KLexpat13

We are using ASA group ( the name changed slightly recently) and to say that we are pulling our hair out is an understatement. Nothing is ever clear with what is happening, timelines slip all the time and we get such mixed messages. We paid a fortune to the company a few years ago and only have been able to restart the process this year since my Other half is back at work after taking a sabbatical.

We are only at the point of just sending off our EOI. We have a successful skills assessment back from ACS and a good IELTS result which we were told to do even though we are British citizens. We are applying for State Sponsorship through NSW. This is where I am lost. The migration agent supposedly submitted our EOI back in August and I was chasing them for next steps but only in November I was given NSW forms to fill out and asked to submit the necessary certified copies of documents. Basically I don't trust them and I'm wondering if we should cut our losses and proceed with the rest of the application ourselves to speed things up. We are running out of time as my other half is only contracted to work abroad until July next year so we were hoping our visa would be processed by then. That seems unlikely now.

Can someone please help point me in the right direction on the next steps to take as it doesn't appear to be clear on the general information on the immigration website and some recent guidelines on timelines. Sorry for the long post!

old.sparkles

Some occupation codes have been closed to state sponsorship - what occupation group are you lodging under?

Also, I took IELTS for points - band 7 gets you 10 points, 8 gets 20 points - a british passport will satisfy DIBP's general requirements for English ability but isn't worth any points by itself.

If your occupation is on the SOL you do not need state sponsorship unless you are short of points. If your occupation is on the CSOL and not on the SOL you need state or employer sponsorship. If applying for state sponsorship your occupation also needs to be on their skills list.

SOL - http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/gener...on/pdf/sol.pdf

CSOL - http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/gener...n/pdf/csol.pdf

NSW state site - http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/live-...-and-migration

NSW state occupation list - http://www.business.nsw.gov.au/__dat...ation-List.pdf

General time line info after visa application - http://www.immi.gov.au/about/charter.../visas/8.0.htm

Sorry can't help with ASA

KLexpat13

Thank you for taking the time to reply. The occupation is definitely on the CSOL list and therefore needs the state application. What I'm confused about is the timings of the applications. So EOI is submitted. Does that mean our State Sponsorship should have been sent off straight away?

Processing times for a 190 average 6 months according to that link which is in line with what the agents have told us. Keeping our fingers crossed we can get this all done quickly.

old.sparkles

Only WA currently select people they want to sponsor. For sponsorship by NSW, you will need to apply to them directly, using the EOI number as reference. If they sponsor you, they tell DIBP and your EOI is then selected and an invitation sent to you. You need to check the criteria for your occupation on the NSW site - some occupations ask for a higher level of English, or a minimum number of years of experience. If you fulfil the criteria, you can make an application and all the info should be on the site although your agents can also make the application for you.

I haven't looked at them yet - are they MARA registered?

Bermudashorts

A long time ago, when I started my visa journey I made the error of opting for ASA. I swear had I not been a member of BE at that time and had some facts put straight for me I would still be waiting for my visa now. Misinformation, mistakes, poor service. I fired them and went alone and it made everything a lot easier. Fortunately I opted to pay in stages so only lost the first stage.

Jilliebee

If you put their name into Google the first thing you see are lots of people telling you not to use them :/

KLexpat13

Thanks guys. We have spoken to one of the RMA's today and escalated our issues. We've decided to let them lodge for our NSW application as we've had a promise it will be done tonight but after that stage we will go it alone I think.

I have googled recently and found lots of other poor souls who have used them. They are in the process of being taken over but the new company has had issues with some of the original members of staff. Honestly I'm not sure who to believe but serious balls have been dropped on our visa. We have lost 4 precious months. We're hopeful that it won't affect the end result for us but unless things dramatically improve we will be reporting them to MARA.

We went with them originally after interviewing a few agents because they spoke a good game and a close friend of mine had recommended them as her brother's visa went through very easily. I wonder if it was because it was a family sponsored visa it was a lot more straight forward. They are MARA registered but what a joke. I think finally we have a few people in the company who are vested in seeing this through quickly. If they had put things as succinctly as above to me we wouldn't be in this mess. Its partly my fault for trusting them and being busy with 2 young kids although the whole reason for paying a migration agent was to take the pain away for us.

Onwards and upwards. Thanks everyone! I expect I will be back a lot more now I have found this forum.

AUS 13

First of all, I feel sorry for you as we too unfortunately made the mistake of using ASA/ Amalgamated Solutions Australia or now recently called Australia Visa Solutions for our skilled residency visa.

What a BIG mistake.... We started having problems with them when I was doing my skills assessment. The paperwork ended up sitting in their office for weeks which delayed my skills being assessed. I was advised to pay for the priority processing to ensure i reached a certain deadline which in the end I found out didn't exist...Then there was the whole drama of getting them to eventually lodge my EOI.
They couldn't even lodge my application correctly, it was filled with errors. Luckily enough I picked these mistakes up.

I found their service to be very sloppy and unprofessional, and they were forever giving me incorrect information. Thank goodness I did my own ground work. Without it I doubt I would be sitting here now with my visa. Things got that bad I ended up sacking them and took ownership of the application. That was the best thing I did.
I hired an agent to take away the stress, not to create it. They cost me a lot of money and slowed the whole process down. In hindsight I would have done the whole process myself.

I feel sorry for the people who hired them and lost out on everything because the company went into voluntary liquidation. But yet its the same staff working there and they are still operating from the same address. Hmmm very suspicious, go figure!

No wonder they have now recently changed their name to Australia Visa Solutions. Too many negative reviews on Google!!

So much stuff went wrong I couldn't list everything.

If I was you, I would strongly consider taking over your application. If not proceed with caution!!

KLexpat13

Thanks Aus 13. We sound like we have had very similar experiences unfortunately. I have a timeline of events from them and like you there are huge gaps between them receiving paperwork and lodging the skills assessment and EOI.

They have done our State Sponsorship this week very quickly but I'm afraid that if we do the main visa application through ASA, we'll waste precious weeks we just don't have time for.

How did you take over your application? Was it hard to do? I'm very much inclined to say that we lodge our own main visa application. We have everything pretty much ready for that once we receive and invitation to apply. I'm just trying to get my head around all the possible road blocks now. As you say we employed ASA to do the leg work for us but I'm having to do that now anyway as we don't trust them so it seems pointless having them on board.

I also find the timelines shift all the time and for us to plan we need to be able to gain a better understanding of our best and worst case scenarios. It looks likely that we'll have to job hunt before the PR is through which is no easy task with 457 visas not being easy to get these days.

Trying not to stress and just get all the facts together at the moment. Thanks again. It just gives me more motivation to go it alone despite the monies we have paid to them.

AUS 13

No worries, I will pm you as I don't want to write in on a public forum

AUS 13

Just realised that because I'm a newbie to this forum the administrators have it set up in a way that a member has to have posted more than 3 posts on here before I can send ya a pm. Well heres my third post