Brookey Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Dear members, my wife & i have recently decided to move to Oz. She thinks that it would be best to use an agency for our application for visa/residency but i thought i would do a bit of research before we paid any cash out. So any information about the pro's & cons of using an agency or applying ourselves would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Hi and welcome to the forum. To use an agent or not really boils down to personal choice (and funds available), we used Visa Bureau to help us and they were great, if i had to run the clock back or apply again i would still use an agent however lots of our members have applied the DIY route and received there visa's ok so as i say ,it really is up to you and how confident you feel. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brookey Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 I think one of the major points my wife was worried about was time. As we both work & have 2 young children we don't get much spare time & thought that doing it ourselves may be very time consuming. Also if we made a mistake it could set us back months. How long did your application take when using an agency? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I think one of the major points my wife was worried about was time. As we both work & have 2 young children we don't get much spare time & thought that doing it ourselves may be very time consuming. Also if we made a mistake it could set us back months. How long did your application take when using an agency? It was a few years ago now and i had a medical 'hiccup' but in all it took around 8 months. Making a mistake was one of our main reasons too, just having that knowledgeable pair of eyes check everything before it was submitted helps with the stress levels a little,lol. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brookey Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Oh that's quicker than i thought. We're hoping to be out there by end of 2015 so we could spend a bit longer double checking things. Thanks cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calNgary Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I know some visa's are taking longer now a days and the requirements a lot tighter, so find out what visa you can get with your or your partners skills as the first step and take things from there. Cal x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brookey Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 We've spoke to an agency already & they've said that i'd have enough points on my skills etc & my wife has family out there who'd sponsor us. Its just i'd like to think that the £1800 agency fee's could be better spent elsewhere if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanduex Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 No doubt you could spend the money elsewhere We are using an agent and I phone him all the time with random questions. He has done all the paperwork etc and I like the ease it provides. It is a big stressful move and I think that the agent alleviates some of the stress. It is totally personal choice though!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brookey Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Yeah i can see your point. I just thought I'd do a bit of research before we made any decisions. I'm wanting to ship belongings etc out there when we go & that's looking quite costly aswell!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanduex Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Yeah man it all adds up!!!! like the peace of mind though. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brookey Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 I'm sounding like a right tight sod lol but we just want to review all options before we make a decision. Its a big move & with 2 little ones want to try & do it with the least amount of stress to them as possible. Cheers anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vanduex Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Couldn't agree more mate :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevio Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Morning Brookey, In early December 2013 we were granted our permanent residence visa for Australia! We have now got until NOV 20th 2014 to activate this so it is all systems go and very exciting/scary! In answer to your question, we used a migration agent and don't regret it one bit. The company we used are based in New Zealand but deal with both Australia and NZ migrants. They are called 'Workingin', i can give you a contact and their details if you chose to go down that path. I think we paid around £3300 in staged payments for their services but found it to be well worth it. We did think about doing it ourselves but there really is so much paperwork and research to do that we simply would have struggled to find the time to do it,couple this with the costs of your visa and the risk of getting something wrong on your application,I would go down the same path again if I had to. They are very very thorough and talk you through every step and answer any of your queries promptly....thus taking the pressure off! Good luck and if you need further details,don't hesitate to get back in touch! Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjenky Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Hi Brooky, we are only part way through our visa application and still a fair way to go yet as curve balls keep getting sent our way we did however make the decision to go it alone, mainly down to costs if I am perfectly honest. I think if you have the time and patience to research and do a lot of reading you would be fine going it alone. There are a few agents on Poms in oz who will give you a bit of advice should you get stuck along the way, the forum is really helpful theres always someone around to point you in the right direction. As you say the money you spend on an agent could go along way for paying for other things....lets face it the whole process is an expensive one and every little helps, so the more you can do your self the better I say. Have you started the process yet? Claire Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VERYSTORMY Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Ok. First thing to look at is what advice you have been given to date. Was it from a MARA agent? If not then it may not be accurate. Next is to look at any complicating factors. If they are any, then an agent might be a good idea. Go through immi.gov.au with a fine tooth comb. It is easy to make costly mistakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brookey Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Cheers Steve yeah think i'm starting to agree with you all. It's one of the biggest moves we're ever going to take so probably best to make sure we do it right. I'll speak to the wife & be in touch about any info you could help us with. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brookey Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Cheers we'll have a look at that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brookey Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Hi Claire yeah but its only initial phone calls & emails to a couple of agencies which had good reviews on the internet. How long has it taken you to get to the stage your at? & do you have an idea when you'll get a decision on your application? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPinJP Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Got broke and unemployed for 6 months before getting a job offer! Now, I'm in the agony of waiting for my visa grant until Lord knows when. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevio Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I forgot to mention Brookey that we are a family of five so there was a heck of a lot of paperwork, I can't remember whether that has a bearing on our migration agent costs,worth looking at?..........but still worth every penny and we got our visas through within 8 months! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brookey Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Hi, yes the firm we are looking into are MARA registered and have very good reviews I think comparied to other companies they are very resonably priced too. Its such a big step and doing everything right is maybe worth that cost, (wife.. Gem) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pablo Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Bare in mind that even using an agency you will still have form filling to do,tax records to chase,references/statements to collate,so there's still a fair bit you have to do anyway,i used an agency because of time constraints,CONCEPT AUSTRALIA in mcster,think their fees now are £1700 in staged payments,both Steve and Martin worked for the aus embassy for many years so know whats required Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucyholt Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 I dont think your tight at all by considering doing it yourselves. Like ourselves with little ones the more money you go over with the better. We are in the same situation but we are going to take it one step at a time and see how we get on ourselves, after all payments towards agents are generally broken down into stages and you dont have to use them for the whole process. Plus the whole system is not designed for a professional to use but for the average person (well thats what my line of thought is ha!). After all the agents are not going to chase up the paper work, that will be you then they submit it. However you will know before hand if its the right paper work if you use an agent. This forum has the most helpful people on it, and I never seem to wait a few minutes before someone will answer a question. I think theres pros and cons either way but if your anything like me, I cant relax and leave my fate in the agents hands, im constantly researching everything im told they tell me etc, so figured I may as well do something with my new found knowledge haha!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incata Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 We used Overseas Emigration as we have two young children (now 3 and 4), my husband was away a lot with the RN, and I just did not have the time or energy to be on here all the time looking for information as to what to do next. For us it was marvellous to just be able to hand it over to someone who knew exactly what they were doing. From the time we first spoke to them until the day we got the visa was 5 months. Three months of that was waiting for the skills assessment (one month to get all the paperwork together and then a 2 month wait for it to be processed by the assessment authority). We then took two weeks to sort out medicals and police checks, two days to sort State Sponsorship and 6 weeks total to get the visas in our hands. I don't think for a moment we would have been able to do it that fast ourselves, not least of all because my son had a very serious accident just as the visa paperwork was about to go in, and then applying for a visa became the last thing on my mind. Having someone else do it was a relief and it meant that we did not have to worry and were able to leave it all in their capable hands. However, a word of caution. There are a number of people who have been burned by migration agents, so I would only go with someone who comes recommended such as Overseas Emigration (formerly Ian Harrop Associates), Go Matilda or several of the agents who post on here regularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brookey Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 We are looking at global migrate they are registered with MARA has anyone used these x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.