Hi.
we have a meeting with the emigration group, has anyone used these. could anyone give us an idea of how much they were charged by any other agent. the emigration group charge £1995 for full application processing, that does not include prperation of skills assesment, and if successful they want £895 success/completion fee.
we were prepared that it would cost quite a bit but reading past posts this looks a bit more than what other people have payed.
any help/info or recomendations will be very helpfull please.
thanks
kelly :shock:
This sounds quite expensive to me. We are family of 2 adults and 3 kids, 17, 13, 11. Passed our skills asseement last week.
We have an agent their fee is £2100 including vat, this includes them doing the skills assessment, visa application and all other bits including paying for certification of documents at local solicitors.
Extras to be paid for; assessment fee payable to those in Oz checking your skills, visa, medicals and police check.
hi kaye.
thanks for your reply, congratulations on your tra being passed, one hurdle sorted eh!
that was very helpful thank you, i did think it was a bit expensive, they are a large company and thought they would they would be best, maybe not, will go to meeting as we have payed £200 for it and get any info they have but will think about using them twice now, do you mind me asking who you are using, would rather go with a company that is recomended.
good luck with the rest of your application, thanks again
kelly :)
Funnily enough The Emigration Group was our first choice of agent after seeing them advertised around quite a bit but for some reason we changed our minds not sure why we never started the process with them though so never looked at prices. We do get the occassional letter from them.
Can you not get your money back? We were quoted £40 or £50 (memory not that good OH says £40) for our meeting with our now agent free if we signed to them.
We must have spent over 2 hours in the office discussing everything about Australian life he was an ozzy from nsw certainly knew his stuff about the proceedure. We did initially ring them and they rang us back free 20 min consultation on phone advising us of best route I believe this is common practice with most agents.
We know a few people who have used them and all have their visas now so fingers crossed for us.
We are using Overseas Emigration the one we are using is in Edinburgh but there are other offices.
Its a really good website even if you dont use them.
They have been fantastic so far answering all our emails within a day. Never got funny if you ask the simplest of questions even though they must have heard them hundreds of times.
Hi kelly,
Personally I would think twice about using an agent at all. The forms provided by the DIMIA really aren't terribly challenging and the factsheets are generally fairly comprehensive. Are you or hubby on the Occupation in demand list ? If so, it proves easier than you might expect.
Forums such as this one are a massive help (and don't come with a $2000 price tag)
When I first arrived in Australia (as a tourist) I consulted an emigration agent. He told me I'd have to sit an English test (I suspect he command a fee for setting the test up). This I found hilarious given that firstly I AM english and educated to degree level IN ENGLISH. The other thing he told me was that I shouldn't bother trying to get a hospital to sponsor me (I'm a registered nurse ) as this was an extremely long and complicated procedure and I should use his services. It all sounded very suspect, so I researched a little further...
Sure enough I was offered a post immediately by a city hospital who had a temporary visa organised for me within 4 weeks. Then approximately two months later I applied for PR (again sponsored through the hospital) and it took a total of six weeks start to finish before I had PR stamped in my passport.
I'm not saying its always that easy. It was more difficult for my partner (a pilot) and we had to live in a rural area for a while as he could only gain PR through regional sponsorship. But again we managed the process ourselves.
If your case is particularly complex you may benefit from an agent. The important thing to remember is that you have to meet the requirements of DIMIA no matter what, and even the best agent in the world can't change these.
Best of luck,
Lou
Hi Kelly
We are using Ian Harrop and their charges are £1395 ex vat.
We paid $250 for skill assessment with engineers australia
and $2000 approx for visa application,
we also paid a local solicitor for certifying copies, about £3.00 each, and
police checks £10 each, now just our medicals to pay for about another £800 - £1000 i think - we're shopping around at the moment for them.
Dont know how much it all adds up to, I'm to scared to look :(
I confess I have not read the whole thread. It is very late and I must get to bed.
I am not a migration agent but I am a service-provider in a different field. ££2000 to an "expert" for having a bash and another £1000 if they succeed sounds like nonsense to me. If I tried that, my clients would retort, "You're supposed to be an expert, aren't you? Therefore I'm entitled to assume that I will succeed if I use you. Ergo what's with this 30& bonus? Strewth & stroll on!"
hi kelly
I've just had a look at some of your previous posts and i see that your hubby is a carpenter. that is on the occuptaion in demand list. put MODL into google to find it . either ASCO 4411-11 for joiner or 4411-13 for carpenter. Then use DIMIA to look at labour agreements or skilled migration.
I'm not saying DON'T get an agent, but i do suggest that you do some reading on the net and download the application forms just to have a look. I think you'll agree that paying 2000 GBP or more for someone to fill in your name, address and family details is extremely steep when you see how straight forward they are.
What gets my goat is that there are a few agents out there who like to shroud the process with generous amounts of mystery, when in actual fact they have to complete exactly the same forms as you would on your own. You will have to retrieve the information yourself anyway (eg. dates and places of employment) for the agent fill in the forms, so why not do it yourself and save the cash?
2000 quid goes a long way when you convert it into aussie dollars and relocating is never cheap especially when its to the other side of the world.
If you get stuck halfway through the process a reputable agent would still be happy to step in.
thanks guys
i thought that sounded a bit dodgy. i also wondered why i would have to pay a success fee when we would be paying them to be successful in the first place. the reason we looked at them in the first place is because they are everywhere with great big ads so thought they must be good. not any longer!
thanks for your help lou, i will print off all the forms and have a look myself, the thought of all those forms terrifies me but i will give it a go, hope your all on standby when i need your help :?
thanks again everyone
kelly :D
If I may say so, your comments are a gross over simplification of what is involved in the preparation of skills assessment and visa applications - agents often can (and do) add a great deal to the migration process.
Best regards.
Quote:
Originally Posted by luckyhorse
hi kelly
<snip>
I think you'll agree that paying 2000 GBP or more for someone to fill in your name, address and family details is extremely steep when you see how straight forward they are.
What gets my goat is that there are a few agents out there who like to shroud the process with generous amounts of mystery, when in actual fact they have to complete exactly the same forms as you would on your own. You will have to retrieve the information yourself anyway (eg. dates and places of employment) for the agent fill in the forms, so why not do it yourself and save the cash?
<snip>
__________________
Managing Director, Go Matilda, http://www.gomatilda.com
Registered Migration Agent Number 0102534 and Chartered Accountant (England & Wales, and Australia)
Offices in the UK and in Australia
