migration agents

[gary cr]

can anyone recommend a migration agent as there are too many to choose from

[pablo]

Concept Australia,manchester and Kent,fees are £1700 a cpl i think,staged payments,meds etc extra obv

[garyupnorth]

go matilda was very good. Alan is on here quite often and his advice is very good.

[wrussell]

can anyone recommend a migration agent as there are too many to choose from

 

All the Registered Migration Agents who regularly post on this forum are OK.

[oldun]

I am using Go Matilda and have found (and still find) them to be excellent (advice, communication etc).

[Guest GeorgeD]

can anyone recommend a migration agent as there are too many to choose from

 

What sort of visa are you looking to apply for? Are there any issues you think might cause you problems? Some agents specialise in particular visa areas or have more experience of medical/criminal issues, etc.

 

As wrussell said, any of the agents who post regularly on PIO will be able to help you.

[clough2387]

I am also looking for an agent, I applying for the skilled independent visa as a plumber, so will have to go threw vetasses or tra. So If anybody had done the same and recomends somebody i would apreciate it

[path2aus]

Another vote for Go Matilda. They were brilliant when I applied couple of years back.

[RobRedpath]

im a plumber / heating engineer and Go Matilda have just lodged my 189 defacto visa for me, its not cheap but iv found them to be excellent so far with help and responding to emails etc

[ausHWC]

Hey Guys N Girls,

 

We are in the same boat, looking for a good reliable agent. Can you give us ideas of what the costs are like for comparisons. We are totally new to this and hope to be in Australia by next year November. Starting the Visa application once we have a good agent.

Of topic has anyone ever done it without an agent? and is it recommended?

 

Cheers all :biggrin:

[Adam Grey]

Hi ausHWC,

 

The office of the MARA will give you a rough guide to the average fees charged https://www.mara.gov.au/using-an-agent/working-with-your-agent/agent-fees/

 

Registered Migration Agents are also required under the MARA regulations to provide a written estimate of the fees involved before entering into an agreement with the client, so feel free to look around and obtain quotes. You can search for agents on the MARA register, and there are independent review sites such as www.migrationagentreviews.com where you can read reviews and testimonials.

 

Anyone can make a standard application without the assistance of an agent, but they should be prepared to undertake a lot of research to ensure they meet the relevant requirements for each stage of the process.

 

Hope this helps,

[Beeps]

Hi

 

We used Go Matilda. Fab communication, would highly recommend!

 

 

Joe(carpenter), wife, Kids 16, 13 & 11 Loving life on the Sunshine Coast Oct2013

[ausHWC]

Thanks Adam,

 

Useful links, having read most of the migrationagentreview.com. I think we will definitely use go matilda, no one can fault them :-). Hopefully they wont be too expensive compared to other agents .

[Adam Grey]

Thanks Adam,

 

Useful links, having read most of the migrationagentreview.com. I think we will definitely use go matilda, no one can fault them :-). Hopefully they wont be too expensive compared to other agents .

 

That's exactly why I recommend contacting companies and getting opinions and quotes, then going with whichever you feel most comfortable with. They're a good company with a strong presence on this forum so give them a call and see how you get on.

 

All the best,

[rickandange]

Concept Australia,manchester and Kent,fees are £1700 a cpl i think,staged payments,meds etc extra obv

 

 

We always end up seconding Pablo's comments when anyone asks about agents :biggrin:. Can't praise the fellas at Concept Manchester enough. £1500 fees for us as a couple and worth every penny and then some! :biggrin:

[gaunty]

I'm a plumber/heating engineer. We used Visa Bureau in Fulham. Can't fault them.

 

Thank you Leonie

 

Gaunty

[wrussell]

Hi ausHWC,

 

The office of the MARA will give you a rough guide to the average fees charged https://www.mara.gov.au/using-an-agent/working-with-your-agent/agent-fees/

 

Registered Migration Agents are also required under the MARA regulations to provide a written estimate of the fees involved before entering into an agreement with the client, so feel free to look around and obtain quotes. You can search for agents on the MARA register, and there are independent review sites such as www.migrationagentreviews.com where you can read reviews and testimonials.

 

Anyone can make a standard application without the assistance of an agent, but they should be prepared to undertake a lot of research to ensure they meet the relevant requirements for each stage of the process.

 

Hope this helps,

 

I include this on my service agreements:

 

 

 

WARNING

 

The OMARA is an essentially useless office that is part of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and I have told them so repeatedly. With the stroke of a pen the minister can terminate them all as easily as s/he can terminate a perfectly valid visa application. The OMARA can do nothing about unregistered agents overseas or parliamentarians or DIBP officers who give often incorrect, migration advice in Australia, or education agents who give catastrophically incorrect migration advice under the table. About all the OMARA can do, having received a complaint, is haul a registered migration agent over the coals - after the event. They cannot order repayment of money lost. They can do nothing when the minister (The Terminator) changes the rules in the middle of the game or one of his delegates or ‘designated authorities’ bungles your case. By the way, the ‘average fee’ misinformation published by the OMARA is just that.

 

 

I have sent copies to the OMARA and various ministers.

[Adam Grey]

Why would you add a discreditation of your own regulation authority onto your fee agreements? You jump through hoops to register, pay money to renew, satisfy CPD requirements, abide by the code of conduct, pay more money to maintain a professional library....All to put the MARN at the end of your name. The vast majority of your posts end with "I suggest you consult a Registered Migration Agent" but you're saying that the regulation authority is essentially useless?

 

I strongly disagree. The office of the MARA has the power to strike an agent off the register, which in Australia (and to a lesser degree, outside Australia) would essentially be like losing their business. This threat alone makes the vast majority of agents follow the code of conduct to the letter, which serves to protect clients. The average fee information is very broad but it does at least give an indication of the respective charges and in my experience most agents charge somewhere between those figures.

 

I'd love to obtain registration myself, but can't because I'm not Australian (now that's a tough rule) and have no intention of going there for that purpose. I've studied hard, spend far more time in Legend than I care to, keep up to date with every new regulation, every new process, take CPD and focus on a broad range of visa classes rather than just a select area. I do all this just to help with the administration for the RMAs in our company! We have 4 RMAs, 1 more aiming to complete their registration by April 2014 and we take the code of conduct very seriously.

 

The industry is regulated, yes it has its problems but I don't think you do anyone any favours by discrediting it like that.

[Alan Collett]

Hi Adam.

 

Yes, we go through a number of significant steps to become RMAs, and then have to go through more rigmarole (and costs) each year to maintain our status.

 

Personally I'd allow non-Australians to become RMAs (the present set up is blatant protectionism), but would then implement what I think is the Canadian model - the Department of Immigration wouldn't communicate with any representative of an applicant unless the representative is registered with the Department.

 

By the same token, I can understand Westly's disenchantment with the OMARA - his observations about overseas agents and the inability to sanction them are correct, but would be capable of being overcome by adopting my suggestion.

 

Best regards.

[Adam Grey]

I think enough has been done (particularly in 'western' countries) to warn people about the dangers of using un-registered agents. I'm not saying that they system is perfect, but to say the registration authority is essentially useless while putting so much emphasis on people only speaking to registered agents just doesn't make sense and doesn't help anyone.

[wrussell]

I think enough has been done (particularly in 'western' countries) to warn people about the dangers of using un-registered agents. I'm not saying that they system is perfect, but to say the registration authority is essentially useless while putting so much emphasis on people only speaking to registered agents just doesn't make sense and doesn't help anyone.

 

In my considered opinion the OMARA is not much more than a collection of functionally illiterate parasites. Their various publications are a treasure trove of illiteracies. This follows the best immigration tradition. They draft 2 pages of legislation with 3 pages of explanatory notes in an often futile attempt to explain what they were trying to convey in the 2 pages.

 

I received this from Senator cash.

 

[TABLE=class: MsoNormalTable]

[TR]

[TD] Parliamentarian[/TD]

[TD] Senator the Hon Michaelia Cash[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Name[/TD]

[TD] Mr. Westly Russell[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Telephone (work)[/TD]

[TD] 02 - 98334545[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Telephone (mobile)[/TD]

[TD] 0450291940[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Email[/TD]

[TD] visa@pinoyau.com[/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Address[/TD]

[TD] PO Box 779 Street

St Marys

NSW

1790

Australia [/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD=colspan: 2][/TD]

[/TR]

[TR]

[TD] Question[/TD]

[TD] Your decision about English language testing and migration agent re-registration was welcome. I found it galling that the illiterati could take it upon themselves to impose the dreadful IELTS test on others. I include the following in all my service (costs) agreements: ******************************************************************** WARNING The OMARA is an essentially useless office that is part of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship and I have told them so repeatedly. With the stroke of a pen the minister can terminate them all as easily as s/he can terminate a perfectly valid visa application. The OMARA can do nothing about unregistered agents overseas or parliamentarians or DIBP officers who give often incorrect, migration advice in Australia, or education agents who give catastrophically incorrect migration advice under the table. About all the OMARA can do, having received a complaint, is haul a registered migration agent over the coals - after the event. They cannot order repayment of money lost. They can do nothing when the minister (The Terminator) changes the rules in the middle of the game or one of his delegates or ‘designated authorities’ bungles your case. By the way, the ‘average fee’ misinformation published by the OMARA is just that. ******************************************************************

I should not have to.

The CEO of the OMARA told me that he doesn't know whether the minister has the jurisdiction to do anything about unregistered overseas agents. NZ has pulled the pin on them and so has Canada. Has it been brought to your attention that registered migration agents have their fees undercut by unregistered, unregulated overseas agents who do not have to pay for PII, CPD, professional library, annual re-registration and who do not have to follow a code of conduct? It can be noted that some Australian missions run free CPD courses for unregistered agents and continue to accept visa applications from organisations that have knowingly lodged fraudulent documents.

 

END of file.

 

 

 

 

[/TD]

[/TR]

[/TABLE]