LisaandSteve

Hello.

My partner and I are looking at the Skilled Worker Visa. We plan on moving to Alberta. We have contacted David Cohen and been advised that we stand a good chance of getting this Visa.

If you have used David for tis reason, can you offer any advice..both good and bad? How was the process for you? time scales? costs etc..

Any info would be most appreciated.

Cheers
Steve & Lisa

scottymallo

you do not need to use an immigration company for this why have the added cost, fill in the paper work yourself.

debbiem

If you have a straightforward application (ie you are sure you have calculated your points pretty much correctly, and tick all the other application criteria) don't bother using anyone else to fill in the forms for you. Are you really going to pay them thousands for a couple of hours cutting and pasting?

Our application is not straightforward, so we decided to use an agent, and I can honestly say they have brought nothing to the picnic so far except the introduction of delay and the complete removal of any agency of our own lol. (ie the agent took a month to let us know he had received our update letter/ docs request, so we didn't have anywhere near 90 days to get our stuff together (it had to go back to him to be checked, and he had to forward it to London...) and made it by the skin of our teeth). Even if your agent is totally on the ball, you are looking at delays whilst stuff gets couriered backwards and forwards...

Realistically, if you do the application yourself (seriously, it's not rocket science, it's filling in forms and responding when/ if they ask for stuff) then you remain in control of the process. All you are paying a stranger to do, effectively, is receive your mail, cut and paste your info onto the forms (usually incorrectly as they actually don't know you from Adam) and collect your money for the privilege.

If you aren't confident about reading and writing, and have ready cash, sure, get them to do it for you. But honestly? I really wouldn't, unless you know for sure your application is likely to hit a major stumbling block along the way (ie you have a family member with a pre-exisiting medical condition that might fall under burden criteria/ have complicated family circumstances with non-accompanying dependent children/ ex wives/ husbands. ongoing law suits/ criminal records etc etc)

Save Your Money! (You'll need it for landing )

debbiem

But he looks like a nice bloke lol....

JET747

Hello.

I think it has been said many times, unless you have some complicated reasons or money to burn, do it yourself. There are many of us before you on here that are willing to help and all for FREE.

I signed up to Dave Cohen's website a few years back and get newsletters - that's all. But as I looked into it further I heeded the advice of many on here and have got to the end stage on help from here alone.

I am sure that when I first joined this site, somebody commented on the fact that most cases would not be done by the Dave Cohen's of the world, but they pass them onto trainees etc. for them to cut their teeth so to speak.

Rememeber you always have this site and I am sure that there are many people on here that have been through many situations that can help.

JET

T-Pot

I am using Colin Singer, and yes would agree with the above posters that doing it yourself is entirely possible. I chose to use an agent at the time because I hadn't a clue what I was doing and had no-one to ask, not having discovered BE at that time. Thankfully they have not charged me extortionate amounts of money, unlike some other 'agents' used by other posters here.

TBH they will not be able to help you any more than the lovely bods on this site who are, or who have done, the same thing as you are planning to do (that doesn't seem like good English... I hope you understood).

Good luck with yuor application, however you decide to do it.

LisaandSteve

Thanks for your advice folks. Most appreciated.
Yeah think your right now you've put it in to that context.

We plan on having a verbal chat first to make sure it is worth submitting.

Will let everyone know where we stand as we progress.

Cheers

Steve and Lisa

Oink

Don't use Stan Smith, I used him and he knows nothing about work visas to Canada, it was a complete waste of time and money.

rubberduckofdeath

I was looking in to using them and found their communication utterly useless (didn't reply to emails, didn't return phone calls etc). In addition, one of the people I spoke to in their office was downright rude. I'm going to do our application and avoid the use of a 'consultant'.