat as u. We applied in September 08, applied for ACT sponsorship in April(Mid) and are still waiting to hear from them. Waiting can be a pain

Cheers
and do keep us updated on how things go

ANj