gidxg03

Hi,

We have made contact with Gomatilda.com to enquire about obtaining a skilled migrant visa for Australia. They have carried out an initial assessment (free) on my wife's occupation, qualifications & work experience. They have contacted us to say that she would qualify for the 120 points required for the visa

They have also sent us a schedule of their fee's and I nearly fell off my chair when I saw them. Costs for the visa are skills assessment $350 plus $1935 for the actual visa. We will then have to budget for medical and police checks. However Gomatilda's fees are skills assessment stage 1 £240, stage 2 £540, visa application £600 plus VAT. This seems extremely expensive to apply for a visa for us. Am I missing something? Do they do anything other than apply for the visa? Do they also source a house and get you a job for those fee's?

Perhaps the most important question I have is how difficult is it to apply for the visa without an agency (ie on your own).

TIA.

Wendy

The fees are probably about average. Obviously you can't get out of paying the skills assessment and visa fees, but the process isn't really that hard and everyone on here will help where possible.

We used an agent however (£1900 plus Vat) and I would consider using one if I had to do it again.

The best way to start is to tell us what Visa you are applying for and also what skills you have. We will then be able to point you in the right direction.

nick72

Those fee's are not in the expensive range which others do charge.

We are using Concept Australia based in London and they charge their fee's in stages.

http://www.conceptaustralia.co.uk

Whilst it seems a lot of money to pay out, as long as you used a MARA registered agent, they are not allowed to take your money if they do not think you will be granted a Visa based on the information you give them. (and of course that you pass your medicals and Police Checks !)

Yes you could do it on your own, but as the process is lengthy do you want to run the risk of your application taking a lot longer for something you get wrong ?

If you are in no hurry then yes it could be worthwhile doing it on your own.

I would say our agents advice on supporting documents for the TRA and for the main Visa application was invaluable.

You are not paying for them to do all the contacting of previous employers and the like, you are paying for their expert advice as to what needs to go into your application.

The choice is yours, I would do a search for Agents and see other peoples opinons on Agents they have used. Also some people have gone it alone and got their Visa's and saved a lot of money.

Nick

karenjc

We paid close on about £6000 in all to get our visa. One of those if we new then what we know now we would have done it ourselves as you do 99% of the work anyway. If you feel you have a straight forward case then go for it yourselves. There is always someone on here who will be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck.

gidxg03

Thanks for the reply Wendy. Is the visa application that difficult? It's seems an awful lot of money to have an agency fill out a visa form. I know they are there in an advisory capacity as well...

Anyway my wife is a software developer (scores 60 points) with 6 years full-time experience. We are hoping to apply for the Skilled Independent visa subclass 136.

nick72

The main application form 47sk for the 136 is 28 pages long. Its straight forward enough, but there are lots of questions that may not be relevant and do you fill them in or not ? lol

You need to have your wifes skill's assessed before you do the main application. This is where you will need to prove her skill and have references to back it up from employers. The detail you need to go into to prove her work experience is immense to say the least !

Nick

gidxg03

Folks,

Thanks for your responses. It is much appreciated.

I have had some experience with the skills assessment myself as an ex employee contacted me for information on her skills for her visa application (I work as a Technical Training Coordinator). Your right when you say the amount of info they looked for was immense (even down to the tools she had in her toolbox).

One important question I have is that my wife turns 30 at the end of August. Obviously we want her to qualify for the extra 5 points being under 30 years of age. At what point should we apply for the visa to ensure she qualifies for the extra 5 points? Do they take her age at the time of skills assessment or at the time of vis application. If the assessment takes place before visa application we probably need to get a move on.

nick72

Its at the point of Visa application.

Not when they look at it, but when they receive it.

Yes you are correct ! Skills Assessment is before Visa application ......'You need to get a move on !' lol

Nick

gidxg03

:scared:

Any idea how long the skills assessment takes? It's March 8th today. She turns 30 on August 27th. Are we screwed?

nick72

I don't think so..

I am sure IT is assessed by ACS..not sure how long their timelines are.

To qualify as an Applications and Analyst Programmer, you must provide evidence that you write tests and maintain computer programmes to meet the application needs of end-users of computer systems. Specialisations include:

IT Analyst/Implementer
Analyst Programmer
Applications Programmer
Systems Designer
Analyst Designer
Applications Developer

To qualify as a Systems Programmer, you must provide evidence that you write, maintain and update programs which control the overall functioning of computers.

Specialisations include:

Software Programmer
Systems Communications Programmer
Systems Database Programmer
Software Analyst
Software Developer
Systems Engineer
Systems Programmer

My wifes occupation was by the TRA who took about 3 weeks to give us the pass. But it did take like 3 months to get the paperwork together !!

I would suggest an agent is going to help you quickly !!

If you want the number of an agent quickly I can help you and they are pretty cheap !! You pay in stages too !

Nick

Wendy

It may be an idea to employ an agent just to help you get past the assessment stage. I know there are some that just do either skills asessments or visa applications. This would then cut the fees in half.

gidxg03

Any recommendations for an agency that would just do the assessment stage? I'm emailing gomatilda to see if they will do this for us.

Wendy

Glenn Newton does just assessments, we didn't use him but I have heard good reports. website is :

http://www.alms.com.au/consultancy.htm


Also maybe get in touch with George Lombard as I believe they have IT specialists working for them. Just send him a Private Message or Email
He can be found here on post No 8

http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...70#post3320470

Alan Collett

We do ...

Best regards.

Wendy

Oooh, sorry Alan I forgot you didn't I


To the OP

Alan is very good and definately recommended