gasmainlayer Posted March 30, 2011 Share Posted March 30, 2011 we are going to chester on monday to see The Emmigration group about starting the visa process. does anyone have any views on if they or other companies are worth the money. we believe that the final fees would be approx £4000. Not sure we would get our heads around all the technical info if we didnt use a company. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dawnpepper Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Hi, look we used the Emigration Group and here we are in Perth, WA and have been for the last 16 months. I am sure people on here will tell you to save your money and do it yourself. Myself and my husband were both working full time and had a little one so we decided to use them because I felt I didn't have the time and did not want to make a mistake. If we could turn back time would we use them again and spend the money?..................................Then yes we would. It is a personal choice but not one that we have regretted Dawn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SD_MOA Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 we are going to chester on monday to see The Emmigration group about starting the visa process. does anyone have any views on if they or other companies are worth the money. we believe that the final fees would be approx £4000. Not sure we would get our heads around all the technical info if we didnt use a company. Hello There, Whether to use an agent or not is a personal decision - some are better with paper work than others. My only advice would be to get a couple of quotes from both UK and Australian based agents and then you can make an informed decision. I hope this helps! Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 From my own experience I would say my Agent was not worth the money at all..... If I could do it all over again I would not use them. I guess it does depend on what Visa you are going for, we applied for a Defacto Partner and our agent hasn't really added anything to the process. They told us we had to collate ALL the info (police checks, medical checks etc) before submitting the initial application, but when we look on here people are submitting the initial application and then case workers are assigned who ask them for the other docs as and when they are needed. The 6 months wait times starts from the initial application..... we would have our Visa granted by now if we'd submitted it ourselves!! We've also had to ask our agent to chase the CO and get an ETA for the Visa..... I would have thought he would have been chasing them but they dont, they submit it and sit back and wait!! Maybe we just had a bad experience..... We used Visa Bureau but its £1500 I feel we have wasted. Anyway, Good Luck with your application!! Amy :eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest VickyMel Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 We did a DIY visa and I did all the researching and running around. I enjoy that sort of thing but it took a lot of time and effort to make sure I got everything correct. I was pretty much working for myself at the time and so could take the time to do bits and pieces as they came along. If you put a monetry value on the time you spend doing 'work' you would probably find it worked out cheaper to use an agent. Although you would still be running around getting all the bits and pieces - there would be an experienced person saying do this now and confirming whether what you had done was correct. Would I do it again? yes if I had the time - as I enjoy that type of thing. If I did not have the time to run around - I would use an agent - but after seeing some of the hassle that goes on with agents that have let people down I would be very careful in selecting one that is recommended. (Search the name of any you are thinking about and see what people say about them) Most will give you a free initial run overview - get several overviews and see who you click with. Vicky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasmainlayer Posted March 31, 2011 Author Share Posted March 31, 2011 thank you all for your comments. we will look into some more companies before we finally decide which company to use. as we both work and have a little one to run around after i worry that it could get very stressful (especially for the wife as she would probably do most of the form filling). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tfarrell Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Our visa application was fairly straight forward so I would have to say there would be no way I would pay someone to do it. You have to source all the paperwork yourself anyway so I cant see for the straightforward cases how it would be worth it. The actual online visa application is very easy too. I printed out the paper one and flicked through it.. gives you an idea of whats required. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alofbrighton Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 The worst part for me was having to deal with all the changes to the immigration process over the last couple of years. My occupation has been on, then off, then on the SOL again. I've had to keep up with all the changes which a migration agent should be able to do for you. However I HAVE managed to eventually process my own visa albeit with a few headaches and a lot of time spent. Wouldn't want to go through it again but wouldn't want to pay someone £4000 to do if for me either! It's your choice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SimoneAL Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 The worst part for me was having to deal with all the changes to the immigration process over the last couple of years. My occupation has been on, then off, then on the SOL again. I've had to keep up with all the changes which a migration agent should be able to do for you. However I HAVE managed to eventually process my own visa albeit with a few headaches and a lot of time spent. Wouldn't want to go through it again but wouldn't want to pay someone £4000 to do if for me either! It's your choice. I guess the time available for research and trial&error application is a key factor, such as the cost if you are on a budget. Reading about families that already made it to migrate downunder and after some calculations (not a budget yet), the potential total cost of migrating is horrendous. Things may work out well, of course. But I'd rather have £4000 more to spend or just available for emergencies in the bank once there. Especially with the little ones around. Just my opinion.:wink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mazkinmond5 Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 We used The Emigration Group, and yes the cost was around £3k. We started the process in May 2010 and were told(by some) it would take around 3 years, however we are now at the final stages with no hiccups. I personally believe this was down to the work done by TEG, they are very efficient and I think the Adelaide processing office know that this company are expensive and maybe this adds a little weight to your application(ie if you spent that money you must be serious) only my opinion, but I would recommend TEG to anyone. Here is the process we followed with them- Contact made with TEG 10.05.10 Telephone consultation 25.05.10-£95 Residence assessment (100 pts) achieved 25.05.10 Contract signed 04.06.10 Document certification N/A -£195 Skilled assessment (started) Chef 15.06.10 Skills assessment lodged (TRA) 11.08.10- £595 Federal election taking place-hung parliament 21.08.10 Vic state migration plans approved 03.11.10 State sponsorship applied online 24.11.10 State sponsorship approved 19.01.11 Visa(176) lodged 14.02.11-£1600 CO assigned 09.03.11 Medicals requested 14.03.11- Adult £260 Child £61.55 Police checks requested 14.03.11 £35 per person Once these have been completed (19.04.11) we imagine Visa will be granted not long after (fingers crossed) The costs above are separate the costs for TEG, which were £3190 payable over 6 months. Its an expensive process!!! Total £6395 !!! GRRRRRRR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasmainlayer Posted April 2, 2011 Author Share Posted April 2, 2011 thanks Mazkinmond5, that is very helpful information. really healps us look at the process and obviously the final costings (although the cost have obviously gone up since you applied) we are visiting chester on monday to discuss our options with them so fingers crossed. Will still look into a few other companies costs, so if anyone else out there knows of anyone please feel free to post information, will be most appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mjandmum Posted April 6, 2011 Share Posted April 6, 2011 we are going to chester on monday to see The Emmigration group about starting the visa process. does anyone have any views on if they or other companies are worth the money. we believe that the final fees would be approx £4000. Not sure we would get our heads around all the technical info if we didnt use a company. Hi I'm using a company called 1st Contact who have offices in Oz and the UK. I employed them whilst I was still over there and they charged me $1500 with the actual visa fee on top. I think they were the cheapest we came accross and they offer a 'no visa no fee' guarantee. I think they've given me peace of mind knowing I'd got enough info and evidence and its actually less than you think you might need. That said they failed to forsee an opportunity for us to go straight for a permanent visa so when my CO asked if we had any other evidence to cover a more complicated period, we've had to say no as it would take too much time to collate and submit. But there isn't all that much difference between a temporary and permanent visa and we dont mind it being upgraded in 2 years so really no harm done. Good luck finding someone suitable to help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gasmainlayer Posted April 6, 2011 Author Share Posted April 6, 2011 we visited Chester on Monday and did decide to go ahead with TEG, they appeared to be very helpful. first stage now is the skills assessment for TRA. just waiting for some info now so that we can start compliling the info that they will need. Hope we have made the right decision, but too late now if we have. We have however only agreed to the skills assessment so if we fail or change our minds about using them, then we wont be contracted to them for the whole process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.