Hey Leeroy, I agree with the other guys here but I am also happy that from the date of lodging my wife's application in Shanghai , It only took seven weeks for our interview , Even though I have employed a Immigration lawyer I have still have had contact with Joyce Wang who is our case officer in Shanghai, She was a little surprised that i was taking my fourth trip to China in twelve months to be with my wife so she told me she would bring the interview forward to co-inside with my September visit.
I did meet two other Aussies in the consulate just before we had our interview and they were pretty pisses when i told them that we had only waited seven weeks as they had waited for nine months.
I was initially told that the whole process would take between nine and twelve months but after the interview Joyce told us that it take around another three months but i am not holding my breath, As Jason said, They are usually pretty quick to pick up on any problems with the application or any additional information that is required as they found a few minor issues with ours which were quickly corrected,notarized and translated, Good luck to you both, MinYing and John.