Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

Hi,
Hubbie, me and 2 kids are wanting to emigrate to NZ :) but are unsure if we should go about it by ourselves or use a migration agent?
Just wondered if anyone had used one, their thoughts and what it cost them. We have had a quote of £2250. Not sure if this is good or bad.

Thanks

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

Sounds about normal:eek: Though I have only the experience of what people have quoted on here.

It's a lot of money that could be better spent on plane fares and all the other myriad expenses involved in emigrating. All I can assume they do is fill in the forms for you, tell you what documents are needed and tell you what to do at each of the stages. I cannot think what else they can do:confused: NZIS does not give preference to applications involving advisors so you don't gain anything there.

Most of us on here have done it ourselves. It is not that difficult and if you do choose to do it yourself then we're usually friendly:rofl: and will answer any queries however small:) I understand that it can seem confusing and daunting at first.

http://www.immigration.govt.nz/ will tell you everything you need to know.

Have a look at what you need to do before paying that much money-at least you then know for certain that you don't want to do it yourself;)

Your husband is a farmer I believe

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

We have done it all ourselves. It was very straight forward.

We considered Oz a few years ago but it fell through as my job was taken off the skills shortage list before I got the visa application in. On that occasion we used an agent and found it to be incredibly expensive for not a lot of stuff all of which we could have done ourselves.

So this time we did. It's easy.

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

Thank you so much for your advice :D. I wasn't sure how easy/hard it was applying yourself which is why I though I would ask.

Thank you for the link. Have been on the site quiet a few times. Housework etc suffering :o as when kids are in bed instead of doing it Im glued to the net looking at things.

Yes husband is a farmer. We currently live on his family farm in the Pennines where hes worked the last 10 years. If we are able to get over we plan for him to work for someone for 2/3 years learning the NZ way of farming, making contacts etc then set up on our own.

Thank you again Claire

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

Thanks for the reply. Reassuring to know that it's not too hard. Ideally hoping to be out there Oct/Nov- husband wants to see the last tup sale over here (big thing in farming land :rofl:). Hard part is gonna be getting the job offer we think but he may be coming over in Sept to try and meet farmers and get a job that way :fingerscrossed:

Thank you again, Claire

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

I did ours :) There is much info gathering, which even if you pay an agent, you would have to get all the info together for them anyway. Good luck :)

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

hi all, ive just joined forum, (hubby been on it 4 months) just like 2 back up what boopy is saying. . . . . . . we shelled out £500 for starters with a agent then found this site. . . . . .great find !!!! sacked the agent and did our selves, with the help/advise off people on here. . . . . thanks all !!!

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

:thumbsup: Nosey parker here wants to know 'who's hubby?':rofl:

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

Yes, I remember replying. Farmers are on the ISSL so he will need a job offer first unless you have enough points between you to apply for residency without a job offer. This would mean a work visa to start working. Unless the start date was late enough that you could apply on the SMC.


One thing is that they don't call them tups over here, always rams. My partner who was brought up on a sheep farm didn't know what a tup was even though they do use the phrase tupping time;) And I'm not sure what they'd make of yows even though they're pretty good at mangling their vowels are NZers! Could be a regional thing though...he's from the South Island.

Alston is lovely-always used to make the effort to drive up and through there on the way from my annual visit to the Lakes and to my parents in Co. Durham, far more scenic than the A66:eek:. Usually used to walk along Cow Green and down to the bottom of Cauldron Snout, the dog loved it!

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

333firestorm

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

OP, good on ya. We didn't use an immigration agent and I can only concur with what other posters have written. Although, if someone's background has got a little bit awkward i.e. bankruptcy, a guest of HM government, a health issue etc then an immigration agent might help them navigate around some of those if they were obstacles to getting a visa.

Just one small thing on the farming front. NZ is having a drought presently. I don't know what that will do to future prices of stock or land or to jobs. I accept prices will fluctuate generally.

If you look on trademe.co.nz for jobs sometimes there are agricultural vacancies along with all the other vacancies.

Good luck. Also, New Zealand is gaining an excellent reputation for it's milk which is about to eclipse it's lamb meat sales internationally.

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

No need to use a migration agent unless you have a complicated situation. Just read the rules and online forums and you should be fine. I did it and saved myself heaps of money, plus it went through really quick. Good luck!

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

We did for our LBTV visa but will be doing it ourselves for the WTR visa :fingerscrossed:

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

I am going over next month on a temp visa. The ITA is being sent tomorrow. we did the whole thing on our own.

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

I'm just as nosey :)

whos hubby
 

Oh can't even get my name right ;) not much hope:unsure:

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

We did as I felt our application had "issues" someone with experience of the system could help with. These were related to the timescale we had to sort a visa as we were rapidly running out of time on our WHV's, suitable job category's to look for employment in and apply under, some dubious medical history on my part and the limited time we had available as we were still searching and starting in new jobs having just arrived in WLG.

To be honest we did have a bundle of problems with them however these were eventually sorted out very quickly and professionally once I spoke directly to the right person with the right language about the complaints and compensation tribunal process I was aware of.

Our work visa's were finally sorted less than a week before our existing WHV's ran out, despite promises they would be done way in advance, which caused a lot of stress. EOI however was selected on the first draw we went in to and the residence visa was granted within 3 months of submission once they got their act together and finally submitted it.

Their fees broke down as follows.....
Work visa professional fee $1700 (plus GST@ 15%)
Residence visa Professional fee $3,500 (plus GST@ 15%)

Then the standard government fees....
EOI application lodgement fee $440
Residence application lodgement fee $1,550
Migrant levy $620 ($310 x 2)
Work visa application lodgement fees $460 (230 x 2)

They would have normally taken half the professional fees up front and the remaining at lodgement of the residency application. One of their biggest screw ups was not getting us to sign any form of contract for their services at the outset :rofl: so this put us in a strong position. Given the issues we had, which are too numerous to detail here, they agreed they wouldn't seek payment for anything until we had a decision.

When the time came to pay the bill I was so hacked off with the bad service received, until they pulled their act together, I offered to pay $3k for professional fees (inc GST) and no more. They accepted. :thumbsup: Makes me wish I'd gone in even lower!

Given the situation we were in at the time though with the various uncertainties we had I think $3k is a pretty small price to pay when getting the right decision was going to have such a massive affect our lives moving forward.

Would I recommend them though? NO
Would I use them again? NO
Would I consider using a agency again if required? YES. As has been mentioned if you feel there are factors which make make your case "unusual" I think it's worth it given its such a life changing decision. I suggest holding off some payment to the end as a service quality guarantee and raise and document every mistake they make or delay to the application they cause to haggle on the final price.

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

I should add that the agency we started using turned out to be the same one my new employer had used before to successfully get a couple Brits in over the past few years.

We were unlucky with the advisor we got allocated from the firm who delegated a lot of the work to the new secretary and didn't monitor the progress as he flitted between NZ and OZ.

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

Hi there, good luck with your application! Here's a few links to some agri job sites :-)

Farmright - http://www.farmright.co.nz
Agri Jobs - http://www.fonterra.com/fencepost/jo...uationsvacant/

Re: Did anyone use a migration agent?
 

Thank you