Billabong

We used George Lombard - good value for money and excellent service.

marco121068

Hi Helen,
Have you got yourself a copy of Booklet 6 and all the other forms (47SK if Skilled Ind & Form 80) from the DIMIA website? Have a good read through those, and there's no harm in starting to fill in the form (but check it's the latest one just before you send it off as they do sometimes update them). Police checks are valid for 1 year - so you could get those done as they can take up to 6 weeks for the UK ones to come back. I may be wrong, but I think teachers may be fast tracked so once you've got your skills assessment back I'd think judging by recent events you could well get it all over and done with in about 3/4 months.

Hope that's of some use.
Marco

Ushas

Can only give advice on this last question really. It depends on where you intend to settle. For example if you intend to settle in Perth you need to contact someone at www.eddept.wa.edu.au as this is the states education department and they will be able to advise you on the necessities for entering teaching there. I am a qualified Oz teacher and am returning after 6 years in the UK. I still have to apply to the ed dept, do a workshop to brush up on curriculum and red tape 'advances', and complete a 10 day in-school placement. The law has changed as of Sept 15th and there is now a new register of teachers statewide. As I've taught with the department already I automatically get entered on the register but new teachers/immigrants have to register regardless of the type of teaching they do (private, relief/supply, state, part-time, whatever).
So I would check out the state education department requirements for this.

Hope this is useful.

Ush

Beccalass

Helen, because we were busy at the time we decided to use an agent (Go Matilda). It cost us about £2,500 because we had to submit two visas - we were told that we would be accepted with no problems under the skilled migration. We wanted to move out as soon as possible but they said there was 18 months waiting time. We came over on an 18month student visa to do the waiting here (DIY - absolutely no problems and the staff at Australia House, London were great). First day here I find out that my occupation is on the on demand list for state nominated skilled visa for both South Australia and Victoria - which means the application gets fasttracked (it took 12 weeks from posting the application to them). The agent did not advice us of the STNI visa, and as a result I had to pay for both.

In total, I can honestly say that the agent cost me, in addition to the money, a whole year in messing around trying to get the paperwork ready (3 months to get my skills accredited, they did not inform me I had to get a police report from Greece as I'd lived there withing the past 10 years - and you can imagine what that was like with the Olympics)

I would highly reccomend DIY if you are positive you will succeed - check the STNI websites to find out if your occupation is on the on demand list - cos nobody will tell you! Good luck

zmkat

Hello Everyone, I have some questions about migration to Australia. I'm a mother and a student from the US. My mother is planning on retirement and we would like to work and live in Australia. The problem is, that it seems as though it might be very difficult to get visas, from what I've read. Does anyone have any suggestions on where to start? Thank you for your time.

philj6969

Hi

I used Gomatilda ( www.gomatilda.com ) as I was rapidly approaching 40 and didnt know if I could get through after my 40th with the loss of 5 points.

I wanted to get it right first time and the agent changed my application from skilled independent to skilled sponsored as it was simpler to get and fast-track as well. It took 4 month to get the application together as I needed a TRA (Trade Recognition Australia) pass for my skill and just 4 more months until the visas were in my hand. The application was fast-tracked because my sponsor (must be a relative) lived in a designated area, giving me a subclass 139 visa which is Skilled designated area sponsored.

Hope this hasnt confused any newcomers, the point is if you have the money but not the time, or your case is not simple (from your point of view) then use an agent. HUUUUGE recommendations for Gomatilda and Alan Collet.

Phil.

Beccalass

Phil,

Only once we got here and started dealing with Greta White at GM, things started moving!

Becca

GLR

We did it ourselves and are now heading to Brisbane in a month. There's nothing technically difficult about doing it yourself but you will need:

- time
- patience
- an eye for detail
- a relatively straightforward case

If you don't have the above then I'd advise you to go for an agent as they'll save you a lot of time and possibly money. You only have to read these forums to see how often people are confused and tripped up by the arcane rules. A good place to start for agents would be Alan Collett and George Lombard who regularly contribute on these forums and receive positive feedback on their services.

Good luck

GLR

Jonahs_mummy

We were amazed at the costs of some agents and so decided to do it ourselves.
We are still waiting for our TRA Assessment to come backfor my hubbys trade (Chef) but I get the impression from reading other posts on the forum that once you have got through the Trade Assessments the rest seems a little easier.....

Only time will tell for us I guess.

Best of luck with it all which ever way you decide to go!

Alan Collett

Becca,

You have made several comments about our involvement with your skills assessment and visa applications. I'm sure you will understand that I can't go into details about a specific client matter unless I have their permission to do so ... am I at liberty to detail some of the specific and salient issues relating to your case on this forum?

Best regards.

clandfam

Used an agent.

They looked at our case at the initial meeting and gauranteed the visa (136) or they would provide a refund of all their costs (not inclusive of any dimia costs).

The process took a little over 2 years, and was an emotional roller coaster.

The agent was very poor at replying to any communication, despite numerous e-mails, but occassionally and out of the blue you would get a phone call or an e-mail with excellent news and a breakdown of how our application was progressing. At various times, my partner and I were extremely frustrated with the whole process, which probably isn't any different from anyone else.

In hindsight it was probably worth going with the agent, as we had an awful lot going on domestically at the time, and i was extremely busy at work and in reality couldn't have devoted the time and effort into progressing the application.

The best part of the whole process though (with the exception of actually getting the visa) was at the initial meeting, when the agents representative actually turned round to my partner and said that as i was the main applicant she would be my baggage. LOL, you can bet i've never let her forget that one.

Oh and the agents representative at the initial meeting was an australian female. What a country!

nj_lawson

Hi there, in response to your question, hope I don't confuse you further as you have already received replys both for and against agents. We started our migration process on our own. We got our skills assessment no problem, submitted our application and then Aus increased the points before our application was processed, as a result we were put into the pool.
We spoke to several agents and settled on the one we felt was best informed and most prompt at returning our calls and seemed most efficient. They have now put us through the STNI process which we are waiting to hear from. Had we not spoken to agents we would not necessarily have realised all options aavilable to us and been waiting for rejection!

Our agents are fantastic the process on your own is very time consuming and information available is often conflicting although it can be done.
My recommendation would be that if your application is straight forward, proceed on your own, but if there is any doubts, or complications in your application use an agent as if good they are worth the money, even if expensive!

One final piece of advice and sorry to keep going on is - double check the DIMIA website for any changes in migrarion policy the day you want to send off your application as things change regularly.

clevs

Hi

Well we didn't use an agent and DIY'd ourselves, once the application was written it was plane sailing, and we used the money an agent charged us for our flights, so all in all it worked out well. Just need to sit and read and read the application forms if you can do this then DIY.

Lara

darkless

We did it DIY, but at the time of application my skills were on the fast track scheme and our only doubt was proving our defacto relationship.

I quite enjoyed sorting out the application, but back then I had the time to put into it.

If you are short on time, flush on cash or have possible application hiccups, then I recommend an agent. Otherwise DIY and put the £2000 towards your pool, etc

Dave

Beccalass

Alan,

this is a publc forum - of course you have the right to express your opinion. You seem to have a strong and supporting following at this forum, and other posts praise GM. When we researched agents we felt that GM were down to earth, realistic and approachable which is why we went with you in the first place.

However, with hindsight (such a wonderful thing) I would have opted for DIY which is what I'd recommend on a straightforward case.

Regards

Becca