Guest martynjennings Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Nelson Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 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 :wink: 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: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest martynjennings Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alison1967 Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted June 25, 2006 Share Posted June 25, 2006 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Missiemo Posted June 26, 2006 Share Posted June 26, 2006 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Pasty Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 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) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest martynjennings Posted June 27, 2006 Share Posted June 27, 2006 thanks for all these replies. its very encouraging to know there are plenty of you out there that have achieved the dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest abeattie Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 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 thanks for all these replies. its very encouraging to know there are plenty of you out there that have achieved the dream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest keegsandkell Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 We must have pi**ed on a witch. It's took us 3years and £11500 with agents. All the best Dave and Penny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jenny.morris Posted July 22, 2006 Share Posted July 22, 2006 Hi, I'm Jenny, and my partner's Rob. We're right at the start of the process, and are just about to send in the TRA app (gasfitter). We're going to have a try without an agent first, and see how we get on. To be honest, we're expecting a TRA rejection the first time since although Rob's had full training and is Corgi registered, he's only got 4.5 years experience. We'd heard though that there may be a chance that he could be recognised despite not having 6 years, because of the qualification and the fact that gasfitting's just gone on the MODL list, so figured it might be worth $300 as a gamble (not that we're desperate to go, or anything!!). Does anyone know if a GP counts as a "prominent citizen" to certify copies of things for the application? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Jenny, looking at the list of charges in my doctors surgery for signing a passport etc., it'll probably be cheaper to go to a solicitor. Estimate all the copies of everything you will need for the whole process, TRA, visa application etc., then get out the yellow pages and phone around asking how much they charge to certify documents. Some charge per copy and some a set fee. One quoted me £50, whilst by phoning around, I got about 30 copies done for £20 ali Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jenny.morris Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Thanks Ali - good idea. Looks like that'll be my first job tomorrow morning! Jenny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Alison1967 Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Thanks Ali - good idea. Looks like that'll be my first job tomorrow morning! Jenny Hi Jenny make three copies of everything and shop around solicitor wise. £10 for skills assessment lot for me and £20 for visa and modified skills assessment/nbsaregistration doc plus two items for hubby. Lets face it it goes straight in their pocket not through the books. Good luck with it. Ali Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali Posted July 23, 2006 Share Posted July 23, 2006 Jenny, Don't forget if you've got kids you'll need copies of birth certificates and passports, and also any marriage certificates (if you've been married more that once you need the old ones too) Ali x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bshootz Posted July 26, 2006 Share Posted July 26, 2006 Hi everyone am new to this site and my hubby and i have started the long road to moving to Aus,just down loaded all the forms for the skills assessment and the form filling seems straight forward but the info gathering seems a minefield,we are going it alone to, but have a nursing agent in the background just in case, just seems a BIG hurdle to jump, feel quite worried about it tho, i know it will be worth it in the end. :shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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