Pinny

Hi Everyone
We are in the process of visa application and would like peoples opinions of Agents for this.
We have started things through the Australia Commission website & it seems to be easy enough and we don't foresee any problems (seems quite self explanatory) but has anybody been turned down doing it themselves.
Is it quicker through an agent?
Cheers
Stuart

grahampaula

Hi , it all depends on persanal cicumstances ,we used an agent as i have had a lot of jobs and needed the help of the agents .
people have done it themselfs and been succesfull and some not . Good luck whichever route you take.

sarahntonygoingtooz

We did, but we had a couple of naughty words on the police check and wanted the reasurrance that our agent gave us!!

cheekivimto07

Hi, we used an agent and we were generally spoon feed the information on what to supply, so this way it is extremely easy to do. Saying that should you all decided to go it alone, there are some wonderful people on here who will guide you through the process, should you get stuck. Either way some people do get refused a visa for all different reasons, im sure if you do a search on here it will give you some insight and that may help you make the decision on whether to use an agent or not.

Good luck on whatever you decide to do.

mad city fan

we did it alone without an agent its hard work but can be done

@boy

If you have a straightforward application and are discplined in your completion of the paperwork then it is no problem to go through the process yourselves. Remember, an agent is no guarantee of a trouble free application process, but they do have the distinct advantage of understanding the process end to end and of all the gotchas that normally trip people up and cause them setbacks. That is what you are paying for.
An analogy - Like getting a qualified tradesman in to do some work in your house, rather than a DIY job. Often when they are finished, you will look at the work and say "I could have done that myself", and just as often you may say "I had no idea it would be such a tricky job" !

We completed the process ourselves without a hitch. It is a lot of paperwork though and you need to be extremely disciplined in your completion and checking of it.


Good Luck with your decision !

tony4563

We have an agent because we want the visa process to go as smoothly as possible. It costs but I think it's money well spent...for us anyway.

sparkleauz

When we were thinking about coming over we considered using an agent but was then advised that it was a waste of money because it was really easy to do it yourself. We had a go and found it very easy. The IMMI website is very good and there is lots of help along the way.

We saved a lot of money doing it ourselves, but it depends on how much time you have. I would say going through an agent would save you a lot of time.

Centurion

The right agent is useful. The wrong agent is costly and a waste of time. Get personal recommendations from others on this board and watch out for anyone who wont work for a completely fixed fee.

MonkeyBoySteve

How do you get to that conclusion?

We also did it alone and found it a very easy process and saved lots of dollars to boot, I think it would have been a longer process using an agent, sending forms back and forth etc..
The hardest part of our process (136 Visa) was getting all the stuff together for the skills assessment, which you still have to do if using an agent anyway.
Even if you think your case is complicated, all the information is out there somewhere, just a few clicks of a mouse away, and the users of this site can be very helpful!

tawkins1

An analogy - Like getting a qualified tradesman in to do some work in your house, rather than a DIY job. Often when they are finished, you will look at the work and say "I could have done that myself", and just as often you may say "I had no idea it would be such a tricky job" !

I did our application myself too! Your analogy is spot on
It can be done yourself, with lots of reading, researching & paperwork to be done, but when you get the visa its great to know you did it!!!!!!
Agents are not a waste of money, they know what they are doing & know how things work, very valuable if you don't have the time or the know how to do the research. I didn't find this site till I had completed my application but it would have made it so much easier if I had. There's loads of info/advice on here if you need it
GOODLUCK!

steveandtina

If your case is straight forward (ie no step kids) you can do it yourself.

We used a agent and so glad we did, they helped us when our meds got held at customs, when ASPC insisted a step child we have no contact with have a medical and anything and everything I would have gone mad if it wasn't for our agent (thank you concept australia south) It was the only money well spent in this visa business and when you add up how much everything costs £1500 isn't really that much if you get your visa at the end of it.

Tina x

tiger222

Tina -

I was just reading your signature line. Why don't you have a VISA yet when everything says "met" in January? Is it because of the step child? What does your agent say? What does the CO say?

Sheff_Sparky

same here

steveandtina

Yes it is to do with OH daughter even though the mother done a stat dec stating she wont allow meds ASPC still insisted on one. Our agent went higher that DM and got this waivered last Weds so now they are hoping grant will be this week. Agent emailed from her home yesterday just to let me know she had checked the VEVO site and visa stil wasn't granted (as some times aspc work saturdays). So I'm keeping my fingers crossed

tina x