molloymj

Hi all,

Just wanted to say "Hello" really....and....

My girlfriend and I are planning to move to Sydney on the 1st June. Our visa is currently being processed and was lodged late last year.

We are going to head out on a WHV at first, complete the application in Oz and then hop to NZ to pick it up - well that's the plan anyway, unless our agents, OE Visas can pull there finger out and get the visa to us before June, as they have promised.

Which brings me on to my next question.......has anyone had any experience with OE Visas? We are applying as skilled designated area sponsored (supposed to be a simple visa), but are finding OE visas stressful and difficult to deal with..and expensive (£2500 not inc. Govt. Fees). They never contact us and make it difficult for us to conact them. Has anyone else used them? If so, could you let me know what you thought?

Many thanks, sorry for the long email...

Mike.

bettytweena

Hi Mike

We are with OE, and for the majority of our application, dealt with someone in Ireland, who was absolutely terrific- regular calls and emails answered almost immediately, and when the points increased in April, he worked late at night to sort evrything out, sometimes ringing us at 10.30pm....so no complaints there. However, since we lodged our main application, we have been transferred to the lodgement team in Edinburgh.....this is where it has gone pear shaped, and to be honest, we are not very happy with the service we have received from the 'lodgement team'. We have emailed several times, with no response, and have ended up emailing our CO ourselves to sort stuff out. Several docs have gone missing, delaying our application etc etc. When we think the amount we are paying, we feel that this should be dealt with by them, otherwise whats the point of hiring them? If we had known their policy was to transfer us to 'strangers' at this stage in the process, we wouldn't have used them, but I suppose its too late now. Just hope they come up with the goods.

I wouldn't say that they are so bad that I wouldn't recommend them, as I have said, the person we dealt with initially was brilliant, although I would seriously advise getting clear details of WHO will be dealing with your case ALL the way through.

HTH

Betty

KatieStar

I am sorry you guys are having trouble with oe visas. We went with them, in Edinburgh. Mostly I found if I left a phone message they got back to me pretty quick, and we got our visas with no complications. So I can't complain about the service we got.

I hope all goes well with your visa appications, Mike and Betty.

From Katie

wholeworldwindow

Oh yes, indeee! But as they so nicely shouted at me "Hey, at least your applicable to go - some will never be in your position" - this was in reply to me questioning how they could loose my documents, agents dissapearing overnight, getting me to re-write application forms......etc........No, I would not reccommend them! (But therre are a couple of good agents - just took me 2.5 years to find a good one at OE)

molloymj

Thanks all!

Good luck with all your applications.

mcdst

Yes we have found OE Visas stressful due to their poor communication and co-ordination. Would definitely not recommend using them.

JohnAndNetta

Hi,

Strangely enough - EXACTLY the same problems as Bettytweena . Fine for the first part (using our Irish contact), then, in our opinion, absolutely dire from lodgement onwards (i.e via Edinburgh office). I have received PM's which also indicate that we are certainly not alone in our feelings. Ironically, I re-read our initial OE appointment letter which stated that we would be dealt with by the same contact for the entire visa application process. Shame this didn't actually happen. We too found that we had to chase things up ourselves (with DIMIA and Centrelink) and were absolutely stunned to find out (BEFORE our agents) that our visa had been granted!

Regards
J&N

wholeworldwindow

Yup, our balls-up was with Edin office too...but eventually found a great agent willing to give a damn. PM me if anyone nees to know her name to ask for her...she was Great, but we were passed throught various people 1st, who were awfull. At our 1st interview it was completly great and were told everything we needed was in hand....they would also help us with this and that...advice about generall things like phobias, housing, setting up....I had to ask for info about 5 times and every time it was "no wories ..(they knew all our names and seemed so friendly).....we'll get that sorted for you"....and then I'd hear nothing for weeks and I'd re-phone and they wouldn't even remember who I was, and then I'd go through the same thing again....and again....and again....But the best bit was 1.5 years down the line our "current" agent dissapeared overnight...the day before we were due to lodge.....so all the paperwork dissapeared...but instead of appologising and setting up an appointment to get someone else to complete the forms again...they gave them to us to do! What a waste of money. It is a stressfull time enough with out all their internal hastles. Honestly , for the money they charge....their service should be 1st class, with guidance and help of settling in too. (Actually for the money they chanrge they should have a house and a job waiting for you when you arrive!) Got my visa now, ...but being shouted at for complaining when they told me I would not need a long birth certificate for my son....and then going mental when I only have the abreviated one....I think their will be many complaints for OE...(but probably people will want to get their Visas 1st!)

SamG

We recently received our PR visa after going through OE. Ours was a mixed experience but it seems to closely mirror what other people have said. Firstly, I thought the Edinburgh office was a shambles - they have all the customer service skills of the great state-run enterprises of the 1970s. I resent handing over cash to people who in turn seem to resent me phoning up for updates. The lodgement team also advised us badly. We heard *nothing* from DIMIA 12 weeks after medicals arrived in Adelaide. The lodgement team told me that this was nothing to worry about.

I felt we we're being fobbed off and got pretty p****d off with this attitude to I went back to Welsh Tony - their consultant based in Ireland, who'd submitted our initial application for us - and he agreed that there must be a problem and he agreed to investigate. To cut a long story short, DIMIA had completely lost our file! Tony salvaged this situation over a series of emails and phone calls to the DIMIA office, and our finally visas arrived on 20th Jan - six months after medicals and PCs had been submitted.

So top marks to Tony - if his organisation could back up his immigration know-how with decent customer service, they'd have a strong product, but at the moment they're letting him, themselves and - more importantly - me, down.

NickG

ian3

Ditto!! Would definately NOT recommend OE Visas. Their customer service is appalling! They had our Visa Application for 3 months and after I called the day before it was meant to be lodged to check everything was ok the response I got was 'good question'! Got a call the next day saying I had to re-do one of my references - after them having it for all that time. After that was all sent and certified the next date for lodgement came and went. Called to see what was happening and told that they didn't have my credit card details. I don't know if it is a staffing problem at the moment because OE were recommended to us and looking at previous posts they did seem to have a good reputation - let's hope this is just a blip!!

Nikki

Hi

I too am using OE in Edinburgh.......

Can anyone tell me who they would recommend asking for at the office in terms of the TRA application, we have failed ours with OE and are having to re-apply, I would feel much better if someone who came recommended was dealing with us from start to finish.

Comments welcome.

Nikki

SamG

Nikki, I'm not sure if you are asking which individual consultant within OE, or if you're asking for a different agent. If it's the former, PM me - he goes by the name of Welsh Tony on britishexpats so it's probably bad netiquette for me to publish his name without his permission.

I think he deals with TRAs and like quite a few people on this thread, we think he's a star - pity other members of the team let him down.

bettytweena

Here, here....Welsh Tony is a great bloke, knows his stuff, has heaps of patience and should start up on his own.

steandleigh

We used OE, Tony Coates in Ireland was our particular registered agent and the service we received from him was fantastic, as said before, he was very patient, knowledgable and willing to help.

Good luck.

C.Owen

When i saw this thread start, i wondered how Mr R.G of O.E might respond if it had been posted on the immigration page :scared: ( O.E actually sponsor that page ) i'm sure he reads that one too ..as i've seen replies from himself on there.

I also used them for my visa application and thought it might have just been me expecting more or a better service, due to being so positive and eager to progress, so i can " ditto " the points mentioned in the above replies, once it got into the hands of the lodgement team, things changed.
The question is ....given the response to this topic, has anybody actually put pen to paper or thought about it and fed this back to them ? to make them aware of the negative feedback, it certainly crossed my mind during the later stages.
It might spark a response to improve the level of service people are receiving from the team in the later stages of applications, which could benefit some just starting out or actually in the middle of their application.

Just to add, at the end of the day people choose to pay for the service of an agent to help them succeed in their quest to emigrate, 12 months or more is spent working closely with a professional company, so you can benefit from their experience throughout the endurance, which is quite a stressful time to say the least. After being informed by a message left on my answer machine i had successfully been granted my visa, i have heard nothing since to see if my passports arrived back with me safely or to congratulate me on the visa grant success !!
I thought there might be an " after visa grant " follow up call or e-mail to advise on some of the preparations you might need to make, during the months ahead, but this just sums up the level of service people are talking about from the lodgement team stage through to final completion.

recomendation .... I don't think so !!!