kiran rowe

I am currently in the process of filling out the forms for a PR visa to Australia after my husband recently received his Australian passport and is sponsoring me. He has had Aussie citizenship since 1990 but returned to the UK the same year due to personal circumstances but is now in a position to return. He contacted an emigration agent who charges £600 for doing all the work for us. I think this is ludicrously expensive and wondered what other people think. Is an agent really necessary and is he/she really able to speed up the application process ? I have read all the forms and the accompanying notes and don't find anything in them a person of average intelligence cannot understand and cope with. As far as I can see, provided you answer all the relevant questions and provide all the documents required, e.g certified copies of birth and marriage certificates and passport, go for a medical, have a chest X-ray, get the all-clear from the police etc. you have covered yourself. Then you are in the hands of DIMA and there's not much more you can do. I don't see how an agent can justify charging so much money, especially as you have to do a lot of the work yourself, such as filling in personal details and providing documents such as birth and marriage certificates and passport. Am I being naive in thinking an emigration agent is a waste of money ?

Kiran

Jaj

Straightforward spouse visa applications, especially from English speakers, shouldn't
require an immigration agent.

The only way an agent can possibly 'speed up' the process is by preparing the
application package properly, to minimise the chance of supplementary questions from
the case officer. But there's no faster processing 'per se' for agent assisted
applications. And the online/printed information from DIMIA is pretty comprehensive.

Jeremy

    >On 3 Mar 2002 17:02:58 -0600, kiran rowe <[email protected]> wrote:

    >I am currently in the process of filling out the forms for a PR visa to Australia
    >after my husband recently received his Australian passport and is sponsoring me. He
    >has had Aussie citizenship since 1990 but returned to the UK the same year due to
    >personal circumstances but is now in a position to return. He contacted an
    >emigration agent who charges £600 for doing all the work for us. I think this is
    >ludicrously expensive and wondered what other people think. Is an agent really
    >necessary and is he/she really able to speed up the application process ? I have
    >read all the forms and the accompanying notes and don't find anything in them a
    >person of average intelligence cannot understand and cope with. As far as I can see,
    >provided you answer all the relevant questions and provide all the documents
    >required, e.g certified copies of birth and marriage certificates and passport, go
    >for a medical, have a chest X-ray, get the all-clear from the police etc. you have
    >covered yourself. Then you are in the hands of DIMA and there's not much more you
    >can do. I don't see how an agent can justify charging so much money, especially as
    >you have to do a lot of the work yourself, such as filling in personal details and
    >providing documents such as birth and marriage certificates and passport. Am I being
    >naive in thinking an emigration agent is a waste of money ?
    >
    >Kiran
    >
    >
    >
    >--
    >kiran
    >
    >hopeful, ever hopeful....
    >
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