Using an agency to obtain a visa?
Mar 8th 2006, 10:58 am
#16
Migration Agent
Joined: May 2002
Location: Offices in Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Geelong (Australia), and Southampton (UK)
Posts: 6,459
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
Not a problem ... AC not offended at all ... 
Best wishes.
Best wishes.
Originally Posted by WendyC
Oooh, sorry Alan I forgot you didn't I 
To the OP
Alan is very good and definately recommended
To the OP
Alan is very good and definately recommended
Mar 8th 2006, 11:04 am
#17
Gold Coast and Loving it.
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Gold Coast !
Posts: 830
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
Originally Posted by 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.
http://www.conceptaustralia.co.uk
Or try Alan at Go Matilda
Nick
Mar 8th 2006, 11:15 am
#18
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Mar 2004
Location: Brisbane
Posts: 1,927
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
We were granted our visas in January this year and we used an agent.
Knowing what I know now, I would probably not bother with an agent and go it alone. However, I didn’t know it at the time and really didn’t have a clue, I hadn’t even discovered this site, so using an agent was no big deal, it was just something I had to do to get my visa.
Without the agent’s advice I would definitively have failed my TRA assessment and for this alone I am glad I spent the money. It’s been said many times before, if you are up on what you need to do and your case is straight forward then go for it; if you are at all worried about the process and don’t think it will run smoothly then consider paying an agent.
Look around at different agents, because we just went for it and I think we probably could have saved money going to a cheaper agent. But at the end of the day, we now have a PR visa and come June we will be sitting on our patio in Queensland drinking a cold one, and the last thing I will be thinking about is how much I paid out to a migration agent.
Knowing what I know now, I would probably not bother with an agent and go it alone. However, I didn’t know it at the time and really didn’t have a clue, I hadn’t even discovered this site, so using an agent was no big deal, it was just something I had to do to get my visa.
Without the agent’s advice I would definitively have failed my TRA assessment and for this alone I am glad I spent the money. It’s been said many times before, if you are up on what you need to do and your case is straight forward then go for it; if you are at all worried about the process and don’t think it will run smoothly then consider paying an agent.
Look around at different agents, because we just went for it and I think we probably could have saved money going to a cheaper agent. But at the end of the day, we now have a PR visa and come June we will be sitting on our patio in Queensland drinking a cold one, and the last thing I will be thinking about is how much I paid out to a migration agent.
Mar 8th 2006, 11:25 am
#19
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: at the bottom of a wine glass
Posts: 28,176
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
Originally Posted by manxfamily
We were granted our visas in January this year and we used an agent.
Knowing what I know now, I would probably not bother with an agent and go it alone. However, I didn’t know it at the time and really didn’t have a clue, I hadn’t even discovered this site, so using an agent was no big deal, it was just something I had to do to get my visa.
Without the agent’s advice I would definitively have failed my TRA assessment and for this alone I am glad I spent the money. It’s been said many times before, if you are up on what you need to do and your case is straight forward then go for it; if you are at all worried about the process and don’t think it will run smoothly then consider paying an agent.
Look around at different agents, because we just went for it and I think we probably could have saved money going to a cheaper agent. But at the end of the day, we now have a PR visa and come June we will be sitting on our patio in Queensland drinking a cold one, and the last thing I will be thinking about is how much I paid out to a migration agent.
Knowing what I know now, I would probably not bother with an agent and go it alone. However, I didn’t know it at the time and really didn’t have a clue, I hadn’t even discovered this site, so using an agent was no big deal, it was just something I had to do to get my visa.
Without the agent’s advice I would definitively have failed my TRA assessment and for this alone I am glad I spent the money. It’s been said many times before, if you are up on what you need to do and your case is straight forward then go for it; if you are at all worried about the process and don’t think it will run smoothly then consider paying an agent.
Look around at different agents, because we just went for it and I think we probably could have saved money going to a cheaper agent. But at the end of the day, we now have a PR visa and come June we will be sitting on our patio in Queensland drinking a cold one, and the last thing I will be thinking about is how much I paid out to a migration agent.
Agree with all of that. Money well spent I think
Mar 8th 2006, 11:38 am
#20
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 304
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
To Alan:
Apologies. This wasn't a rant about GoMatilda. Have nothing but good things to say about them with contact made so far. I'm just wondering if the fees we would have to pay a (any) agency is money well spent. I'm sure you can understand (Don't I feel like an idiot).
Anyway were going to an Oz Expo this weekend. We will then make a decision to A/ Go with agency for skills assessment, B/go with agency for skills assessment and visa application or c/ Go it on our own.
From feedback here I think it's gonna be option B.
Final question is does anyone have any idea how long skills assessment takes?
TIA.
Apologies. This wasn't a rant about GoMatilda. Have nothing but good things to say about them with contact made so far. I'm just wondering if the fees we would have to pay a (any) agency is money well spent. I'm sure you can understand
(Don't I feel like an idiot).Anyway were going to an Oz Expo this weekend. We will then make a decision to A/ Go with agency for skills assessment, B/go with agency for skills assessment and visa application or c/ Go it on our own.
From feedback here I think it's gonna be option B.
Final question is does anyone have any idea how long skills assessment takes?
TIA.
Mar 8th 2006, 11:46 am
#21
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: at the bottom of a wine glass
Posts: 28,176
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
Originally Posted by gidxg03
To Alan:
Apologies. This wasn't a rant about GoMatilda. Have nothing but good things to say about them with contact made so far. I'm just wondering if the fees we would have to pay a (any) agency is money well spent. I'm sure you can understand (Don't I feel like an idiot).
Anyway were going to an Oz Expo this weekend. We will then make a decision to A/ Go with agency for skills assessment, B/go with agency for skills assessment and visa application or c/ Go it on our own.
From feedback here I think it's gonna be option B.
Final question is does anyone have any idea how long skills assessment takes?
TIA.
Apologies. This wasn't a rant about GoMatilda. Have nothing but good things to say about them with contact made so far. I'm just wondering if the fees we would have to pay a (any) agency is money well spent. I'm sure you can understand
(Don't I feel like an idiot).Anyway were going to an Oz Expo this weekend. We will then make a decision to A/ Go with agency for skills assessment, B/go with agency for skills assessment and visa application or c/ Go it on our own.
From feedback here I think it's gonna be option B.
Final question is does anyone have any idea how long skills assessment takes?
TIA.
They can take anything from 2 weeks to 2 months. Most seem to be taking about 4 - 5 weeks. You can check out timelines on www.austimelines.com
Good Luck with whatever you decide to do, and you know where we are if you need us.
Wendy x
Mar 8th 2006, 11:55 am
#22
BE Enthusiast
Thread Starter
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 304
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
Originally Posted by WendyC
They can take anything from 2 weeks to 2 months. Most seem to be taking about 4 - 5 weeks. You can check out timelines on www.austimelines.com
Good Luck with whatever you decide to do, and you know where we are if you need us.
Wendy x
Good Luck with whatever you decide to do, and you know where we are if you need us.
Wendy x
Mar 8th 2006, 12:12 pm
#23
Lost in BE Cyberspace
Joined: Nov 2005
Location: at the bottom of a wine glass
Posts: 28,176
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
Originally Posted by gidxg03
Thank you Wendy and everyone else. Loads more questions... New thread needed me thinks...
Mar 8th 2006, 12:45 pm
#24
BE Forum Addict
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Balmain, Sydney
Posts: 1,194
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
Originally Posted by 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.
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.
I'm sure that we could have done the application alone, the process doesn't appear to be difficult just very time consuming, and that is where the agency have come up trumps for us.
I think we've paid about £1,500 for our agency, but I loose track!
Mar 8th 2006, 12:49 pm
#25
Gold Coast and Loving it.
Joined: Oct 2005
Location: Gold Coast !
Posts: 830
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
Originally Posted by gidxg03
Thank you Wendy and everyone else. Loads more questions... New thread needed me thinks...
We found this site the most informative when we first started out too.
Can only give personal experiences !!
Nick
Mar 8th 2006, 2:35 pm
#26
BE Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2004
Location: Southwest UK
Posts: 825
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
Originally Posted by nick72
Glad we could help !!
We found this site the most informative when we first started out too.
Can only give personal experiences !!
Nick
We found this site the most informative when we first started out too.
Can only give personal experiences !!
Nick
Mar 9th 2006, 2:55 am
#27
Forum Regular
Joined: Dec 2003
Location: Brisbane!
Posts: 209
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
I think I paid around 2k, and yep, I probably did do most of the work myself but they did tell me exactly what to do and came back to me a couple of times to cross mt t's and dot my i's so to speak. I ended up getting my PR in 7 months and to be honest, I was very busy with alot of other things and it gave me confidence to know that a professional was doing it and knew the traps and what can cause delays. Yep, could have done it myself, and hindsight is a beautifulo thing, but no regrets at all using an agent.
If I had to cut costs, I would have done the back end but still used them for the skills assessment, this is where they really helped me. It came through in a matter of weeks.
arrived 2 years this month!
If I had to cut costs, I would have done the back end but still used them for the skills assessment, this is where they really helped me. It came through in a matter of weeks.
arrived 2 years this month!
Originally Posted by Jensen Healey
We paid around £1250 for an initial assessment, Vetassess application, and visa application. Without the agent I think we'd have gone down a very tortuous and possibly non-productive route with the ACS RPL application, wasting time and money, and becoming very frustrated in the process.
Mar 9th 2006, 4:52 am
#28
Guest
Posts: n/a
Re: Using an agency to obtain a visa?
Originally Posted by 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.
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.
I think go matilda's prices are reasonable & the service is excellent.
