John and Alexa Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Hi All Firstly, apologies if I have posted this in the wrong area but I would really appreciate other PIO members thoughts & for the long story! We employed an agent to manage our migration application for a 176 visa at the end of February 2011 & we were advised to apply under myself with a skill of Program/Project Administrator with state sponsorship with SA. Fine, I completed all the forms for VetAssess, collated all the required information (employment history, payslips, certifications, IELTS, stat decs etc) & sent to the agent at the beginning of April. Once received, the agent advised they needed some additional information so this was duly collated & posted (express & tracked). Unfortunately, this documentation went missing & took a month to be received. Everything was then put together & we thought it was being processed for the skills assessment. Turned out that it was never processed as the agent was concentrating on the July 1 changes & our case was put on a back burner (even though they kept promising it would be submitted) for 2 months. July 1 changes were now in place & I ended up having to complete a new skills form for VetAssess. For this, I completed a Stat Dec for my current employment (to be used alongside additional documents) to avoid the reference part as I don't want my employer to know yet (just in case they think I won't be applying myself) & an employment I had between 2003 - 2007 (company had been bought by IBM in 2007). When I returned it I got a response from the agent telling me I had not completed important sections (contract negotiations & management) on the stat dec which are key to the program/project admin skill. My response was rather blue & along the lines of I won't lie on a stat dec as it has nothing to do with what I do. I then got sent the ACS forms & RPL to complete with no ANZCO code or explanation on what I was being put forward under. It seems my agent is now having difficulty understanding what I do. Its not the first time I have questioned what skill I should be going under but now they are sending over roles that couldn't be further from my job. I currently work in IT as a senior service technical lead & change management for a Global Application Support Team supporting 3 enterprise applications (18 months). My previous role again was in IT in a global capacity for enterprise application management & support for 4 years. Prior to this I worked with one of the applications I currently support but in a business capacity for 3 years & before that I was a horse riding instructor. I however, do not have a degree, only A-Levels & BTEC in Business Studies. This is their reason for using VetAssess & not ACS as I will be deducted some experience years for not having a degree & that my role has not always been within IT. I am certified in the applications I work with (cloud based CRM Systems/e-Marketing tools/Customer Satisfaction Tools/ Collaboration Tools) & ITIL V3 Foundation certified. I have worked in a support/development/BA capacity for the last 5 1/2 years. From all your experiences & knowledge can anyone advise if there is anything suitable on the SOL?? The agent is being as useful as a chocolate teapot at the moment & the advice is non existence. Direct questions are never answered. It seems they want me to decide what is the correct option without any knowledge of the process. I am now questioning what I am paying a large sum of money for (other than submitting forms). Any thoughts will be gratefully received :spinny: Thanks A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest31881 Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Hi, I have moved your post to the Migration section, hopefully you will get the answers you need on here :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest59177 Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 I'll need your help in order to help you. I need you to go through this page and all the 3 links present here: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/120C5F1F83D1C618CA2575DF002DA64B?opendocument and tell me which occupations match with what you have been doing (details are given on each page; DON'T skim and read from beginning till end). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jamie Smith Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Now you know why many agents don't handle IT related cases, suggest you ask agent for part refund on basis that they were ill equipped to handle your case and use another agent more specialised in IT cases, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John and Alexa Posted November 24, 2011 Author Share Posted November 24, 2011 I'll need your help in order to help you. I need you to go through this page and all the 3 links present here: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/120C5F1F83D1C618CA2575DF002DA64B?opendocument and tell me which occupations match with what you have been doing (details are given on each page; DON'T skim and read from beginning till end). Hiya Thank you for the links. I have read through & currently my role primarily covers the MINOR GROUP 261 BUSINESS AND SYSTEMS ANALYSTS but I also do UNIT GROUP 2632 ICT SUPPORT AND TEST ENGINEERS. If I had to choose one from the skills listed then it would be the Business/System analyst as I can say yes to each task listed (but couldn't say yes to each listed task for ICT Support & Test Engineers overview). It seems I am in an odd position working (& have worked) for large organisations where IT has been centralised, skills are seen as being transferable into other areas when required. Once again, thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John and Alexa Posted November 24, 2011 Author Share Posted November 24, 2011 Now you know why many agents don't handle IT related cases, suggest you ask agent for part refund on basis that they were ill equipped to handle your case and use another agent more specialised in IT cases, Hiya I (we) didn't realise many agents do not handle IT related cases - it is now fairly apparent that ours doesn't seem to. Is it possible to ask for a part refund (they don't seem to have done much work yet)? Thanks A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jamie Smith Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Hiya I (we) didn't realise many agents do not handle IT related cases - it is now fairly apparent that ours doesn't seem to. Is it possible to ask for a part refund (they don't seem to have done much work yet)? Thanks A Well you won't know unless you ask. "Fortune favours the brave" etc. But they did miss a lodgement deadline and that complicated things for you. Maybe suggest that "rather than this case unwinding further and maybe resulting in an official complaint, they are best to release you with a partial refund and keep their reputation intact." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest59177 Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 Hiya Thank you for the links. I have read through & currently my role primarily covers the MINOR GROUP 261 BUSINESS AND SYSTEMS ANALYSTS but I also do UNIT GROUP 2632 ICT SUPPORT AND TEST ENGINEERS. If I had to choose one from the skills listed then it would be the Business/System analyst as I can say yes to each task listed (but couldn't say yes to each listed task for ICT Support & Test Engineers overview). It seems I am in an odd position working (& have worked) for large organisations where IT has been centralised, skills are seen as being transferable into other areas when required. Once again, thanks It's my pleasure to be of assistance. Now you can go to: http://www.acs.org.au/index.cfm?action=load&temID=skillassessment and look at the requirements for the assessment. If you find anything to be confusing, just ask. I have done the WHOLE process myself and am now only waiting for my external checks to complete (visa application lodged already). Getting the ACS assessment should be a piece of cake if you satisfy the reqs and can get the docs needed as proof. Good luck!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 at a quick glance, he was just after your money! good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John and Alexa Posted November 29, 2011 Author Share Posted November 29, 2011 Thank you for all your comments guys Well we have taken the plunge and told the agent that we wish to terminate our contract with them as the service they have provided is below sub standard, as yet there has been no reply from them but that just indicates business as usual as we never seem to get many replies anyway. The last contact we had from them was basically informing us that if we made contact with MARA in relation to our case and the treatment we have so far received that this would not be favourable to our case - this just felt more like a threat and cannot see why it would affect our case as nothing has happened with it in over 10 months (feels like a year totally wasted) We will be passing our case over to MARA as we feel that others wishing to use this agent need to tink carefully and that a wrist slap could be a good thing for possible future clients. Now all we need to do is search for a very good and reputable visa agent who indeed specialises in the I.T. industry and can make some headway in us both obtaining the visa we require. So if anyone has any recommendations we would be grateful if they could possibly pass their details on to us. Regards John & Alexa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cki2011 Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Hello I am not sure if they specialise wth IT but they have been very good dealing with our visa up to now. We are using Go Matilda and the agent who is dealing with it is Marina Towner who gets back to us usually the same day and is more than helpful and we would highly recomend them. Thanks Dave & Carmel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest John&Christine Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 I understand where you are coming from. I found it very difficult to get our agent to understand my IT occupation. They seem to think we all do the same job within what actually is a diverse field. I also do not have a degree but have vendor qualifications MCITP & MCTS with years of experience. I was constantly being told "you don't qualify" etc when I knew I did. We had to tell them to put ACS skills assessment in, they said "you will fail, you have to use the RPL route". It came back positive. We had to tell them to put in state sponsorship, they said "no chance of getting through". It came back positive. We had to tell them to lodge the visa application, they said "it is against our advice". Well fingers crossed as it only just has gone in. What I am trying to say is don't be put off by the negative attitude of people who know nothing about the IT industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Steve N Posted December 9, 2011 Share Posted December 9, 2011 I was told to give One agent a wide berth, having one colleague say they were a little too willing to take the money and make promises, but provided no additional value to the application - ultimately leaving him high and dry with a weak initial ACS submission. I think I'd rather save the fees and submit myself - there's enough information out here on the web and within forums. I'll happily share my experiences later, but it appears they don't specialist in IT submissions (though they'll say they do). PM me for details Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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