has anyone migrated to oz with out agent

**marie_07** · 23-07-2007, 04:37 PM

if so please could you give us some advice please

kind regards

maria

**peterpan & tinkerbell** · 23-07-2007, 04:49 PM

Hi Maria

I'm in the process of migrating to Oz and me have no agent. I spoke to a few firms to see what it is they were offering and for my situation - not alot - so Im having a go myself and my application was received today. Hoorah! Time will tell if I've been a fool. I personally think it comes down to two main factors:

1. How complicated is your personal situataion.
2. How much time / effort you're preprared to commit.

My application was for just single me and my skills were assessed by a simple certficate. But if your application is not straight forward or you're a busy lady then maybe using an Agent will help you keep focused and momentum. There are loads of clever peeps on here on though and so you can generally sort out any issues via one means or another.

Best of luck and lets us know if you have any specific questions.

Peter

**marie_07** · 23-07-2007, 04:55 PM

[quote=peterpan & tinkerbell;130868]Hi Maria

I'm in the process of migrating to Oz and me have no agent. I spoke to a few firms to see what it is they were offering and for my situation - not alot - so Im having a go myself and my application was received today. Hoorah! Time will tell if I've been a fool. I personally think it comes down to two main factors:

1. How complicated is your personal situataion.
2. How much time / effort you're preprared to commit.

My application was for just single me and my skills were assessed by a simple certficate. But if your application is not straight forward or you're a busy lady then maybe using an Agent will help you keep focused and momentum. There are loads of clever peeps on here on though and so you can generally sort out any issues via one means or another.

Best of luck and lets us know if you have any specific questions.

Peter[/quote

thanks mate for your reply, it just seems so daunting and where to start or contact...marie

**peterpan & tinkerbell** · 23-07-2007, 05:09 PM

I know it seems like a whole mine field when you first start looking but it all becomes a little clearer once you get stuck in. First of all you need to decide on what type of visa is most appropriate for you, given your circumstances. I applied on skilled independent visa, which is quite common and quite a good one to get if possible. You basically need to be under 45 and have an occupation in demand (per the OZ Immigration list) and score 120 points in total via their points system. Which I'm sure you've come across, but can be found on the Australian Immigration website.

Department of Immigration and Citizenship

The tricky bit then is getting your skills assessed by the australian skills assessor that assesses your occupation. Gathering the information for this can be a little painfiul depending on your occupation. Once you have this, you need to complete personal inforamation about yourself and any family members, and apply. Takes approx 6 months all in all.

http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/checklists/136.pdf

Failing that you can go to a Migration Expert who will charge you £1k to £2k and basically ask you for all the information that the forms are asking. I personally can not see how it is much simpler for the applicant as you have to either provide all the info to the Australian Government or to your agent. Its not like the Agent goes trhough all your own files or contacts or your old employers etc.. for references. However the first meeting is free so could to pick their brains for nothing.

Peter

**mandurah** · 23-07-2007, 06:20 PM

Hi there,
we are "going it alone " so as to speak and generally its ok a bit time consuming but that is the general process with ot without an agent. We have had our TRA's passed and am now filling in the visa application. So, as long as you research it's ok. The most daunting thing is filling out which type of visa you want and thats just a case of being bothered to read the website. You could try to apply staright to the state govt that you are interested in then through to DIAC.

**kinglouis** · 23-07-2007, 07:11 PM

Hi, we are just waiting to find out if our application has been passed we did not use an agent, my parents did and they seemed to get issue after issue. Saying that they are over 45 so that may not help, we have been sorting our application since Feb 2007, there is a lot of paperwork however if you have time to give them a good going over they are quite simple, they do tend to ask the same questions in different sections of the visa but if you keep a folder of each stage it is esier to keep track.

good luck hope it goes well

**ANDY101** · 23-07-2007, 07:22 PM

Hi
Following the advice of a 'senior' member of PIO we decided to go it alone. Critical things include:
Taking the time to do the research,
Triple checking every single thing you do,
Planning ahead - requesting documents etc WELL in advance,
Its very rewarding to get it right!
And the kind people on PIO can provide such a wealth of information.....
Good luck, and remember, What you save in agents fees will buy an awful lot of of wine!
Andy