Originally Posted by Dorothy

Many will give a free first consultation. My first question would be "who will be actually doing the work on my application? Will it be the agent or his/her admin person?"

Originally Posted by agejohns

Hi jen he sound good was he a cheap agent because i am looking for a good cheap agent

Originally Posted by Pollyana

You would be better off looking for a good reliable agent as opposed to a cheap one. Cheap may save you money but thats no use if you don't end up with a visa!

Originally Posted by Ozwanderer

You're going to need to decide between NZ and Oz and go with the qualifications assessment for either country, TRA being for Australia only.

I was also going to add - what occupation is it that is on the CSL for if as an electrical engineer, assessment would be via IEA.

However, you may just want to take a deep breath for the Processing Priority FAQ link on Immi What's New Page is no more and that may be significant because changes have been expected any time soon - maybe later today.
http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/gener.../whats-new.htm

Originally Posted by rackcatt

HI
Looking to start TRA , want to use agent as we spent weeks trying to do it , without success.
We went to immigration show in Edinburgh last year, we have decided we want to immigrate, and wish we had started process then, but we had a buisness to close down.
And took all our money with it. Hubby is Aircraft Designer and Electrical aircraft engineer. He is on CSL, with aussie. We loved Kelowna in BC.
Have applied for jobs there without success, and are now looking at AUSSIE AND NEW ZEALAND.
He has had a telephone interview for New Zealand, and we really really want this job. It has given us a push to do something, so dilemma is do we start TRA ? wait and do nothing, and what agent would anyone recommend, we live in ayrshire scotland.

need some tips, or advice, many thanks xxx

Originally Posted by George Lombard

Hi Hector,

The work on your application is typically going to be supervised by an agent working with administrative support - getting a recently registered sole practitioner who works alone might give you the undivided attention of a relatively inexperienced agent flying blind.

Paying for an initial consultation is a bit of a vexed question. I much prefer to charge since my advice is detailed and always impartial. Agents offering a freebie chat might or might not be stringing you a line in order to get something from you, and frankly I'm not aware of any reliable profession where freebie chats are handed out without some sort of underlying commercial agenda.

Cheers,

George Lombard

Originally Posted by JAJ

I will also observe that for skilled visa, most of the actual processing takes place in Australia.

Australian agent fees are also usually GST free to offshore clients.

Originally Posted by hectorafp

That's a very good point, will have to take this into consideration.

I feel I could do most of my visa application myself, but there are a few questions I'd have and some pointers i'd need. Would an agent be prepared to 'partially' help me with my application?