bignick

Thats a hell of a lot of money. I went through an agent to have my trade recognised which I think was money well spent (the agent charged I think £500 for that bit) - this was about 2 years ago. When I went for the Visa it had all gone on Line and, like you, was going for the 175. If (and it's a big IF) your case is straight forward then I wouldn't bother with an agent, and heres why:

1. I can do it and I hate forms!
2. On line system is Very straight forward (if not a little long)
3. Now that you can scan in forms there is no need for certificates to be notorised.
4.An poor agent can actually be a hinderance - I have seen posts from very upset applicants who are not able to check the progress of there application because the agent won't give login detail and it isn't possible for the to contact the DIAC directly.
5.BE will always be there to help ...They're GGGRRR8888

Cheers

Nick

Alan Collett

I hear what you say, Nick.

A couple of comments:

1. As I noted above, I think you'll find the agent's fee quoted includes charges payable to DIAC and the skills assessment body.

2. What I am seeing and hearing with e-lodgment of general skilled applications is that if all goes smoothly with the processing of the application it is certainly possible to lodge the application without an agent assisting. Problems are though arising with applications not being able to be accessed to attach scanned documents, apparently inappropriate questions (for some) having to be answered in the online application if the application is to proceed to the next page, documents lodged not being capable of being read by case officers, etc.

A quick look at BE will identify the occurrence of these type of issues.

In such situations I suggest that having an agent on board who can communicate these issues to a real person at DIAC can take a lot of stress out of the situation. I dare say some of our clients don't even know these things go on in the background, as we can resolve many of them without having to revert to the client.

Best regards.

Alan Collett

PS, Another issue to consider is that the first 2 digits of a MARA registered agent represent the year of first registration. For example, I was first registered in 2001 (my RMA number is 0102534).

This can (but not always) give an indication of the experience of the agent in matters regarding Australian migration.

Wendy

That's about how much it cost us altogether when we applied a few years back with the Visa Bureau - it was £1900 +VAT for their fee, then the rest was things like the visa application fee, tra etc as Alan has stated previously.

They are both very good so I'm sure whichever you chose will be great.