CanRoverCome

27 minutes ago, paulhand said:

I think choice of agent goes to many things - but I don't think 'local knowledge' makes a great deal of difference. As Marisa says, the States publish their required skills lists and are generally pleased to engage with anyone. I would certainly look for an agent who works with similar types of client and similar visa types as not everyone handles all visa types. In terms of location, my clients are all over the world, but many do prefer an agent in their time zone, so that they can pick up the phone without planning days ahead or staying up half the night!

Thanks, Paul. Got some good advice on here. I've dropped you some information on our situation through the contact form on your website, btw

7 hours ago, Alan Collett said:

I know Peter - you should be looked after if you decide to go with him.

And sorry we're unable to assist you presently; there's a marked uptick in the number of people wanting to move to Australia.   I'd rather be honest and say we're chockers with visa work than take you on and not deliver a good service.

Best regards.

Thanks, Alan. That's good to know  - No worries about being to busy, the office was very courteous and gave me some recommendations - can't fault that! 

56 minutes ago, Marisawright said:

CanI ask why you think local knowledge will be any help whatsoever?    I'd try Suncoast Migration or Pinoy Australia.  

I assumed that agents with more experienced with WA/NT specific visas would be better placed to advise on them than someone who deals primarily with Australia wide visas or those from other states? I don't mean local knowledge in the geographic sense, but rather an agent who specialises in WA or NT specific migration, given both are quite different economically and in terms of migration catchment to the eastern states.

Hi All,

I was wondering if I could jump on this same thread rather than starting a new one? We're in the process of beginning down the road - still early days, but we've decided we definitely want to go with an agent to make sure we're giving ourselves the best chances and avoiding any heartache.

We're a couple (late 30s/early 40s, no dependents/kids, UK citizens) and are looking at the state sponsored route, with a strong preference for WA (Perth metro) followed by the NT (Darwin/Palmerston) as an alternative. We'd really like an agent with some local knowledge and experience of the WA (or NT) migration landscape so would appreciate the thoughts of the PIO collective on this.

We've approached a few, and so far have been most impressed with Peter Loughton at EasyMigrate, based in Perth, who came back to us addressing our specific concerns and with some recommendations (getting a skills assessment in early). Does anyone have any experience with their services? We've got good vibes, but obviously this is the first time we've used a migration agent, so I'm very aware that I'm probably not a good judge of this!

We also spoke to Northern Immigration in Darwin but weren't terribly impressed - they immediately wanted us to book a $290 Skype consultation, which we feel is unreasonable. This is a big decision, so we think it's fair to be able to share some ideas with  them first to really get a feel for the people we'll be working with before committing.

So if anyone else has worked with Peter I'd really love to hear your story of how it went - and if anyone has any other suggestions for good agents with local WA (or NT) experience, please feel free to share. We did speak to Go Matilda as well (as they have an office here in the UK) but apparently they are logjammed at the moment so aren't taking on new cases.

Thanks for your help!