HELP!!! Use an agent or not??

Just wondering how many used an agent for their Skills Assessment, State Sponsorship and Visa applications . Did anyone do it themselves and is the process easy enough??

Just wondering how many used an agent for their Skills Assessment, State Sponsorship and Visa applications . Did anyone do it themselves and is the process easy enough??

All DIY for us. The skills assessment is the hardest part, the rest is just fairly simple form filling unless you have a complicated personal situation.:wink:

Same as Justin, we did ours ourself and ours was not a straight forward case, just be methodical

Ditto, we did it all ourselves...just follow the guidelines on DIAC, come on here and ask questions and advice where you need to and you will be fine Good luck! x

I would recommend using an agent, especially if you are busy juggling work and day to day life in the UK. It just takes the hassle out of the process and allows you to carry on with your life while someone in the know sorts it all out for you.

I know some people say it is straight forward and they can and have done it all themselves but it depends if you want the hassle or not.

Our agent charged us 1500 quid, which was paid in stages @ 300 per stage. As far as I and my family are concerned it was the best 1500 quid we have and will spend in the whole migration process. We started the process in Jan 2011 and was granted our visa in September 2011.

Our agents are based in Manchester and are called "Concept Australia" Tel: 0161 234 6538. They do also have an office down south in the UK too. The 2 guys in Manchester Martin and Steve were absolutely superb throughout and they know the system inside out. . . . . . . and if I had to do it all over again and knowing what i now know . . . . . .I would definately use an agent again.

Good luck with it all.

Mac

We did it ourselves, and it wasn't hard but it was very time consuming. It helped that I wasn't really working during much of the process sand therefore was able to go to solicitors, post office etc during week days, and also spend my time sifting through years' of paperwork etc. I think it also helps if you are quite confident in your ability to fil the forms in properly, that probably sounds a bit silly, but I know that some people don't.

If you have plenty of time and inclination, do it yourself! Good luck :-)

Just wondering how many used an agent for their Skills Assessment, State Sponsorship and Visa applications . Did anyone do it themselves and is the process easy enough??

hi

we(i mean my wife, iam terrible!!) did all the application form. it was quite straight forward once we got our head around it. we lodged our app 5/5/11 ,visa grant 25/10/11 for 175 visa.

it was easier for us as my wife's family moved to perth a few years back so they could give us all the relevant info/advice etc.

we are glad we didnt fork out for an agent now but everyones situation is different.

hope this helps.

good luck.

I have used an agent and have mixed feelings Yes my visa application has been filled in by someone who has done it before, I didn't have to get everything certified and they told me how to format letters and stuff but nothing you can't find on the site.

Once I got a CO they still asked for extra info simple things like job refs and so like, where some on here with out agents only got asked for meds and pc to be done.

its all down to you but please, if you do go with an agent go with one recommended on here, as i feel I can't phone my agent and feel i have wasted money using this one. I would use an agent again but one that has a good reputation. Pm me if you need to know who i went with.

Ditto, we did it all ourselves...just follow the guidelines on DIAC, come on here and ask questions and advice where you need to and you will be fine Good luck! x

http://www.immi.gov.au/visas/migration-agents/_pdf/information-migration-agents-operating-outside-australia.pdf

The Visa Wizard makes no recommendation as to which visa is appropriate for you or whether you would be granted any visa. You may be eligible for visas other than those displayed by the Visa Wizard. The Visa Wizard is not a substitute for your own judgment, own enquiries and/or independent advice. The Commonwealth of Australia does not guarantee the accuracy, currency or completeness of any material in the Visa Wizard.

The Commonwealth of Australia does not accept any responsibility or liability arising from or connected to the material in the Visa Wizard or any reliance upon the Visa Wizard, whether or not caused by the negligence of the Commonwealth or its agents. For the conditions of use and full disclaimer for this site please refer to Copyright & Disclaimer.

We enroled a company called Visa Bureau to help us, they were fab and it was well worth the money to have the peace of mind that someone 'in the know' checked everything before it was submitted. If i had my time again and despite spending millions of hours on here since,lol,, i would still have an agent help with everything.

Cal x

I used Visa Bureau and i would recommend them to anyone. We have a lot of members who go the DIY route and have no problems, We also have members who post on here in panic when things go wrong and visas are declined.

It is a personal choice you have to make depending on how confident you feel about going down the DIY route.

http://www.immi.gov.au/visas/migration-agents/_pdf/information-migration-agents-operating-outside-australia.pdf

 

The Visa Wizard makes no recommendation as to which visa is appropriate for you or whether you would be granted any visa. You may be eligible for visas other than those displayed by the Visa Wizard. The Visa Wizard is not a substitute for your own judgment, own enquiries and/or independent advice. The Commonwealth of Australia does not guarantee the accuracy, currency or completeness of any material in the Visa Wizard.

 

The Commonwealth of Australia does not accept any responsibility or liability arising from or connected to the material in the Visa Wizard or any reliance upon the Visa Wizard, whether or not caused by the negligence of the Commonwealth or its agents. For the conditions of use and full disclaimer for this site please refer to Copyright & Disclaimer.

That's why I referred to also asking questions on here...I am only giving advice based on what I think, based on my experience. I used the DIAC site and this one and managed fine. The hardest part is gathering evidence which you have to do, agent or not. In my opinion, it depends on how straightforward your situation is, but if it's not too complicated you can probably work out whether you meet the criteria for the skills assessment and visa ang go from there. So many others have.

That's why I referred to also asking questions on here...I am only giving advice based on what I think, based on my experience. I used the DIAC site and this one and managed fine. The hardest part is gathering evidence which you have to do, agent or not. In my opinion, it depends on how straightforward your situation is, but if it's not too complicated you can probably work out whether you meet the criteria for the skills assessment and visa ang go from there. So many others have.

Not surprising he posted that bearing in mind he IS an agent ! :laugh:

Like you said the visa wizard is a great start to see what MAY be available. You just have to trawl through the rest to check you meet the criteria.

Evidence gathering is key and no matter what you pay an agent they can't do this for you. I did get a quote for doing my TRA app but all the agent was going to do was look through it to see if I'd missed anything for £300 - one heck of an hourly rate !

End of the day it's personal choice whether to use an agent................but if you do go DIY we are all happy to try to give our unprofessional guidance for free !:wink:

Not surprising he posted that bearing in mind he IS an agent ! :laugh:

Like you said the visa wizard is a great start to see what MAY be available. You just have to trawl through the rest to check you meet the criteria.

Evidence gathering is key and no matter what you pay an agent they can't do this for you. I did get a quote for doing my TRA app but all the agent was going to do was look through it to see if I'd missed anything for £300 - one heck of an hourly rate !

End of the day it's personal choice whether to use an agent................but if you do go DIY we are all happy to try to give our unprofessional guidance for free !:wink:

Lol exactly what I was thinking and very well put...we are all here for support x

Not surprising he posted that bearing in mind he IS an agent ! :laugh:

Like you said the visa wizard is a great start to see what MAY be available. You just have to trawl through the rest to check you meet the criteria.

Evidence gathering is key and no matter what you pay an agent they can't do this for you. I did get a quote for doing my TRA app but all the agent was going to do was look through it to see if I'd missed anything for £300 - one heck of an hourly rate !

End of the day it's personal choice whether to use an agent................but if you do go DIY we are all happy to try to give our unprofessional guidance for free !:wink:

You can have as many citations many as you want, in which applicants have been stuffed by the DIAC or other 'migration' authorities. Here is a free sample:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/FMCA/2011/832.html

I will bill you only AUD$5 per citation for the first 100 citations (payable in advance) and AUD$2 per citation for the next 1000 citations, payable in advance.

A large percentage of DIAC visa decisions are not reviewable on the merits and of those that are not all are reviewed, or having been reviewed, are not published and therefore most DIAC stuffs up remain hidden; from most people.

All DIY for us.

If you are uncomfortable about applying yourself then you should definitely go for an agent. Otherwise there is plenty of advise on the site here and the visa checklist is actually very detailed.

Two major rules:

1. Do always read the information regarding each part on the DIAC website.

2. Give them what they ask for. The more the better. If you have payslips but no tax return for a recent year provide all the payslips. When they try to assess your skills get comprehensive letters from your employers and former managers, two are better than one. Get all official docs certified, don't try to cut corners on cost or docs and you will be fine.

We are using an agent but we are not happy with them. On being told in February this year that our visa process would be straight forward, I have ended up spending hours of my own time researching and then sending it to the agents as they have not sent me the correct forms.

My husband is an engineer and we were told that he had to complete the AQF - we were then given a form to complete where he ticked what he knows and has worked on to gain enough points. However twice they sent us the wrong form stating that it was suitable to his job role and in fact it was nothing like it and he couldn't score the points required. After spending about 3 hours researching one Sunday morning I found the correct form which was relevant to his job and sent it Monday am to the agents and told them that this was the relevant job role and if this is what we could complete - which turned out to be correct form and he then went on to pass the points.

We have since had to complete the IELTS test to gain extra points as told we required extra points for the visa and we are still waiting for our TRA skills assessment to come back we have been chasing now since August and have been told that there is nothing they can do but to sit and wait.

My husband and I are so tempted to drop our agents and move to another, but with the TRA pending we don't know how is best to proceed and really sceptical about using another agent.

I think its down to personal preference regarding doing it for yourself. The forms we have had to sign which the agent has completed for us, really is not difficult, my 7 year old daughter could have filled in half of them.

DIY, standard, all in inc vetasses it cost us approx £3000. double that for an agent.... oh and you still have to give them all the info.... its not like they come round your house while you cook dinner and go through your stuff and then sit your vetassess test!!!

If they did that then I would use an agent.

Though I should point out my visa is in the pipeline and until it gets approved we will have to wait and see if I made the right choice!!!!