justinoz Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Hi, My Australian wife and I are currently living in the UK, but have just started filling out all the forms for Australian spouse visa, as we are planning on coming back to Oz to settle. We have started to build up a list of questions regarding how to fill out certain things on the forms and rather than trawl through forums, I was wondering if anyone knew of a good lawyer or agent that would give us a consultancy over the phone if we paid. We did the same bringing my wife to the UK and it was a great help. If anyone out there has any recommendations, please let me know. thanks, Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhampa Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 You could try Go Matilda, I'm currently using them and found them to be really good ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted May 30, 2012 Share Posted May 30, 2012 Hi Justin, Go Matilda, George Lombard, Raul and Wesley are all good agents and can be found on here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 mentioning no names!!!! but one of the above won't give free advice!!! Just lost my business, where as one of the others has been more than helpful. PM me will tell you which is which! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 mentioning no names!!!! but one of the above won't give free advice!!! Just lost my business, where as one of the others has been more than helpful. PM me will tell you which is which! Why should they give free advice? They have to earn a living, if they took say ten calls a day from people expecting free advice, that would be a substantial part of the working day gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeD Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 If you are married, have evidence, no serious criminal convictions and no major medical issues then save your money and do it yourself. An agent will just introduce cost, complexity and delay into the whole process. The biggest job is gathering the evidence and getting your friends and family to write statutory declarations. An agent can't do that for you...you still need to rake through drawers and cupboards to find mortgage statements from last year, etc. The Spouse Visa is one of the more straightforward ones to do yourself. @Rupert...why should they give free advice? One did and got a customer because of it. One didn't and and the customer went elsewhere. It's the agent's choice whether to charge or when to start charging, and it's the customer's choice who they decide to use. Each tot heir own and good luck to you all! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nollie Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 hiya, we are doing the spouse visa, i am the aussie and my husband is applying, we are doing it ourselves and not using an agent, as said above this visa is one of the easiest and most straight forward xx good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I totally agree, but several reputable agents who post on here are happy to have a quick chat to point you in the right direction if your case isn't quite straight forward. I only wanted to know if you could register as a couple if you couldn't meet the 12 month criteria due to visa restrictions, and could therefore lodge an application. The phone call only took a few minutes. Have previously used and paid for an agent with no regrets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 @Rupert...why should they give free advice? One did and got a customer because of it. One didn't and and the customer went elsewhere. It's the agent's choice whether to charge or when to start charging, and it's the customer's choice who they decide to use. Each tot heir own and good luck to you all! I am just not sure why people always expect migration agents time free of charge, or why the poster I quoted seemed to find this outrageous. We don't call out a plumber or electrician, ask them to do some bits and bobs fre of charge and then decide if we want to engage them for the whole house. Why should agents be any different? Do you do much work free of charge? :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramot Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 ps I was replying to Rupert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whoiam Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 Try Ingrid at SMS migration-- she is based in Sydney and was more than helpful via email and is very prompt n correspondence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GeorgeD Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 I am just not sure why people always expect migration agents time free of charge, or why the poster I quoted seemed to find this outrageous. We don't call out a plumber or electrician, ask them to do some bits and bobs fre of charge and then decide if we want to engage them for the whole house. Why should agents be any different? Do you do much work free of charge? :wink: As a matter of fact, I work in IT and my company does do some work for new clients free of charge. We use it as a sweetener to establish a relationship and demonstrate the competence of our work. Then we charge for subsequent work and people understand the value they will receive. It's our business model and it works for us. We have plenty of competitors who won't give any advice or assistance without an order or payment up front. That's their commercial decision. I'm not saying we are right and they are wrong, just that different companies in my industry, and clearly in the Migration Agency industry, have different commercial policies, so if a prospective migrant wants to use an agent who will give him some free advice up front then there are agencies out there who will help him. Others will require payment. It may well be that the level of advice or input that you get from a free involvement is much lower than the paid for alternative, but that is the customer's decision on how he values the advice given. If an agent won't give any advice free of charge then that is absolutely their choice, and I've never suggested otherwise! Incidentally, I can think of two law firms in the UK who gave me free advice. Both ended up getting some business from me relating to employment and property matters. Not necessarily because they gave me anything free, but because they seemed interested in working with me first rather than getting a cheque from me beforeI could arrange an appointment. Also, I don't believe the agents who frequent this board are paid anything by PIO to do so. We appreciate and value their input and advice. Should the site start paying for agents to regularly post here? Or would we all hope they continue to offer their advice freely? All advice will be general in nature and not necessarily in as much detail as an individual consultation, but essentially they are not being paid for their expertise. They probably do it mostly out of the goodness of their hearts, but is it useful for them the have their names known around a group of potential customers and be seen to be approachable and helpful? Yes. And it's worth doing it free of charge. So how is this any different to giving free advice or even consultations? It's the idividuals own commercial decision to charge or not charge for their time. To the OP, for relatively straightforward questions, you may find there are a number of people on this board who have been in the same situation, and even agents who frequent here who would offer advice. It's not the same as being on the end of the phone and getting an instant answer, but you may be surprised just how many people can help you. If, however, you have any concerns, by all means work with a Registered Migration Agent on whatever commercial basis the two of you have aagreed between you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fashionably Late Posted May 31, 2012 Share Posted May 31, 2012 George Lombard was brilliant for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Pom Queen Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 It's a tough one but we have found that the companies who do offer free advice are the ones who get more business on the forums. I understand they can't give too much away but if they are helpful then people will look to them when they are ready to use an agent and even if they themselves don't they would happily refer that person because they were kind and helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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