waynerach

Hi me and my partner are looking at emigrating and are unsure whether to use an agent who charges £2400 for their fees alonr or whether to do the application online ourselves via the immi website.

Any comments or experiences wouldbe much appreciated.

talara

Unless your application is confusing or particularly complicated I'd do it alone. It isn't difficult provided you're happy to spend a bit of time reading the provided information carefully.

SuperC

Hi

I second that!
If it is a straightforward application and you are well organised or happy to look after a bit of paperwork, it's fine.
The most trouble I had was following up on references

daddyoconnor

Hi

I would third that,

We (or should I say I) did it alone. I found that doing it myself things got done a lot quicker (e.g. you are not having to get information too and fro via a third party). Also there is the money side of things - its quite a lot of money to spend out on agents..... although a lot of people have used agents and been glad that they did!!!

As the others have mentioned if you are good with your admin skills and organised and if it is a straightforward enough case I would certainly recommend doing it yourself.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

SD_MOA

Hello There,
As the other posters have stated your personal situation, admin skills and the time you have to dedicate to the process should influence whether an agent is a good idea for you. I would certainly recommend getting a few quotes as the charges you mention are quite high.

Regards

Dorothy

We did our own application and it was fairly easy. My husband's boss was more than happy to help with whatever TRA and DIAC needed as far as references go. I'm a bit strange in that I actually enjoy stuff like filling out forms so found the process pretty easy if not time consuming.

If you have plenty of time to spend and your case is not complicated (step children, criminal record, medical problems, etc) then by all means use the DIAC site www.immi.gov.au and do it yourself. You'll get a wealth of information from here and the DIAC site. And as Stephen says, shop around since the fee you quote does sound like a lot.

waynerach

Thanks for all your messages, i dont think our application is that complicated we dont have any police history or medical history. Im just a bit confused as to what evidence we need for the references and for the TRA as we are aware that this needs to be done before the application is lodges. My partner is a gas fitter and so his job is on the CSL.

ama_jtb

I definitely agree with everyone above. It all depends on your personal situation. Do you have character or health issues? Do you have the time available to research the application process? etc etc

I would suggest getting a few more quotes, that does sound rather expensive.

And of course this forum is an excellent source of information!

Big Man

Hi waynerach

We used a migration agent and I dont think we would have got the visa if we hadnt. She new the best way and we nearly gave up without her advice.

We are flying out in two weeks now we have secured a visa and job.