Lauren & Luke Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Good Morning, Thank you for taking the time to read my post. I am new to the site and have been following the different threads (I think that's the right word?) every day, I have to say I have gained so much information already that I would have never known. Thank you! I am just wondering what your thoughts are on using a Migration Agent to help process your visa application. Is it worth the extra cost? How did you find applying for visa's doing it alone? Also if you used a migration agent did you feel like you needed an agent, or do you feel like you could have done it yourself? My husband and I have done an assessment with an agent and he has advised us to apply for a Subclass 189 - Skilled Independent Visa. My husband would be the main applicant. He is a Self Employed Joiner and has been in the trade around 15 years. We have been quoted £2150 + VAT is this reasonable or is it easy enough to do on our own and use the money elsewhere? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you Lauren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsmull87 Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 If you can do the skills assessment then the rest is plain sailing usually. As he’s self employed, getting the experience evidence will be hardest probably but the same evidence you supply for skills assessment will be what you supply on immiaccount. if you are organised and your case is straightforward then there is no reason you couldn’t do it yourself. I managed it your husband probably needs to speak to down under centre to get his assessment and cert first. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsmull87 Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Have a look at this. Might help you decide 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacGyver Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 If you decide to use an agent make sure it's a good one and don't assume MARA registration necessarily means they're good. I would personally stick to the ones that regularly post on this site as they consistently have very positive feedback here. We had a bad experience with a MARA agent not of this site. @Raul Senise saved us making a $7,000 mistake after that experience with a single response/piece of advice (for which we remain extremely thankful and grateful to him). @wrussell is now handling our partner application and has been fantastic from the beginning. I would highly recommend both of the above if you go down that route. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 Yes. No if, no maybe but yes. Look under my user name and you will see if have been helping people with visas for a long time. I myself have had three and then citizenship. In my years on the forum, I have seen far too many people lose lots of money by applying and thinking it was all simple. But, they didn't know they had a issue until the visa was rejected (often with a ban on reapplying and loss of the fee. On an average year, the Oz government passes somewhere between 2000 and 4000 new pieces or amendments to immigration law. The department maybe publish a dozen on the web site. If you fall fould of one that isn't published the department will have zero sympathy as say you should have consulted a registered migration agent. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWMOY04 Posted March 25, 2019 Share Posted March 25, 2019 (edited) Think of it this way... The ENTIRE process of going from one house/2 jobs in UK to one house/2 jobs in Aus (and I have every receipt) cost me, my partner and two small kids just over £15,000. Visas alone were about £4,900something on the day .. that means over £10,000 hung on the balance of me being ABSOLUTELY SURE I filled in every question correctly etc etc... The extra £2,400 for the agent gave me so much more piece of mind that I could focus my energy on things like job interviews... schools... CVs, house hunting...shipping etc As @VERYSTORMY put it: Yes! No if's and's or but's We personally used Immigration2Ozin Surrey... but I've read on here countless positive refferals to @wrussell and @Raul Senise Edited March 25, 2019 by SWMOY04 Hyperlink 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren & Luke Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 8 hours ago, SWMOY04 said: Think of it this way... The ENTIRE process of going from one house/2 jobs in UK to one house/2 jobs in Aus (and I have every receipt) cost me, my partner and two small kids just over £15,000. Visas alone were about £4,900something on the day .. that means over £10,000 hung on the balance of me being ABSOLUTELY SURE I filled in every question correctly etc etc... The extra £2,400 for the agent gave me so much more piece of mind that I could focus my energy on things like job interviews... schools... CVs, house hunting...shipping etc As @VERYSTORMY put it: Yes! No if's and's or but's We personally used Immigration2Ozin Surrey... but I've read on here countless positive refferals to @wrussell and @Raul Senise Thank you for your reply. If I am being honest I am swaying more to the idea of an agent. Although I am very particular I just wouldn't want to jeopardise our chances of obtaining a visa by ticking the wrong box for example. The company you used is the company I spoke to and so far their service has been amazing. I will definitely take a look at the other two people you have recommended - Thank you. How did you find the process of dealing with the agent? Were you kept up to speed with everything? If you had a problems were you told straight away and another solution offered if need be? I think the only part I will struggle with is the waiting times, I like to know there and then ha! But as I read through the forum everyone else is in the same boat. Which visa did you get? And most importantly how are you finding Australia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren & Luke Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 12 hours ago, VERYSTORMY said: Yes. No if, no maybe but yes. Look under my user name and you will see if have been helping people with visas for a long time. I myself have had three and then citizenship. In my years on the forum, I have seen far too many people lose lots of money by applying and thinking it was all simple. But, they didn't know they had a issue until the visa was rejected (often with a ban on reapplying and loss of the fee. On an average year, the Oz government passes somewhere between 2000 and 4000 new pieces or amendments to immigration law. The department maybe publish a dozen on the web site. If you fall fould of one that isn't published the department will have zero sympathy as say you should have consulted a registered migration agent. Thank you very much for your reply. Yeah my friend who is in the process of applying (On her own) has said the government seems to change things quiet a lot and she has said it is an emotional and stressful journey. As I would not be up to speed with the changes or how I would go about finding them out, I think an agent would be our best bet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren & Luke Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 15 hours ago, MacGyver said: If you decide to use an agent make sure it's a good one and don't assume MARA registration necessarily means they're good. I would personally stick to the ones that regularly post on this site as they consistently have very positive feedback here. We had a bad experience with a MARA agent not of this site. @Raul Senise saved us making a $7,000 mistake after that experience with a single response/piece of advice (for which we remain extremely thankful and grateful to him). @wrussell is now handling our partner application and has been fantastic from the beginning. I would highly recommend both of the above if you go down that route. Thank you for your advice, I will definitely take a look at the two people you have recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren & Luke Posted March 26, 2019 Author Share Posted March 26, 2019 18 hours ago, Jsmull87 said: If you can do the skills assessment then the rest is plain sailing usually. As he’s self employed, getting the experience evidence will be hardest probably but the same evidence you supply for skills assessment will be what you supply on immiaccount. if you are organised and your case is straightforward then there is no reason you couldn’t do it yourself. I managed it your husband probably needs to speak to down under centre to get his assessment and cert first. Thank you for taking the time to reply. I have taken a look at the link you provided me and although it does look very straight forward I am worried I ticked a box that I shouldn't have or missed something out and that would jeopardise our chances. I think from the feedback I have been given below an agent is my best bet. I hope your enjoying life down under. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jsmull87 Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 Thank you for taking the time to reply. I have taken a look at the link you provided me and although it does look very straight forward I am worried I ticked a box that I shouldn't have or missed something out and that would jeopardise our chances. I think from the feedback I have been given below an agent is my best bet. I hope your enjoying life down under.I was just showing you what it is like. If you feel using an agent is best then you should do that. Everyone’s situation is different. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWMOY04 Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 (edited) 13 hours ago, Lauren & Luke said: Thank you for your reply. If I am being honest I am swaying more to the idea of an agent. Although I am very particular I just wouldn't want to jeopardise our chances of obtaining a visa by ticking the wrong box for example. The company you used is the company I spoke to and so far their service has been amazing..... How did you find the process of dealing with the agent? Were you kept up to speed with everything? If you had a problems were you told straight away and another solution offered if need be? I think the only part I will struggle with is the waiting times, I like to know there and then ha! But as I read through the forum everyone else is in the same boat. Which visa did you get? And most importantly how are you finding Australia? John and his family/team are brilliant. We only had one mishap and that was early on in the relationship but it was quite quickly resolved... nothing major or worth stressing you about. He had warned us that he has a habit of calling people at dawn to give good news... so when he did call us that fateful day at about 5am... I saw his name on my phone and answered thinking "it cant be...or is it?... its only been 5 months.... dont get too excited...I'm quite possibly dreaming...answer the phone even if its a dream idiot, its about to go to voicemail!" And thats how he broke the news that we got our 189. As far as living here... I wont lie to you... it is VEEEEERY different... theres things I miss about the UK (expediency being a key one)... these guys just take their sweet sweet time... then they have a coffee... then a smoke break... and a posh lunch... then they'll get to your email to tell yoi they have received it and will get back to you... then they have another coffee...which they brew and stir in that plunger kettle for 7 mins straight with 30 second intervals of stirring....its like that EVERYWHERE....Centrelink, work, tradies, Estate Agents...arrrrrggggggghhhhh&h (rant over) Other than that... its great...the weather is quite warm and temperamental here in Melbourne but im not complaining... people are friendly enough.. Job wise, i think you'll find that us Brits seem to work a lot harder (regardless of the industry) simply because we are used to that. Edited March 26, 2019 by SWMOY04 Spellings 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWMOY04 Posted March 26, 2019 Share Posted March 26, 2019 13 hours ago, Lauren & Luke said: How did you find the process of dealing with the agent? Were you kept up to speed with everything? If you had a problems were you told straight away and another solution offered if need be? Definately kept us in the loop... they gave us realistic timescales which in hindsight they were quite conservative... so for example they told us 2 weeks for the EOI... response came back in 24hrs... visa about "7 months or so"... got it in 5 They even advised us not to use my skills but take a chance and use my wifes skills as she was younger and we could get an additional 5 points for that... they advised us AGAINST me doing a skills assesment so that we could get another 5 points... they were right... that saved us another £500-ish just to gain an extra 5 points when they knew that what we had was enough... I'd say they know their stuff... but I only know about our own case...everyone is different 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren & Luke Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 12 hours ago, SWMOY04 said: John and his family/team are brilliant. We only had one mishap and that was early on in the relationship but it was quite quickly resolved... nothing major or worth stressing you about. He had warned us that he has a habit of calling people at dawn to give good news... so when he did call us that fateful day at about 5am... I saw his name on my phone and answered thinking "it cant be...or is it?... its only been 5 months.... dont get too excited...I'm quite possibly dreaming...answer the phone even if its a dream idiot, its about to go to voicemail!" And thats how he broke the news that we got our 189. As far as living here... I wont lie to you... it is VEEEEERY different... theres things I miss about the UK (expediency being a key one)... these guys just take their sweet sweet time... then they have a coffee... then a smoke break... and a posh lunch... then they'll get to your email to tell yoi they have received it and will get back to you... then they have another coffee...which they brew and stir in that plunger kettle for 7 mins straight with 30 second intervals of stirring....its like that EVERYWHERE....Centrelink, work, tradies, Estate Agents...arrrrrggggggghhhhh&h (rant over) Other than that... its great...the weather is quite warm and temperamental here in Melbourne but im not complaining... people are friendly enough.. Job wise, i think you'll find that us Brits seem to work a lot harder (regardless of the industry) simply because we are used to that. Ah thank you for replying - I enjoyed reading your post (I have read it over a few times ) Seems like John knows what he is doing and will find ways to better your chances of getting a visa. I work for a large insurance company (Car & Home) within a technical team. From what I can see my job is not in demand so Luke's would be the one we would apply on. Obviously we understand this can change. At the moment we are tying up some things at home before we get in touch with John. We are hoping to start our process early 2020. I just hope and pray his job will still be in demand. Would you happen to know if we were to obtain a 189 how long we have before we have to set foot on Australian soil once it is granted? Thinking is it maybe worth starting the process now. With the 189 I know after 5 years we would need to apply for a resident return visa (Subclass 157) to stay in Australia as a permanent resident. Once we have the 157 does that mean we wouldn't have to apply for anymore visa's after this and we can stay indefinitely in Australia? After 4 years we would apply for our citizenship. I can't wait to start this journey but I know at times it will be very emotional and stressful. The Oz lifestyle seems to fit us nicely from what you have said but saying that I want everything done yesterday so some adapting is in order I think Did you find it hard or frustrating finding a job? Lauren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starlight7 Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 if you are good at form filling and can read and understand and obey instructions to the letter- don't bother. If you are worried about this or are not confident - do bother. We didn't have one and we also successfully did my Dad's for him and it was easy for us but we are both used to filling out forms and bureaucracy- not everyone is. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacGyver Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 1 hour ago, Lauren & Luke said: At the moment we are tying up some things at home before we get in touch with John. We are hoping to start our process early 2020. I just hope and pray his job will still be in demand. Over many years of browsing this forum, the general rule of thumb seems to be if you are eligible to apply, it is best to go ahead and apply. Without prying into your circumstances too much, if you are eligible and financially able to do so, I would apply now rather than waiting. A long waiting period will follow the application during which time other things can be tied up/dealt with. If/when the visa is granted, you typically have until the expiry of police or health checks (whichever is first) to enter Australia. These checks are valid for 12 months, so how long you have to enter Australia will depend on what stage of the process you complete the checks. Eg if you completed the health checks and the visa was granted 11 months later, you would only have 1 month until you had to enter Australia. If you wait until immigration request the checks (typically the last stage of processing) then you could potentially have 8+ months to enter Australia A good agent will keep you informed of best strategy for this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix16 Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 (edited) From my experience of living here in Australia and seeing how much things have changed in my 10 years here I would say go with an agent, but do your research and get the right agent. That’s just my opinion, but visas were granted like smarties back then and jobs were aplenty. It’s not the same now and as such the visa process has changed massively and become much harder to obtain. Australia has a massive supply (in some professions even an over supply) of its own talent and resources that it can afford to be rather more choosy granting its visas. That’s not to say you won’t get in but I think these days your odds are increased with the knowledge and expertise of an agent to guide you, and a reputable agent won’t take you down the long, stressful and expensive journey of a visa application unless you have a genuine chance of obtaining one xx Edited March 27, 2019 by Phoenix16 Typos 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWMOY04 Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 18 hours ago, Lauren & Luke said: At the moment we are tying up some things at home before we get in touch with John. We are hoping to start our process early 2020. I just hope and pray his job will still be in demand. Would you happen to know if we were to obtain a 189 how long we have before we have to set foot on Australian soil once it is granted? Thinking is it maybe worth starting the process now. yeah, we were in touch with John a good 2 years before we set the ball rolling.... You apply for your visa, then at some point you are informed you have to do your medical tests and police checks... whichever of the two comes back first, you have twelve months from that date to enter Australia for the 1st time... You can make that first trip you only trip (ie, moving) ...or you can use it to "activate" your visa.. (come on holiday and go back to UK to plan the move...activayting has the advantage that you have something like 3-4 years to move without pressure... 18 hours ago, Lauren & Luke said: With the 189 I know after 5 years we would need to apply for a resident return visa (Subclass 157) to stay in Australia as a permanent resident. Once we have the 157 does that mean we wouldn't have to apply for anymore visa's after this and we can stay indefinitely in Australia? I'm not so sure about this as well 18 hours ago, Lauren & Luke said: The Oz lifestyle seems to fit us nicely from what you have said but saying that I want everything done yesterday so some adapting is in order I think Did you find it hard or frustrating finding a job? Finding a Job was easy for me.. I had a couple of offers after skype interviews... I applied for two jobs and was basically recruited for another two (4 jobs in 3 states).... I interviewed for 3 of those four and declined one recruitment... The Frustrating part was my AHPRA registration which took nearly 5 months to process when it was meant to take less than 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SWMOY04 Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 17 hours ago, starlight7 said: if you are good at form filling and can read and understand and obey instructions to the letter- don't bother. If you are worried about this or are not confident - do bother. We didn't have one and we also successfully did my Dad's for him and it was easy for us but we are both used to filling out forms and bureaucracy- not everyone is. This is true... Knowing what I know NOW... I wouldn't use an agent... but that the point...I now Know... there are a few instances where I would have answered sooooo wrongly and jeopardised my application... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welljock Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 20 hours ago, Lauren & Luke said: With the 189 I know after 5 years we would need to apply for a resident return visa (Subclass 157) to stay in Australia as a permanent resident. Once we have the 157 does that mean we wouldn't have to apply for anymore visa's after this and we can stay indefinitely in Australia? After 4 years we would apply for our citizenship. 1 hour ago, SWMOY04 said: I'm not so sure about this as well It's not quite correct, it is your right to enter Australia that expires after 5 years; you can stay indefinitely (permanently) within Australia on the expiry of the 5 years. You only require the RRV after this if you intend to leave and re-enter Australia. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren & Luke Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 Just now, welljock said: It's not quite correct, it is your right to enter Australia that expires after 5 years; you can stay indefinitely (permanently) within Australia on the expiry of the 5 years. You only require the RRV after this if you intend to leave and re-enter Australia. Thank you for clearing that up for me - I thought I may have getting it wrong. I'm glad I asked. So on the 189 after the 5 years would we need to re-apply for another 5 years on the 189 or would it mean if we were to have citizenship then we no longer require a visa? Just trying to get it right in my head. Thank you for replying - We appreciate it Lauren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
welljock Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 You don't need to do anything, the Visa is permanent (unless you want to go in and out of the country), you need to apply get citizenship. If you do get Citizenship you don't require a visa. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lauren & Luke Posted March 28, 2019 Author Share Posted March 28, 2019 3 minutes ago, welljock said: You don't need to do anything, the Visa is permanent (unless you want to go in and out of the country), you need to apply get citizenship. If you do get Citizenship you don't require a visa. Great thank you for clearing that up for me. Lauren Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix16 Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 4 hours ago, SWMOY04 said: This is true... Knowing what I know NOW... I wouldn't use an agent... but that the point...I now Know... there are a few instances where I would have answered sooooo wrongly and jeopardised my application... Fair play to you, but I feel it’s important not to make light of the visa process being ‘easy’ to the extent it just needs competency in form filling, I have posted many many encouraging, optimistic and rose tinted replies to people over the years when they have had negative ‘doom and gloom’ responses (and yours isn’t, that’s not my point), but I don’t think it has ever been this difficult to get a visa and the outlook suggests it will only get more difficult. I admire those who really want to make the move, they have their own reasons and motivations and it’s not for me the question that. However, the reality of being granted the desired visa is so so much more different and difficult to the journey many of us went through and Australia is now a very different country to the one we all arrived in. I truly believe that for those still determined to make the move (and why not, I’m certainly loving my life here....), their best chance of making a successful application and having honest expectations on what It entails to start a new life in today’s Australia then an agent is vital. A genuine MARA agent is bound by many regulations that are based on honesty amongst other things, a genuine agent will not allow you to embark on this process if your chances are very poor, you will get expert advice and be guided through the process based on knowledge and experience you could never match, they know how to present you in the most favourable way they can within the limits of their role and they will do it far better that you ever could. Not too many years ago it possibly was just being able to fill out a form competently, but I think it’s so very different now and whilst an agent might be a cost, it might be the cost of not losing even more money on a rejected visa and actually gaining a visa. Many of us on here can give you advice based on our experiences, but we didn’t face the hurdles you now face so I would advise caution and some perspective on today’s reality of obtaining a visa to live in Australia xxx 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phoenix16 Posted March 28, 2019 Share Posted March 28, 2019 @Lauren & Luke, my best wishes, my post wasn’t meant to sound negative, it’s a wonderful aspiration to want to move to Australia, where ever we live in the world it’s humdrum work all week, jobs, responsibilities, commitments... yada yada!, but OZ is certainly a bonus place to wake up on the weekend even when it’s raining!! Xxxxx 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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