Pollyana

Many agents browse the forum, and several post on here - George Lombard, Alan Collett, Westy etc etc
Many DIMA case officers read the forum too - its fame is widespread

CathnPaul

Parh...having read quite a few of your posts at what point did you employ the agent?? from all your previous research on here it looks as though you have done most of the work with what you are applying for etc. I would take the previous note about the agent who considered dropping a case due to negative publicity though.

It may be wise to ring them and find out how the company work with timescales etc. that way you will have some groundrules of how they work...ie how quick their turn around is for things etc. Get it on a more positive keel for you, it will reduce some of the unnecessary stress.

Good Luck. x

Alan Collett

At the risk of being controversial, the flip side is that sometimes clients can expect more than is reasonable ... for example (and I'd be interested to know the views of readers of this thread), how long should a client reasonably expect to wait for a reply to a telephone call? 15 minutes? 6 hours? A couple of days? Does it depend on how busy the agent is?

Similarly, some clients aren't available when the call is returned and don't have an ansaphone.

I remember responding to a similar thread a while ago, when I said that agents who are good at what they do are unlikely to be sitting around with just one client's application on the go. Would clients be happy to pay double the fee so the agent can employ more staff so that in turn all calls are dealt with in (say) less than an hour?

Paying a fee doesn't mean agents are at your beck and call - as I say the good agents are likely to have a fairly significant caseload, and in the general scheme of things it is best to be patient.

No offence intended!

Best regards.

Danny Kay

I understand a lot of what you are saying and people have to be patient but on the flip side of the coin we are paying for a service regardless of how many clients one has and if people kept you informed or even if its just a courtesy call to say yes we no its been 5 months but we will leave it a few more weeks giving reasons why.
They say no news is good news but when its the most important decision you will ever make in your life just a quick call to say we haven't forgot you wouldn't go a miss.
I think people do not realise how stressful this very slow process is until you come to apply yourself.
I think the answer to the above question is how important is it? Everybody who goes through this will say that every query that requires a telephone response is very important to relieve the stress and its another piece required in the jigsaw.
The most favourite word for agents would seem to be PATIENCE and its easy for them to say but very frustrating for the individuals.

Alan Collett

I hear what you say - several years ago I was a migrant to Australia myself and used a migration agent with whom I didn't have a great deal of patience. I will mention no names here ...

This said, as a general rule I'm afraid this is a waiting game. If you trust your agent you will allow him/her to handle the application as he/she thinks is best based on his/her experience. If you aren't comfortable with what you are experiencing change agents or advise the DIMA that you are now handling matters on your own. However, the more able and experienced agents will have an insight that can be valuable, and they are there to provide additional guidance and hopefully an authoritative answer to visa related questions - no matter how good forums such as this are they can't always be relied upon for a correct answer.

For my part (and this isn't meant to be a flag waving exercise for Go Matilda) we aren't in the business of sitting on emails or letters from the Department of Immigration in respect of our clients. I wouldn't expect other agents to do so either - we want to give our clients positive news.

By the same token if agents don't hear anything from the Department it doesn't mean we've forgotten about our clients.

Best regards.

CathnPaul

Alan, One of the questions we asked all agents we initially contact (all 50 of them!!) was what their turnaround time was for dealing with telephone calls and emails etc... some of them didnt have a policy but others mainly said within 48 hours.. the agent we are with said they like to deal with stuff within 48hours...but they tend to get back to us within a few hours.

I agree with you the impatience some may show, but if it was urgent the agent would hopefully make you a priority anyway.

I dont think I would like to pay top wack for someone to answer within an hour, especially as the immi process is sooo long. Its important for us to save as much money for our future as possible and that would be a factor for us.

Hope it has answered your query alan, and likewise hope i havent offended anyone...this is purely personal opinion.