rdennys

Anyone give me an idea of how much migration agents charge for processing an application?

I am applying in the UK under the family/partner category (my wife is PR )

I have been quoted £2000 by a non-MARA agent (having paid £100 and waited 2 weeks for an 'assessment' of our case already) and told we should have no problems at all and it will take 6 months (which is as we expected).

I have now found a list of MARA agents who I am keen to use instead but to save me ringing them all and taking two weeks to find out their charges, can anyone tell me are they more or less expensive than £2000?

Would an australian agent be better/more cost effective?

Thanks

pread

Sounds like 2 grand is way over the top, especially for a non-MARA agent. I'd suggest you speak to Alan Collett of Go Matilda. Take a look at http://www.gomatilda.com, or email [email protected]. Very helpful guy.

heading downunder 2002

I agree, Alan is very helpful to this newsgroup and seems to know what he is talking about.

You could also have a look at the following web sites. The first one belongs to Ian Harrop & Associates (this is who we have used and have had nothing but the best service) www.ihaust.com and another whom I know people have used is www.conceptaustralia.co.uk you will find details of their charges on their sites.

It will give you something to compare against and I think £2000 is definately over the top. We had our initial assesment done by Zeno at Ian Harrop & Associates free of charge!!

A lot of people do it themselves with no problems it depends on your confidence and your application

Susan

stuh

The way we found our agent was via the australian government we site that had a list of approved (immi.gov.au I think it is). The agent is Richard Greegan (www.my-oe.com). He is holiding a seminar soon I think for people emigrating to Oz/NZ.

Dean Chapman

Are you sure you really want to use an agent for your partner/spouse visa? The forms
for this class are fairly self explanatory, myself and my partner took about an hour
filling in the forms and a couple of days getting certified copies and statements
from family and friends. There wasn't really that much to it.....not £2000 worth
anyway. Dean.

"rdennys" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
    > Anyone give me an idea of how much migration agents charge for processing an
    > application?
    >
    > I am applying in the UK under the family/partner category (my wife is PR )
    >
    > I have been quoted £2000 by a non-MARA agent (having paid £100 and waited 2 weeks
    > for an 'assessment' of our case already) and told we should have no problems at all
    > and it will take 6 months (which is as we expected).
    >
    > I have now found a list of MARA agents who I am keen to use instead but to save me
    > ringing them all and taking two weeks to find out their charges, can anyone tell me
    > are they more or less expensive than £2000?
    >
    > Would an australian agent be better/more cost effective?
    >
    > Thanks
    >
    >
    >
    > --
    > Posted via http://britishexpats.com

Alan Collett

Hi.

1. Our fees for a spouse visa are significantly less than the fee you've
been quoted.
2. If you mail me your details later today you'll get a reply advising all costs
pertaining to your planned visa application before the end of the weekend -
but please let me know you're the chap on the newsgroup otherwise I won't know
who you are!.

Best regards.

Alan Collett alan-at-gomatilda-dot-com Member of the Migration Institute of
Australia, Number 1230 Registered Migration Agent Number 0102534 and a Fellow of the
Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales Managing Director - The Go
Matilda Trading Company Limited W www.gomatilda.com Offices at Enterprise House,
Ocean Village, Southampton, Hampshire, England, SO14 3XB. - T +44 (0)2380 488777, and
Level 5, 11 Queens Road, Melbourne, VIC 3004, Australia - T +61 (0)3 8530 7030 "There
are no shortcuts to anywhere worth going"

rdennys wrote in message <[email protected]>... Anyone give me an
idea of how much migration agents charge for processing an application?

I am applying in the UK under the family/partner category (my wife is PR )

I have been quoted £2000 by a non-MARA agent (having paid £100 and waited 2 weeks for
an 'assessment' of our case already) and told we should have no problems at all and
it will take 6 months (which is as we expected).

I have now found a list of MARA agents who I am keen to use instead but to save me
ringing them all and taking two weeks to find out their charges, can anyone tell me
are they more or less expensive than £2000?

Would an australian agent be better/more cost effective?

Thanks

--
Posted via http://britishexpats.com

rdennys

Thanks for the replies. I know that it would be fairly easy to fill the forms out ourselves, and get all the documentation together - however, we have been meaning to sort this out for over 4 years (since my wife got her PR) but have never gotten around to it.

We're both in busy 6 day a week jobs and dont have the time to ensure a 100% successful application. Its getting late in the day (we have to go back by Jan 2003) and we are happy to pay for peace of mind - and someone to do the legwork for us!!

Thanks once again and to anyone reading this message in the future, my advise is to use a MARA registered agent - otherwise you risk getting severly burnt. The only reason I checked is because I read an unfavourable review in an old Guardian article about the company we were about to use. I think I have just saved myself a lot of heartache, not to mention money..

http://www.guardian.co.uk/consumer/s...478107,00.html