Fairie Paula

Hello everyone out there, big fairy hugs and wishes to you all I have a question and I hope it hasn't been asked too many times before but I am new to this post/thread thingy My hubby wants to apply for us to go to Australia on a skilled visa, but we aren't sure whether to use an agent or not. Is it worth all the pennies, or should I just brave the forms myself???? Any advice would be appreciated and in return I will send you lots of lovely fairy kindness

DIMO8

Hi there and welcome ( beware this site is totally addictive)

We are going through an agency as we have peace of mind nothing gets missed...total cost about £3500. I am not sure about doing it independantly, but there will be plenty of guys on here to help.
good luck

Bob

Can't help, but will say, welcome to the board
Do a search if you want to see what other people have said, though I'm sure someone will answer anyway

marysidey

Paula if your circumstances are simple you can do it yourself we did (no decision yet) butthis forum is fab and people are really helpful also depeding on where you live thee may even be a local meet group we had a North west meet last week organised By Ang and it was great evetyone really supported and helped each other so just look at the forms and see if you can do it
good luck what ever you decide best wishes mary

Springo

Hi Paula

Firstly welcome to the site, you will find lots of advice here.

Regarding Agents, it is really down to your own preference, we used an agent because time was not on our side, our application was lodged 2 days before hubbys 45th birthday. We found the skill assessment was hard we applied through the TRA for hubbys trade. The agent was worth every penny just for that.

I would advise you to contact an agent by phone and they will normally give you a rough idea free of charge of your chances for immigration. Then it is entirely down to you.

The opinions on the forum will vary regarding agents. If your particular case is straight forward and you have the time to read all of the info on the DIMIA website (Booklet 6 is a must) then you may feel able to do it yourself.

Hope this has helped.

PS. We have applied for a Skillied sponsored designated area visa (139) and the agents fee came to £995. We used Concept Australia in kent and so far they have been excellent. There will be others recommended ie George Lombard and Alan Colett both have excellent reputations on here.

Julia

Alan Collett

Hello Paula!

In my view it depends on the complexity of your situation, the occupation which requires a skills assessment classification (some are relatively straightforward, others are very challenging), how you feel about dealing with Government people on the other side of the world, etc.

Also, recognise that this forum is excellent as a support mechanism for those who go for it unrepresented, but some of the responses can be incorrect factually ...

My view (for what its worth) is that an agent brings expertise and peace of mind in what for most is a life changing decision - albeit for a fee - though there are clearly others on this forum who have achieved the outcome they wanted with no (formal) help from an agent.

Good luck!

bridiej

Hi Paula

We used an agent (George Lombard) to help us with the TRA part.

But we will do the rest ourselves as TRA seems the most difficult part.

Good luck and welcome to the board!!!

mcpraj

do it yourself, the only thing agent does is give u forms to fill.. nothing after that. my agent is straight from venus, with two horns, one eye, and missing brain...

raj

timk

I am using Concept Australia, so far so good.

For me it was essential as the TRA process was a bit daunting and it was not clear which trade I should apply under. Concept took most of the worry out of it for me and hopefully I will get a positive assesment first time.

tim

Alan Collett

Now look, I'm getting a tad annoyed at endless sniping at migration agents.

If that's all your agent is doing you should be looking at yourself - you made the decision to appoint him/her.

Best regards.

mcpraj

Alan,

sorry if this annoyed you, but I am talking about my agent with all the features I mentioned... every business has people from venus as I said, and people from earth like you.. where do you find yourself from, judge..

raj

Alan Collett

Then change your agent Raj ...

@boy

If your situation is relatively straightforward then the application process is simply a matter of attention to detail and double checking all your documentation.
I applied for the skilled visa with my wife back in Jan 2002. We receivedthe visa stamps in our passports 3 months later. We were extremely methodical in checking all our documentation for the application and in following the instructions to the letter and this is definately the reason we had no problem getting it so quickly.

For ref : http://www.austimeline.com/austime/a...yApp.jsp?id=26

Get all your paperwork together and make sure to double and triple check everything before you send in the application.

We are living here 2 years now and have applied for our citizenship status recently for which we have the interview in 2 weeks. Seems like so long ago now that we were just applying for the visa yet in some ways it is like it was only yesterday !

Best of Luck,

B

mcpraj

wish I could terminate him into some unknown planet.. immigration for free..

But, have paid him nearly half the fees already not knowing his hidden features... he calls himself the best in the business.. and prejuly/post july is alien to him, creeper ((

Raj

Rob Morton-Jone

I must say that i am using an agent. That agent being www.gomatilda.com

The service that i have been given for the money i have paid has been second to none.

First of all Glenn Newton who dealt with my TRA skills assessment has been amazing. He helped me put together my entire work history, all now documented and sent to TRA. I am now 99.999 % confident of a positive skills assessment.

Secondly, John Sylvester has been dealing with my visa application. I have sent him many, many e-mails regarding many different issues regarding my application and has replied to every one of those e-mails the same day.

I have been in constant communication with the Go Matilda team who have kept me up to date with every step of the process.

What i am trying to say is that there service has been invaluble and have given my family and I, peace of mind at a very stressful time of our lives.

Its not what you pay, but what service you receive.

Thank you Alan and the team at Go Matilda. We couldnt have got this far without you.

Rob