shoman

Hi Everyone:
i have been looking into immigrating into Australia for ages and after 4 years of thinking about it i have decided to it and apply for my immigration visa. This seems like a great web page and i was hoping to gather some info from you guys.
I am a 30 year old engineer/scientist and I applying for a skilled independent visa for Australia (i dont have job offer) only for myself.
I went through the points system and i can get 120 ( if i place $100k in Australian bonds).
As my first step, Do you guys think i should get an agent or go through the visa process myself.
cheers

marco121068

The most difficult bit can be the skills assessment unless you can get your qualification easily recognised in Oz (under the Washington Accord for IEAust).

That done it's relatively simple to fill in the forms if there are no complications and you're not an axe murderer with a life threatening disease.

The hardest part is checking, checking and then checking the form just for good measure. Oh yeah - and then the waiting.

ptlabs

http://ptlabs.topcities.com/faq0.html?#basic004

Peter

spalen

You should be fine doing it yourself as Marco said if you're free of criminal convictions (major ones), and medical issues (again major ones) , and you are positive about getting your skills recognised then you're in like flynn. Its not hard to do the visa process - no harder than an A'level at least ;-)

shoman

Thanks Guys,
well it sounds like i may be able to do it myself ( well i have given up now the axe and the rabies has cleared as well).
but if i was to use an agent can you guys recommend one? also how much do agents cost?

flynnyman

i think that was a sign

esku

Shoman, this sounds familiar.
I procrastinated for a few years after coming back from living in Oz for a couple of years, so much so that the work experience I had doesn't count towards points any longer :-(
Any how I started the application in anger in April 2004 on my own, but due to the amount of work required to get my experience recognised by the ACS and lack of motivation I had given up by October, it wasn't until I realised that being 33 and the pass mark being 120, that it was now or never so in April 2005 I engaged an agent. I have found that my motivation level has been maintained by a combination of shelling out lots of money and having someone to email constantly with questions. You still have to do most of it yourself, but that contact certainly helps.
Basically if you know you've got the motivation to do this on your own, go for it, otherwise if you're like me get an agent in to help.

Hope this helps and isn't just noise.

Steve.

wargod

You pay for what you get - but i think an average would be approx £1500-£2500 which would include the visa application (DIMIA) fees and your skills assesment fees.

spalen

haha - don't take it as an indication or guarantee of future success, I accept no liability implied or otherwise for results of your visa application!.

(Good luck though !! haah)