Using an Agent....Is it advisable?

Hi

My family are wanting to move to western australia on a skilled migration (my hubby is a driving instructor which is on the skills list for western australia).

Even though it costs a lot of money I don't mind paying an agent if our application will be quicker and more successful. Would you recommend using an agent? If so, can anyone recommend a good one? Also does anyone know the average wage for a driving instructor? I am currently a childminder with level 3 diploma in childcare. Is there work for childminders in western australia?

I would really appreciate any advice.

Thanks

Louise:biggrin:

Hi

I used Visabureau and they were very good. They always kept me well informed especially in regards to deadlines that had been set by immigration or the state and were very clear of what I would need to have in order to have a good chance. Also with them being registered they will only take on your case if you have a reasonable chance of success. They were quite pricey as I think they all are but think I'd have struggled without them. Much quicker that if I had done it all myself.

Hope that helps.

It really depends on your own personal situation, how good you are with negotiating and understanding paperwork, whether you have any issues that could make your application less straight forward, e.g. health, criminal record, more complex work history that falls outside of the norm.... etc

An agent won't automatically make things quicker. We did ours ourselves and were granted very quickly, ahead of all the people on the timeline thread with me who had used agents.

Agents will not improve your chances of getting a visa - the outcome should be the same whether or not you use an agent.

However, agents are likely to have information, advice and experience to hand whereas if you were doing things for yourself you might have to search the web for information. For most people, it is straightforward to do things yourself and using an agent would simply mean paying someone else to fill in a form using the informtion that you tell them - money for old rope. But if you have a complicated case or are unsure of which visa might be right for you then an agent might help.

Agents will not improve your chances of getting a visa - the outcome should be the same whether or not you use an agent.

=> They will if you make a fundamental mistake!

The difficulty in answering the OP's question is that we don't know what she does and doesn't know about their visa strategy, what's involved in that strategy, etc.

Appointing a good agent should give you peace of mind, someone with whom you can discuss technical aspects to the process, an efficiency that doesn't slow the whole exercise - and a reduced risk of wasted money due to a failed application.

Best regards.

Agents will not improve your chances of getting a visa - the outcome should be the same whether or not you use an agent.

 

=> They will if you make a fundamental mistake!

This is not really true. The mistake would have to be so fundamental that you'd have to write demonstrably false and misleading stuff all over the application. The reality is, people sometimes make mistakes like not including enough information or missing out questions. In this case, DIAC will simply contact the applicant and ask for more stuff.

By the same token, if an agent makes a fundamental mistake they will affect the outcome. This is actually more likely since agents are in the habit of telling potentially borderline cases that they won't get a visa - simple because 50-50 cases that go against the applicant will mess up the agent's success statistics.

We get threads on PIO regularly about agents who stuff up. We also get agents who would have you believe that without their help, you're just one slip of the pen away from losing your dream.

I will grant you that in some cases agents can provide information and advice. But their stock in trade of charging thousands of pounds to fill in straightforward forms runs the risk of preying on people's misplaced fear. Plus, if you can't fill in a form yourself you have no hope of surviving everyday life in Australia

This is not really true. The mistake would have to be so fundamental that you'd have to write demonstrably false and misleading stuff all over the application. The reality is, people sometimes make mistakes like not including enough information or missing out questions. In this case, DIAC will simply contact the applicant and ask for more stuff.

 

By the same token, if an agent makes a fundamental mistake they will affect the outcome. This is actually more likely since agents are in the habit of telling potentially borderline cases that they won't get a visa - simple because 50-50 cases that go against the applicant will mess up the agent's success statistics.

 

We get threads on PIO regularly about agents who stuff up. We also get agents who would have you believe that without their help, you're just one slip of the pen away from losing your dream.

 

I will grant you that in some cases agents can provide information and advice. But their stock in trade of charging thousands of pounds to fill in straightforward forms runs the risk of preying on people's misplaced fear. Plus, if you can't fill in a form yourself you have no hope of surviving everyday life in Australia

Agree with this,i used an agent because i despise paper work and form filling,but the truth is that even with an agent theres still plenty of it for you to do,i had time constraints,so thats why i used one.

My mate was told by an agent they wouldnt take him on because he wouldnt get a successful AIM assessment as HR manager,he done it himself and DID get a positive AIM assessment

I think with the EOI process it is actually easier to make a big mistake now that can lead to visa refusal. For example over claiming points by accident, there is one particular education question on the EOI that I have seen several people get wrong and have a visa refused because of it.

Still I know where you are coming from, when I first looked into it, I was under the impression that unless everything was absolutely 100% perfect the visa would be refused and I didn't know that case officers would ask for more information if something was missing.

This is not really true. The mistake would have to be so fundamental that you'd have to write demonstrably false and misleading stuff all over the application. The reality is, people sometimes make mistakes like not including enough information or missing out questions. In this case, DIAC will simply contact the applicant and ask for more stuff.

=> Sorry: not correct. You haven't seen some of the consequences of applications lodged by unrepresented applicants.

If you make a points claim on an EoI, get an invitation, pay the Visa Application Charge - now a per applicant charge remember - and the case officer then disagrees with your assessment of points (eg skilled work experience) your application will be refused.

In that circumstance at best you will be asked to withdraw your application. At worst you lose the VAC, and maybe the chance to apply again, particularly if a key date has passed (eg a birthday).

If you are comfortable to roll the dice with all of this in mind - that's great: you will indeed save the fees of a migration agent. But the risk and consequences of an adverse visa decision should also be factored into the decision about whether or not to take professional advice.

Best regards.

My mate was told by an agent they wouldnt take him on because he wouldnt get a successful AIM assessment as HR manager,he done it himself and DID get a positive AIM assessment

Wow! YOur mate is the first person I have ever heard of getting a successful AIM HR manager assessment. I am a senior HR Leader have been HR Director, Head of European HR and HR Manager for 15 years and I did the AIM HRM myself but failed it as I wasn't managing 3 other managers beneath me, I only managed 2 managers! Well done to your mate!!

To OP we are doing the application ourselves, lots of form filling but if you research everything and double check everything you will be ok. This website is invaluable for advice and helping you to work out what you have to do, etc. Best wishes Carmel

By the same token, if an agent makes a fundamental mistake they will affect the outcome. This is actually more likely since agents are in the habit of telling potentially borderline cases that they won't get a visa - simple because 50-50 cases that go against the applicant will mess up the agent's success statistics.

=> I don't think advisors are particularly concerned about success statistics, unless it is a marketing exercise you are alluding to (eg "we have a 100% success rate").

We're generally happy to take instructions from individuals who have what you might call a borderline case and to bring together a well structured and documented application, so long as a client is acknowledging the risk issues - informed consent, if you like.

Best regards.

Wow! YOur mate is the first person I have ever heard of getting a successful AIM HR manager assessment. I am a senior HR Leader have been HR Director, Head of European HR and HR Manager for 15 years and I did the AIM HRM myself but failed it as I wasn't managing 3 other managers beneath me, I only managed 2 managers! Well done to your mate!!

 

To OP we are doing the application ourselves, lots of form filling but if you research everything and double check everything you will be ok. This website is invaluable for advice and helping you to work out what you have to do, etc. Best wishes Carmel

Thats not the best bit,i think he had to have 5 references/statements from employers? one of them was from a fellah he had been working for as a relief teacher! nothing to do with HR,im still staggered he got it,he's been on the cabs for years!

It really depends on your situation. We went with an agent as I was heavily pregnant and the thought of dealing with it with a new baby etc. but really wish I had done it myself. Agent forgot to send off our payslips for skills assessment so had to pay again for it. luckily it was before the price increase.

We still have a hell of a lot of paperwork and really wonder what on earth agents actually do as iv seems iv been doing all the work anyway. I told them about the price increase for July etc and the only thing they seem to do is upload documents and advise us if they receive a letter or now.

Can't get money back so sticking with them now.

If you do the research involved and make sure you send off everything including more that needed for proof of documents earnings qualifications experience and pay then it should be fine. Also you can always ask ppl on this forum

Good luck

Thats not the best bit,i think he had to have 5 references/statements from employers? one of them was from a fellah he had been working for as a relief teacher! nothing to do with HR,im still staggered he got it,he's been on the cabs for years!

Wow!!Well done for your mate though :biggrin:

Wow!! Well done for your mate though :biggrin:

Well obviously im happy for him,but he would be absolutely useless in a HR role!

Then theres the likes of you not getting AIM who is obviously way up to your job,it beggars belief tbh mate

It really depends on your situation. We went with an agent as I was heavily pregnant and the thought of dealing with it with a new baby etc. but really wish I had done it myself. Agent forgot to send off our payslips for skills assessment so had to pay again for it. luckily it was before the price increase.

We still have a hell of a lot of paperwork and really wonder what on earth agents actually do as iv seems iv been doing all the work anyway. I told them about the price increase for July etc and the only thing they seem to do is upload documents and advise us if they receive a letter or now.

Can't get money back so sticking with them now.

 

If you do the research involved and make sure you send off everything including more that needed for proof of documents earnings qualifications experience and pay then it should be fine. Also you can always ask ppl on this forum

 

Good luck

we have an agent but we feel as though we have done a lot of the paperwork ourselves and we find its us chasing them up with phone calls rather than them making a scheduled phone call to us. they are useful if you do happen to have a complex case (although we dont feel we have a complex case) we just went with them for the security that if something did come up that was untoward, that at least we would have them to help sort it out. We have felt like pulling out and demanding our money back several times but we dont need the added stress and paperwork on top of trying to get a visa! The agents fees are paid in full so we are sticking with them!

hi,

we had quite a complicated case and tbh if not for our brilliant case worker at visa bureau would probably not have gotten as far as we have (currently waiting for an ita on a 189 )

it was getting the correct academic transcripts etc ( I qualified 11 years ago ) that was difficult but our ma pushed in the right direction and had suggestions when we ran in to hurdles .

if we had a straight forward case we probably would have gone it alone but for us they've been worth every penny !

We are the same. Nearly demanded our money back after several situations. Our first case worker was actually sacked so our new one seems to be a lot better and answers my emails and actually calls me or phones me back if I ask her to.

We also paid in full so don't really want anymore stress ontop of things. If anything complex does come up then I'm hoping that they will be able to deal with it but can't imagine that will happen.

Hubby away at moment so not putting in for EOI till September as have heard a lot of them are coming back pretty quickly.

Also gives us a small break from the stress of waiting, paperwork and headaches lol

If you are comfortable to roll the dice with all of this in mind - that's great: you will indeed save the fees of a migration agent. But the risk and consequences of an adverse visa decision should also be factored into the decision about whether or not to take professional advice.

It's a bit disingenuous to portray applying by yourself as 'rolling the dice'. Paying thousands of pounds to an agent can be seen as rolling the dice as well - is that agent up to scratch? You'll only find out they're not when they mess up your application, as many do. Is that agent worth the considerable expense? Ultimately they're managing a process any applicant can manage themselves.

The application process isn't some indecipherable mystery you need to be a registered agent to understand. The guidelines and instructions are all publicly available to anyone and awesome forums like this can be used to check for things which are harder to understand.

Im self-employed and detest paper work with a passion, so the agents fees was money well spent as far as Im concerned

Well obviously im happy for him,but he would be absolutely useless in a HR role!

Then theres the likes of you not getting AIM who is obviously way up to your job,it beggars belief tbh mate

Lol -- the world is a funny place isn't it. Agh I was pissed off at the time as couldn't quite understand how I failed it but I didn't have 3 managers reporting to me -- taught me a valuable lesson to check everything and read everythng 10 times so I don't screw up anything else in our Oz application! If I had read the rules properly I would have seen it expressly said 3 managers -- anyway you live and learn!!

Lol -- the world is a funny place isn't it. Agh I was pissed off at the time as couldn't quite understand how I failed it but I didn't have 3 managers reporting to me -- taught me a valuable lesson to check everything and read everythng 10 times so I don't screw up anything else in our Oz application! If I had read the rules properly I would have seen it expressly said 3 managers -- anyway you live and learn!!

Well good luck anyway,you sound as tho you know your job very well

The application process isn't some indecipherable mystery you need to be a registered agent to understand. The guidelines and instructions are all publicly available to anyone and awesome forums like this can be used to check for things which are harder to understand.

The rules to chess are freely available. That in itself doesn't make you a good player.

The rules to chess are freely available. That in itself doesn't make you a good player.

No, you would need to add to that the competitive spirit and determination to win the prize at stake.

The rules to chess are freely available. That in itself doesn't make you a good player.

Fortunately the visa application process is not a competitive game, it is a simple pass/fail threshold. The forms and process are not intended to trip people up, they are simply a means to gather information to assess whether applicants meet the specified eligibility set out in the law.