WelcomeIf you are new to Poms In Oz and migrating to Australia or currently living in Australia feel free to say hi to all the other either in or moving to Oz.
Hi Everyone! My Husband, Kids and I are making our 1st enquiries into emigrating to Oz. We've completed an on line assessment through Australia House and have been advised that we have a very good chance of obtaining a skilled worker visa. My question is: Is it best to use a migration specialist to emigrate or can you do it yourself through Australia House, what are the pro's and con's and cost implications? Please help if you can, we are so excited, we're all impossible to live with at the moment!! Thanks, Kirsty, Phil & Boys.
I think it all depends on your situation as to weather people will advise you to use an Agent or not. I did use one and I am glad I did, but mine was a bit complicated with ex husband etc etc... I know it is do-able (is that a real word?) to go it alone as plenty have done so on this site.
I hope it all goes well for you and good luck.
April
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Living in Arundel Hills on the Beautiful Gold Coast
Thanks so much for your quick response, I guess we need to do more research!! Can you give me an idea on cost & timescale that you encountered? Thanks so much.
Hi, we didn't use an agent, but our application was pretty straight forward, also some people use agents because they just want peace of mind and to make sure they don't mess it up. I would always recommend that people consider an agent if their application may be a little more complicated, ex's, stuff coming up on police checks etc.. Go Matilda and Visa bureau spring to mind as having good reputations, Ian Harrop.
Good luck
Ali
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Hiya welcome to poms in oz ,as youve probably gathered from these few replys ,an agent really is a personal and financial choice.Many guys as Ali said go it alone ,but theres a lot of us chickens out there too,lol,,We enrolled visa bureau to help us and never looked back they were great.Go matilda and ian harrop are 2 other popular agents people use,good luck with everything
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Hey there - firstly you are about to make the best decision of your lives coming out here.....definitely not the easiest, but if you accept that you will miss things from the uk and concentrate on what this place offers you'll love it!
As for agents, we had little choice as the money needed for an agent (an extra 1500-2000GBP on top of the application fee was not really an option), so we went it alone. It depends on how comfortable you are with compiling reems oif paperworks and filling in forms. Ours went straight through no problems, having said that we did get our first submission back after 10 days with "REJECTED" stamped on it as the application price had gone up $50 between the time we sent it and the time they received it!!!! They could have asked for the extra $50 instead of giving us a heart attack!!!! Anyway, I have to say I didn't find it too hard, although there is scope to miss things if you are not thorough, so if you can easily afford it, an agent is probably worth the peace of mind. If money is tight then it is do-able, but make sure you read and re-read every paragraph!
Good luck
Last edited by djburgessuk; 30-03-2008 at 04:47 AM.
Reason: typo
I agree it is very much a personal choice, depending on your circumstances.
We did use an Immigration Agent, onshore in Oz. Only had/needed the one appointment and only cost $250. She was very helpful and put our minds at rest about many decisions and options and we were then able to process our own application ourselves with confidence.
