Guest shrek Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Thinking of migrating to Australia from UK but was wondering which migration agency is best to use or if I use one at all. What are your experiences? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Neil Meadowcroft Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 It would all depend on which type of Visa you are applying for? what occupation you do, is this listed on the "Skills Register" etc lots to think about prior to making the move. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest lotte Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Hi, I'm still waiting to get my visa but I have done it without an agent. I may decide that was the wrong idea if my visa doesn't get granted! Basically I got quotes to help me get my skills assessed. The majority of agents wanted around £400 - £600. The next stage, the actually visa application they wanted anywhere between £1000 - £2000. I decided I would do the skills assessment myself, see how that went and then decide. My skills assessment was very straight forward, and I do not know what they could have done that would equal £400. After my skills assessment came back successful I thought I might aswell do the whole lot myself. To be honest, I've found it alright so far. Me and my boyfriend have applied for a SIR visa for South Australia. With police checks and medicals received in Australia, we are hoping we wont have to wait too much longer! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shrek Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 It would help is I posted a bit more information wouldnt it We have made a few prelimary enquiries in applying for the skilled visa, my husband is a boat builder (although without qualification papers) and this occupation is on the skills register. We have no family or contact in Australia and no employer to sponser us. Im thinking this is the best route to take via TRA for assesment, but want to be sure before we start spending too much money. :shock: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Neil Meadowcroft Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Hi Shrek!! We were in the same boat (get it )..... We don’t know anybody in OZ we went on holiday last year and fell in love, my partner works in IT and whilst his job is not listed on the "Skills Register" we managed to get in under IT Manager. This would not have been possible if not for the help of an agent. As part of the route that he took (RPL) this means Recognised Prior Learning and for anybody that has done this route it's a bit of a bugger. He had to get registered with the Australian Computer Society and prove that he has 8 years post experience; he had to compile various documents get references from his previous job etc. With the help of an agent we knew what to put within the main body of the letter so that this would satisfy the Society. I think it all depends on how you think, whilst £400-£600 is a lot of money just for this part of the process we felt that this was the more fundamental part as with out this we could not go any further. I think it also depends on what your job occupation is and to what level this may be needed in OZ I would contact an agent and have a chat about you query this I believe does not cost anything and it may give you reassurance. Best of luck.. PS. Don’t give up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wfourie Posted December 26, 2005 Share Posted December 26, 2005 I think it all depends upon your skills, qualifications and the type of visa you want. Our friends, nurses....have used an agency attached to dept of health and this has been very successful and quick what we achieved in 5 months they did in 3 weeks! Family member has gone direct due to very specialist skill set world wide. We tried for NZ 4 years ago without using an agency and it was headache after headache, very expensive and eventually we gave up! This time for Aus we have used an agency in Aus (much cheaper than UK based agencies) and we cannot fault them. They have been very supportive and we are currently waiting for our perm residence to come through.......we hope! good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest shrek Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 Thanks Wfourie, which one are you using is it asa? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest wfourie Posted January 3, 2006 Share Posted January 3, 2006 http://www.australianmigrationspecialists.com.au/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest MattandSarah Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Hi there. We are also using an agent who have been great so far. ASA have helped us every step of the way. We looked at 'doing it' ourselves but would have fallen on the first hurdle without even really understanding why. My Husband is a recently qualified electrician, but has been working as a electrician for years. After speaking with ASA they suggested that my Hairdressing qualifications and skills would be quicker and give us more points etc. We paid a fee for their full service and I don't regret a penny. We are just doing the waiting bit now. We should know by end of May at the latest. Our plan was to get us both assessed to gain more points, but we were told this was a waste of money and just go on one assessment! Our visa application is for the skilled visa 136. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest choobs Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Hi there. We are also using an agent who have been great so far. ASA have helped us every step of the way. We looked at 'doing it' ourselves but would have fallen on the first hurdle without even really understanding why. My Husband is a recently qualified electrician, but has been working as a electrician for years. After speaking with ASA they suggested that my Hairdressing qualifications and skills would be quicker and give us more points etc. We paid a fee for their full service and I don't regret a penny. We are just doing the waiting bit now. We should know by end of May at the latest. Our plan was to get us both assessed to gain more points, but we were told this was a waste of money and just go on one assessment! Our visa application is for the skilled visa 136. We went with an agency largely because the processing timescales are so long that I didn't want to risk adding another six months on to processessing because of a silly mistake I'd made. We went with Overseas Emigration - http://www.my-oe.com - who are very very good. Choobs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Temptininnit Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Hi wfourie, I have looked on the Department of healh website for information about your friends agency ("Our friends, nurses....have used an agency attached to dept of health and this has been very successful and quick what we achieved in 5 months they did in 3 weeks!") but I can't see the information. Could I ask if you know the contact details for the agency you mentioned? Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest spiritguide Posted April 25, 2006 Share Posted April 25, 2006 Hi all Has anybody ever used "visa plus" or know of somebody who may have Any info greatly appreciated Good luck to everyone spj :roll: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest V&G Posted April 26, 2006 Share Posted April 26, 2006 Hi We're using Jo @ Grist International. Just submitted our TRA but she has been brill so far - very prompt at answering queries (usually within hours!), they have offices in the UK as well as Oz which we found reassuring. Costs seem ok compared to other agents & they offer many extra services such as assisting in sorting our short term rentals, schools, pet transport, connection of utilities etc which we thought would save me some time trawling through internet etc and we just don't have much time in the summer here so its good to know that we'll have someone chasing on our behalf. Could probably have done it ourselves but think that we'll benefit from using Jo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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