Is anybody applying for immigration without using an agent?

[martynjennings]

We are planning to go it alone and have downloaded the relevant visa application from IMMI.Gov.AU. I was wondering if there is anyone out there who is doing it or has done it. How did you start and where did you get your information from? We have been to Melbourne, Sydney and Perth earlier this year and are very keen to get it right.

[Nelson]

All the information you need and all questions you could think of have answers available on the DIMIA website or on forums such as this one. If your circumstances are straight forward and you are meticulous in your preparation, you should be fine :!: Good luck but RESEARCH is definitely the keyword here We didn't use an agent and didn't encounter any problems at all. Prepare yourself though, the wait it excrutiating :!: Having said that, you will find literally hundreds of people who would say that their agent was worth their weight in gold :shock:

[martynjennings]

Excellent news ta!, we are very realistic and have been to an agent and found the cost is prohibitive at present. we are not looking to move for another 3 years anyway so i thought i can start the ball rolling and take my time so that i get it right. however.... if i win the lottery i think the first phone call would be to the agent!!! until then i am going to fill out the forms myself and seek help from this fabulous resource.

[Alison1967]

We didn't use a agent and the money i saved is paying for the cat to be shipped and her quarantine costs.

It took me longer to get the info together for the skills assessment part than the visa being granted because i either didn't collect college certificates or lost the two i had.
So it took 6 months to get info and skills assessment back and 4 months and 1 day to get visa granted (MODL) because i did meds and pccs two months after lodging the visa.

Good luck with yours

Alison

[ali]

We didn't use an agent, as Alison said the hardest thing was the skills assessment as having qualified years ago the school of nursing no longer existed, so took a couple of months (and lost of emails and phone calls) to get everything together.

If you think there may be problems and your application not straight forward then probably wise to use an agent as I know they've been invaluable to some and probably the difference in getting/not getting the visa. Even not using an agent it'll still cost you a few quid - using an agent may provide you with peace of mind

Ali

[Missiemo]

Hi

We did not use an agent, and 5 months after starting the visa application we are now living in Australia, GO FOR IT, and good luck.


Missiemo

[Pasty]

Hi

We went on our own, not thru an agent and the TRA skills assessment was the hardest bit to do. The visa application kind of mirrors the skills assessment anyway so keep copies of everything. We saved ourselves approx £1500 which has paid for our flights to oz in September. It took from Sept to May for our entire TRA assessment to visa grant and it was worth the wait.

As people have said, all the forms you need are on the DIMIA website and this forum is great for asking any sort of question and getting a sensible answer.

Go for it

Jackie (Mrs Pasty)

[martynjennings]

thanks for all these replies. its very encouraging to know there are plenty of you out there that have achieved the dream.

[abeattie]

Hi,

We did not bother to go through an Agent either, it is good advice to do plenty of research and ask lots of questions, our case was pretty straight forward and it took approx 7 months for us from start to finish.

We are now living the dream in Melbourne 8) and are loving every minute, we would not come home if you paid us, our kids love it here as well Rhys (11 years) and Rhiannon (15 years)

The most important part is to get your skills assessed as without this you wont be going anywhere.

If you need any help feel free to PM me.

What skills are you going to apply under ?

Good luck

Angie & Sean

Originally Posted by martynjennings

thanks for all these replies. its very encouraging to know there are plenty of you out there that have achieved the dream.

[keegsandkell]

We must have pi**ed on a witch. It's took us 3years and £11500 with agents.

All the best

Dave and Penny. :D :D :D :D