heading downunder 2002

I am astounded at the price some of these agents are charging. We used Ian Harrop and Associates, Zeno to be precise and he was fantastic. Including all our TRA assesment fees and application fee came to no more than about £2,000.

pudnut

I'm using Wessex Migration based in the south of the UK and I'm very impressed with them. They have a vast knowledge of the procedures and nothing is too much effort for them, I'm frequently phoning or emailing them with queries and they always have the time to talk to me. I have found them very efficient. Because they are a fairly small firm you get the personal touch and their fees are very reasonable compared to what other people are charging.

Iwould higly recommend them.

Pudnut

Alan Collett

Me too ...!

Best regards.

Alan Collett

I've never heard of them before ... do they have a website? Is the agent registered?

Just as an observation here, and recognising that not all Registered Agents are professional, I would always encourage someone who is considering appointing an agent to engage a person or company who is Registered with the Migration Agents Registration Authority or who has a significant amount of experience dealing with visa applications from the other side of the desk (ie with the Australian Department of Immigration). And that means the person handling your visa application at all times should have these skills - it is not unknown for matters to be delegated within certain companies to those less well versed in what is required in terms of a visa application.

So ask who will be preparing your visa application (and skills assessment application if relevant), who will be dealing with any queries on your skills assessment and visa applications, and for details of his/her qualifications and previous experience in these areas.

Registered Agents in particular are required to attend courses to maintain their technical competence, and to acquire sufficient points under a system of Continuing Professional Development to enable them to re-register with the MARA each year. Those who aren't registered have no such requirement, and as such there might be a concern that they are not fully up to date with the regular and ongoing changes to Migration Law and procedures.

Best regards.

kevmitch

Don't be getting any ideas Alan !!!

Seroiusly though, this sounds very expensive for the service (sic) offered. What may be sensible for new migrants on this site would be a comparison of costs for various classes of visa by various Migration Agents.

If anyone wants to let me know what they've been charged and/or quoted I'll happily collate the info onto a spreadsheet for future use (send a personal e-mail if you prefer - that way keeping client confidentiality intact)

Kev

wolfens_wife

We also are using 4 corners. I think because they advertise in newspapers etc. We all get roped in thinking :
"Wow a new life in OZ £3000 is nothing to pay" .....If only we had known

After reading this forum 3 months after applying for PR we realised we have been diddled. My main concern now is that they get us there. For £3000 we didn't even get a crummy Christmas Card!
My husband (wolfen) phoned them up and told them to look at this forum to show them what a bad reputation they had. They didn't even know this forum (apparently) existed. So far fingers crossed they have been very good. We have warned them though that they have a reputation of messing things up and we dont want to be one of them!!!
For straight forward applications I would advise to do it yourself.

Cheers

Mich
ps. Good luck Grub with new baby... our 3rd boy is due in 5 weeks :scared:

Grub

And I bet you dont look like the picture!!! (or not anymore anyway!). I am stocking up on preggas clothes from Next Directory at the mo as they could be foul in Oz!

Re 4 Corners- they are lying b*... as I got into heaps of trouble as they saw my postings on the website and figured that Grub from Cheshire was me (at first they thought it was my sis and husband but they havent figured out their posting name yet!!). Anyway--- I just hope that they have learnt their lessons from us (mind you we are still 3 grand down and no visa!)

Best wishes

Nicky

ps. Good luck Grub with new baby... our 3rd boy is due in 5 weeks :scared: [/QUOTE]


OH yeh - and good luck with the bambino- 3 boys- aaaaaaaaah!

madmorgans

Hi Grub...


Congrats on the bub!!

I was pregnant with my daughter when we went on holiday last year (Melbourne).
Bump grew by the day so had a need for new clothes.. Myers had an excellent range of clothes for those with bumps and also MUCH cheaper than here, buy a few from next and then treat yourself - you deserve it!!

Hope you are with your family soon.

Love simone, phil & erin x

Grub

Cheers- I was wondering if they sold ok stuff over there- right- I wont buy too much this end then- it's way too big for me anyway!! (mind you the wine belly fills it quite nice!)

Good luck with Melbourne- that was my first choice too!

Love

Nic, Dean and Kaelan

hibee

Hi Guys,
Just thought i would put my tuppence worth in about Four Corners ,
At first they seemed very proffesional and we were impressed
We approached them as they had a small office in Edinburgh around march 2000 . we got all the info from them regarding how to do the work references etc , trade assesment.
After we filled in all the forms and got my trade assesed all they were interested was the money , they booked us in with a financial consultatnt in jan 2001 , which was a con to get you to take out life insurance .
We wre stuck in the queue at London due to IT Fast Tracking like a lot of people and never heard anything from 4c during this period , after a lot of frustrating phone calls we blew our top with them.
this made no difference as they had our money!!!!!!!!!!!
Around March 2001 i discovered this website and got more in info in about a week than i did from 4c .
As you will all know it can be a very frustrating time and 4c were still no help when i called .
i eventually phoned Australia house myself and got things moving
although all the paperwpork had to go via 4c .
I wish i had know about this website earlier as i would have saved a fortune.
As speaking to people who immigrated at the same time as me none of them paid anything near what i was charged by 4c

SO MY ADVICE IS LOOK NO FURTHER THAN GO MATILDA OR ANY OTHER ONES THAT HAVE BEEN RECOMMENDED DO NOT USE 4C!!!!!!!!!!

Grub

]
Hi Hibee

How's Geelong (I used to live in Corio)
Thanks for your view on 4C. Just out of interest did you compain about them. I am planning to as I feel if they continue to get away with this then more people will be in this web site for years to come saying the same thing. Your observations on 4C were the same as us. We lodged May 2001 though they had all our money in July 2000 (we paid up front). I am very angry and bitter about the way we were treated- ie take the money and run.

PM me please

Thanks

Nicky
]

madmorgans

Surely you guys could all try to sue Four Corners, you have obviously signed some sort of contract with them.

Go for it, get some legal aid and sue the asses off them.

And remember to let Watchdog know, they might get your money back......fingers crossed.

Love simone

Grub

I have threatened them with it Simone but after all the hassle we have had I just dont know whether I can be bothered. Also- it may be tricky as we are hopin to leave UK in March. I think I will phone my solicitor and enquire though as it irks me enormously that they get away with such a rip off. I think cos you see the big ads in Australia News etc you think they must be good. I just wish we had shopped around or found this website first!

Live and learn!

dmf

We would also recommend Ian Harrop - has been very helpful.

thewoods

Hi
We are using Sharon Rakus from Kensington
so far we have not had a problem - she charges 1200 in different stages you can get her on [email protected]